Page 3 of When a Highlander Vows (Enemies to Lovers #1)

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L ucas cringed when he heard the door slam behind him, louder than he intended it to.

Shite.

He hadn’t expected her to fight him. He’d thought he was being perfectly generous. It was even more than Seamus had been expecting. No doubt he’d only meant for Lucas to give his sister money and check on her well-being every so often. Not ask her to move in with him.

But his grandmother had insisted on this, and it made more sense anyway. Then, he would not have to leave the safety of his castle or take time out of his duties when he did travel to other clans to see to the health of one woman.

“So? How did it go?” Archie asked as Lucas approached him.

Lucas threw up his arms and began to pace. “Bloody lass dinnae agree!”

“What?” Archie asked, and Lucas could tell he was amused.

The older man was a cheerful sort, and it had irritated Lucas over the years how calm and happy he could be in any situation. He was almost smiling, and it irked Lucas even more.

“She refused! Said she doesnae need a protector, said she can stay here perfectly on her own. Can ye imagine?! Called me honorable and noble offer, charity!” He moved back and forth, his hands on his hips. “So, I told her that she had nay choice. I’ve come all this way just for this! It was me duty to help her. She can prepare herself, or she can be taken to the Castle by force.”

“Me Laird, is that wise?” Archie asked softly, and Lucas pinned him with an angry glare.

“I cannae be returnin’ to the village every few days to see how one lass fares. This is much better, and now me grandmaither can have a companion of her own. She feels sorry for the lass bein’ all on her own out here.”

Archie nodded but said nothing more, merely went about silently preparing the horses. Lucas walked away from him and went to the edge of the hill, staring out over the village. Duty, honor, noble acts, these things had been drilled into him since he was a youth. His parents had not been the role models of these attributes, rather his grandmother had told him that these things are what make a laird. More than land or power. And he was not going to let a young little upstart with no one else in the world scoff at his offer, telling him that she didn’t need it.

He turned back to the house, willing Caitlin to open the door. He had made a threat, and now he had to go through with it if she didn’t come out. That would not be to his liking, and he was certain it wasn’t what Seamus had envisioned.

After he stewed for a little while longer, the door opened, and Caitlin emerged wearing a belted McDougall plaid and a bag in hand. The young woman behind her held another bag. Archie rushed to grab the bags from the ladies, and Lucas walked slowly up to them. He was close enough to hear Caitlin say, “Mary, thank ye so much. I will sort out the details of yer employment later. Please tell Rachel I said goodbye, but I will be back, I am sure. I am sorry she wasnae here today for me to say goodbye to.”

Mary nodded, tears in her eyes, and Caitlin hugged her. Lucas felt some remorse, but he would not apologize for offering shelter and protection to a lone woman. Even if she hated him for it.

“So, ye’ve agreed then?” he asked stupidly, and she turned around to glare at him.

“Aye, Me Laird, as ye can see. Shall we go?”

He nodded. “Archie has provided ye with yer own horse, Lass. It is a few hours’ ride to the Castle, even though it looks close. So ye can understand why it is far easier to have ye come and live with me.”

Caitlin looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. She put her hands on her hips and frowned.

“I cannae ride, Me Laird. Me eyesight is too poor for me to see great distances. It would be very dangerous.”

“Och, aye, of course,” he said, nodding along as if he’d considered this. A little red crept into his cheeks as he understood his mistake. “Well, then, ye will ride with me. For the sake of safety, of course.”

“Of course.” Her angry expression softened then, and she looked back at the house once more. “Will I ever get to return here, Me Laird? There are people under me care. They are employed by me. I will need to bring money for them and to check on them.”

“It will be handled. I can assure ye. Ye will nae have to worry for their welfare.”

She brightened at that, and as Archie secured the bags to the extra horse, she walked up to Lucas. As if they hadn’t argued at all, she gave him a brief smile.

“I have never been to the Castle before. Is it very large?”

“Is it—” he was shocked that she’d ask such a question. “Of course it is. It’s a castle.”

She frowned again, and he felt guilty. Clearing his throat, he said,

“Me grandmaither will be happy to have ye, Lass. She has been wantin’ a companion for many years.”

He’d tried his best to soften his voice, but she only nodded and did not reply. Biting back a sigh of frustration, he gripped her at the waist and lifted her into the air without another word.

She gave out a shriek in surprise, but she sat where she was planted, and wrapped her cloak about her. Lucas fought the urge to think more about how sweet her waist felt in his hands, and how he had held her in his arms for mere moments. The scent of her hair was in his nose too.

Rosewater.

Scowling, he jumped up behind her, determined to say hardly anything as they rode off, leaving Caitlin’s home behind.

Caitlin had dreamed of flirtations and kisses and meeting with young men ever since she was a girl, and as she got older, all the village girls talked about such things. They giggled and whispered, but then when she began to lose her sight, she knew she’d lost that hope too.

So, it had been a shock to feel the laird’s thick strong hands around her middle, lifting her into the air like she weighed nothing more than a small bag of flour. The waist was an intimate place to be touched and held.

She blushed, hoping that the man didn’t see it. Closing her eyes, she felt the laird surround her when he jumped up behind her, his strong arms wrapping about her to grab the reins.

“Ready, Lass?” he said gruffly.

“Aye.”

The laird called to his kinsman, and they rode, the hooves thundering against the grassy hill beneath them as the horse took them away from her home. She did not look back for fear that it would make her regret her decision to give into the man’s threats.

Have I made a mistake?

She remembered now that Seamus had mentioned something about it, that if anything would happened to him, she could go to live with the laird. But she’d hardly listened to him, not wanting to think about him dying or leaving her. But he’d never told her about a vow.

Laird McDougall had made it seem as though he had made a vow of some kind with her brother. Had Seamus truly asked the laird, a man she did not know, had not ever met, and who was clearly unkind, to watch over her if something happened to him? It didn’t exactly make sense, that he would go so far as to beg the man to promise to take her on. Seamus considered the laird a very good friend, his best friend, and yet the laird had not once visited their home. Caitlin knew very little about him. Seamus had a great many friends. Why did he ask the laird instead of merely another person in the village?

These thoughts filled her mind as she opened her eyes and stared at the fuzzy beauty before her. Her home had been perched upon the hill which overlooked the village, but it was simply one of many strings of hills which stood between her, the castle, and the sea. It was fields upon fields, and because of how flat it was beyond the hills, the castle looked far closer than it really was. Although, she did not know how far, and of course, she could not judge greatly.

It was these moments that made her ache for her sight the most. It was so incredibly human, she felt, to look upon great beauty. To feast one’s eyes upon something that gave back to one’s soul. She could sense the beauty for all its blurriness, however, but it was not the same as seeing it sharp, clear, and defined.

“Will ye describe what ye see to me, Me Laird? It is only blurry to me eyes, but I can tell it is a breathtaking view before us. The hills, the fields, the distant castle.”

“Ye can see that?” he said. “Doesnae sound as though yer eyesight is as bad as all that.”

His mouth was so close to her head that she could feel his breath brush her hair. The reminder of his closeness made something strange tingle inside her. Not unlike the feeling she’d had with his hands about her waist. Even with his insulting tone.

“Aye. I can see all that. It has nae grown worse in the last few years, which gives me some hope. Nay one wishes to be fully blind. I would be nay use to anyone then,” she whispered at the end, thinking she was speaking only to herself.

The laird said nothing, but she could hear his breath as they rode faster and faster. “It is naythin’ special, this view, Lass. Only a sea, fields, and a castle. A view I have seen many times before.”

She frowned but did not get angry at him this time. An idea struck her. Perhaps she could be so bloody talkative and cheery that he would be annoyed, and he would return her to her home. She could live out her days in peace, with Rachel’s and Mary’s help, and then that would be all. No one would bother her, and certainly not lairds who seemed to hold far too high an opinion of themselves.

He’ll be furious, and he will let me go home. It seems simple enough to anger the man anyway.

She shifted her seat on the horse, trying to get more comfortable. It was difficult to ride sidesaddle while her stays dug into her sides. After she moved, she was again reminded of just how close they sat. How warm and oddly safe she felt in the embrace of a strong man’s arms.

A small groan escaped him. “What are ye doin’?” he asked, his tone tense.

“It is going to be a long ride,” she said, stiffening, wondering if she’d hurt him. “I am attemptin’ to get comfortable. It is jostling enough as we gallop over the hills.”

“Well daenae dae that, ye hear me? ‘Tis distractin’.” He set the horse into a faster gallop, and his arms came even closer around her, and her back was pulled tight against his chest.

She gasped softly at the way he practically held her as they rode.

Caitlin had not allowed herself to think too much of men, knowing she would never marry, but over the years, she’d overheard her friends, and Rachel and Mary talk about them occasionally. She’d even heard Rachel described the way a man would ‘take’ a woman. When she’d first heard about it, it had made Caitlin all warm inside and made a clamminess come out all over her skin. She thought it must be a terrible thing if it was going to make her feel feverish. However, in the conversation Rachel was having with another, she did not seem to think it a bad thing.

“Will ye tell me about the Castle, My Laird?” she asked, trying to distract herself now from the strange path of her thoughts.

“I have never been to a castle,” she continued, not waiting for him to reply. She did not expect him to. “I imagine it would be rather cold. All that gray stone, and so near to the sea with the cool sea breezes. I wonder if fires are enough to heat the space in a castle. Dae ye have a lot of breeze comin’ through the Castle, My Laird?”

She waited, but he only said one word. “Nay.”

“Well, that is a good thing then.” Sighing, she looked about her. “I would hate to feel cold when I have just been asked to leave a very comfortable home.”

A grunt from behind her made her smirk. At least she was beginning to get reactions out of him. Soon enough, she would be back on her way home, and all would be as it was.