Page 44 of Craved By a Highland Beast

The words were barely a whisper on Bonnie’s lips as she watched Ruthven leave the room, closing the door behind him. Something about their interaction had filled Bonnie with unease. Something told her Ruthven knew something she didn’t, something vital that she was missing.

But if he kent about Evan an’ Alaric, then surely, he would have captured us all by now. Why hesitate?

Ruthven didn’t seem to her like a man who waited for anything. As long as she, Evan, and Alaric lived, then it meant he was none the wiser.

Crawling out from under the bed, Evan stood and dusted himself. Once again, he kept his distance from Bonnie and she kept his distance from him. She never knew how to act around him after they were inevitably drawn into each other’s orbit once they were left alone.

“That was too close,” Evan said.

Ever since she had stepped foot in Castle Ruthven, Bonnie had that very same thought too often.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

With Ruthven gone, Evan perched himself on the edge of Bonnie’s bed, relief washing over him. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so strange, he thought, for a man to visit his cousin’s chambers, but with Alaric’s absence and the fact that she looked like she had just been in the bathing tub, his presence there would surely raise some suspicions.

“Ye truly should stay away from him,” Evan mumbled, his elbows resting on his knees as he let his head fall in his hands. For a moment, he sat there, slowly sinking into a well of guilt that threatened to swallow him whole. He had been the one to drag Bonnie into this. He had been the one to put her in danger in the first place.

But what would happen if I hadnae involved her in this? She would still be in Ruthven’s clutches.

She would have been safer, though, knowing nothing about the plan. Evan should have found a different way into the castle, one that didn’t involve her at all.

Too late fer that now.

When he felt the mattress dip next to him, Evan looked up to see Bonnie there, taking a seat next to him. Slowly, she unclasped her cloak and folded it neatly, placing it by the foot of the bed, and then simply sat there in silence next to him, one hand coming to rest on his forearm in a gesture of comfort.

Just as slowly, Evan placed his own hand over Bonnie’s and after a moment of hesitation, laced their fingers together.

“Believe me, I dinnae wish tae be around him,” Bonnie assured him. “An’ I promise ye, I will stay away from him as much as I can. But I couldnae reject his invitation. I was the one tae suggest it in the first place.”

With a frown, Evan turned to look at her. “Ye were?”

“I panicked,” said Bonnie sheepishly, giving a small shrug. “I had tae tell him somethin’, so I told him the first thing that came tae mind.”

Evan couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. It was just his luck to be caught up in something like this. “Well . . . dinnae fash. I’ll be there.”

“I ken,” Bonnie said, fingers squeezing around his. “Thank ye, Evan. But I can also take care o’ meself. It isnae the first time I must deal with a terrible man.”

“It isnae?”

Bonnie shook her head, hiccupping as she drew in a deep, steadying breath. “After me faither an’ maither died, the clan was given tae a cousin until either I or me sister would wed. But Faolan, me cousin . . . he didnae wish tae relinquish his power. He wished tae keep the clan fer himself. An’ he . . . he forced me an’ Cathleen tae dae horrible things. He wanted us tae hurt innocent people, but we couldnae dae it. I’m lucky that me sister is alive . . . that we all are.”

Evan listened to Bonnie’s story in silence, his heart aching at the thought of everything she must have gone through. She was such a sweet, compassionate woman that Evan couldn’t imagine her ever hurting someone else. And now, instead of her troubles finally being over, she had been thrown into another violent and dangerous situation she could not escape.

“I’m sorry,” Evan said, for lack of anything better to say.I’m sorry fer makin’ ye dae this. I’m sorry fer puttin’ ye in danger. I’m sorry fer everythin’ that has happened tae ye.

“It’s alright,” Bonnie assured him with a tentative smile. “We must all endure hardship.”

Evan wished that wasn’t true. He wished he could protect Bonnie from it all—everything that could cause her pain, everything that could harm her.

“Yer parents . . . what happened tae them?” Evan asked.

Bonnie drew a shuddering breath. She parted her lips as if to speak, but no sound came out at first, as though the mere thought of speaking about them was painful.

Evan couldn’t understand that. It was difficult for him, too, to speak about his parents.

“They were murdered in a village raid,” she said after a few moments of silence. When Evan looked at her, her eyes shone with unshed tears. “It should have never happened. I was simply stubborn an’ wished tae stay at the village market longer. We were meant tae be gone by the time o’ the raid. Had it nae been fer me, they would still be alive.”

“Bonnie . . . it wasnae yer fault,” Evan said, but even as he spoke the words, he knew Bonnie wouldn’t believe him. There was nothing anyone could say to her that would change her mind on this matter. Evan knew, because it was the same for him.

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