Page 26 of Craved By a Highland Beast

“Miss MacLaren,” Ruthven said, for a moment taken aback by her sudden appearance, before he smiled warmly at her. “Indeed. I must apologise. Ye came here so we could spend more time together an’ yet I have neglected ye all this time. It truly is terrible o’ me.”

Ruthven sounded truly remorseful, though Bonnie couldn’t be certain that it wasn’t all an act. “It’s alright. Yer a busy man.”

“Aye, so I am,” Ruthven said. “But I have some time now if ye would like tae speak.”

As he spoke, Ruthven offered Bonnie his arm and she beamed as she took it, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She could finally get what she wanted—perhaps she could even get the key from him if she found the opportunity.

Ruthven must have mistaken her excitement as directed towards himself, but that only made Bonnie’s task easier. As long as hethought that she was fond of him, she was confident she could trick him into many things.

“Shall we take a walk around the grounds?” Bonnie asked. “I enjoyed the gardens very much when ye first showed them tae me.”

Ruthven obliged with a tilt of his head and the two of them headed towards the gardens once more, where there was more privacy than in the open field of the courtyard. It was chilly that morning, too, Bonnie’s breath fogging the air in front of her every time she exhaled, but the sky was clear, bathing the gardens in its golden light.

It was an idyllic scene, so much so that Bonnie could almost forget why she was there and with whom. She would have liked to show the gardens to her sister, she thought; Cathleen would have enjoyed the lush greenery, the way the dappled light illuminated everything around them, the birdsong that echoed from the trees. When Ruthven tightened his grip on her, though, steering her another way, Bonnie was brought back to the present abruptly, reminded of the man next to her.

“Are ye enjoyin’ yer stay here?” Ruthven asked. “It is rather unfortunate yer sister couldnae come. I am concerned ye dinnae have anyone with whom tae spend yer time.”

“I have Evan an’ Alaric,” Bonnie said with a small shrug. In the past few days, she had spent most of her time with them, but always made sure she was never alone with Evan. She even hadthe suspicion that he was careful, too, keeping his distance and leaving the room whenever Alaric was not around.

Still, she couldn’t claim the time they spent together was unpleasant. The more she got to know the two of them, the more she realized they were not as brutish and violent as she had once thought. It was even entertaining to listen to them, the two of them bickering all the time for the simplest of things and then making up moments later with nothing more than a shared chuckle.

“I see,” said Ruthven, but offered nothing more. The animosity between him and Evan was obvious and for a moment, Bonnie feared that mentioning the two brothers had been unwise, souring Ruthven’s mood, but then he changed the subject as if they had never been mentioned at all. “Perhaps we can write tae yer sister tae visit soon. Surely, the weather must have cleared by now or at least it will soon. An’ I will try tae find more time fer ye, Miss MacLaren. I didnae expect tae be so occupied in clan matters that I couldnae attend tae yer needs.”

“Dinnae fash, please,” said Bonnie, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s perfectly fine. Like I said, Evan?—”

A blur of movement drew Bonnie’s gaze towards some trees in the distance, the oaks swaying gently in the wind. It was as though speaking his name had summoned him—Evan, hiding there behind one of the tree trunks as he watched her and Ruthven walk around the gardens.

What is he doin’ here? Has he lost his mind?

Bonnie wondered about Evan’s sanity a little too often for her liking. Just when she was starting to think that maybe she had misunderstood him, he did something like this, watching her from the shadows of the trees, and proved to her that he was perhaps not as stable as she had thought.

There was no good reason for him to be trailing after them. Perhaps he worried about her, Bonnie thought, or perhaps he was trying to find out information on his own by watching Ruthven, but either way, he should have left once he saw that she had everything under control. If Ruthven caught him snooping around, then he would certainly have several questions to ask him and his suspicion would be warranted.

“What about Evan?” Ruthven asked, startling Bonnie. There was a brief moment when upon hearing Evan’s name, she thought Ruthven had already spotted him, but then she remembered she had stopped talking in the middle of her sentence.

“Evan . . . Evan an’ Alaric keep me company,” she said with an awkward chuckle as Ruthven looked at her in confusion, his head tilted to the side.

“Is somethin’ the matter?” he asked. “Ye have lost yer color.”

Bonnie cursed silently, chancing a glance back at the trees. She saw no trace of Evan, but she didn’t know if he had left or if he was simply hiding better.

“I’m fine,” she said, forcing a smile on her face. Then, an idea popping into her mind, she said, “Only a little cold, perhaps.”

Ruthven had said he always carried the key to the secret room on him, though he hadn’t specified where, precisely. It was a gamble, but there was no real in risk trying to get his coat, pretending to be cold so he would give it to her.

The key could be in his pocket. If I can find it, then I can give it tae Evan an’ Alaric, an’ we can put an end tae all this madness.

“It is cold, though the weather is surprisingly nice fer the time o’ the year,” Ruthven said, but Bonnie’s complaint didn’t seem to faze him much. They continued their walk around the grounds, Ruthven making no move to give her his coat. “It is often much colder than this here. Is it nae the same in yer lands?”

“Our lands are cold, as well,” Bonnie confirmed, her gaze flitting back and forth as she tried to spot Evan. Soon, she caught another glimpse of him, their eyes locking, and she tried to wave him off as discreetly as she could.

Whether he realized or not, Bonnie didn’t know. Either way, he didn’t move. Instead, he continued to watch them from the shadows and the little cover the trees and the bushes were providing.

When Ruthven came to a halt, Evan swiftly hid behind a tree once more and Bonnie was seconds away from yelling at him in frustration.

“Are ye certain yer alright?” Ruthven asked. “Ye seem . . . worried.”

From the corner of her eye, Bonnie saw Evan’s head popping out from under a bush and she quickly grabbed Ruthven, making sure that he was positioned with his back to Evan.

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