Page 6 of Craved By a Highland Beast

“I see,” he said. “An’ what, precisely, are ye doin’ here, Miss MacLaren?”

“I told ye,” said Bonnie, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “I got on the wrongbirlinn. I am travellin’ tae attend Laird Hamilton’s weddin’ an’ me guards told me tae board, but ourbirlinnwas next tae yers an’ I was confused.”

She didn’t seem to be lying, Evan thought. He couldn’t even think of a reason why she would, but one could never be too careful. Bonnie had already seen too much; Evan had to keep a close eye on her.

“Well . . . ye ken who I am now,” Bonnie added, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Who are ye?”

“Laird Evan MacGregor,” Evan said, biting back a smirk when he saw the shocked expression on Bonnie’s face. No one expected a laird to do the dirty work, Evan knew, but he didn’t mind getting his hands bloody. Some things had to be done and he could trust no one but himself and his brother to do them. “I am also headin’ tae Arran fer the weddin’. We shall go together.”

It wasn’t a suggestion, but Bonnie seemed to understand it as one and she immediately scoffed, shaking her head. “What makes ye think I will go anywhere with ye?”

“What other choice dae ye think ye have?” Evan asked. “Look where ye are . . . in the middle o’ the sea. An’ after what ye’ve seen, well . . . I cannae simply let ye go.”

He watched as Bonnie looked around her, realizing perhaps for the first time the severity of the situation and the fact that shetruly had no option but to be on that boat with him. Then, her gaze met his again and her bottom lip shook as she spoke.

“What will ye dae tae me?”

“Naething,” Evan said. “As long as ye behave an’ dae as ye are told. Yer me property now, Miss MacLaren. Ye’ll dae as I tell ye.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes at him, much to Evan’s irritation. She tried to sidestep him by ducking under his arm, but Evan was quick to push her back against the rail, tutting softly at her.

“Where dae ye think yer goin’?”

“Anywhere but here,” Bonnie said. “Why? Are ye plannin’ tae tie me down like that poor man ye have in that room?”

“That man is more dangerous than ye ken,” Evan said, pinning Bonnie with a strict gaze. “An’ ye are nae tae approach him. Dae ye understand?”

Bonnie didn’t respond; not until Evan grabbed her arm, giving her a rough shake.

“I said, dae ye understand?”

“Let go o’ me!” Bonnie demanded, trying to once again push Evan away from her. “What is the matter with ye? Is this how ye treat all ladies?”

“It depends on how foolish they are,” said Evan. Though he didn’t let go of her quite yet, he slackened his grip, giving her some leeway. “Are ye foolish, Miss MacLaren? Are ye goin’ tae be trouble?”

Bonnie didn’t need to answer his question for Evan to know that she would very likely be more trouble than she was worth. What could he do, though, now that she had seen everything? He could hardly kill her—truly, she was innocent. Her only mistake had been to get on the wrong boat and then open that door. And besides, she was not some faceless, nameless woman no one would miss. She was the daughter of a great laird, who even in death inspired other leaders. She was the sister-in-law of her clan’s laird. If Evan’s education on the other clans still served him well, she was also the eldest, though the mantle of the laird had not been passed on to her husband.

Unwedded, then? Was the youngest sister married first?

Perhaps he was confusing the sisters. It had been a long time, after all, since he had last concerned himself with the clans’ genealogies.

“If ye value yer life, ye will dae what I tell ye,” Evan said, the threat thinly veiled in his words. Even if he wasn’t actually going to kill her, Bonnie didn’t need to know that. The more afraid she was of him, the better. “Ye will accompany me tae the Hamilton keep. Until then, ye will sit quietly here on the deck an’ ye willnae speak tae anyone.”

Bonnie glared up at Evan, her eyes narrowing dangerously, but the effect was lost due to him towering over her. Even with her bow, there was little she could do to maim him in such close range, and she seemed to finally accept that as her shoulders fell and she leaned away from him as if disgusted by his mere presence.

“Good,” said Evan, finally pulling back. “Yer nae so foolish after all.”

As he turned around to head back to the small room and try to extract at least a morsel of information out of the man, he could feel her gaze boring into the back of his skull. The feeling followed him all the way there, and then even once he was inside, behind the confines of the door.

The entire time, a shiver ran down his spine.

CHAPTER THREE

That man is a lunatic!

There was no other explanation for what Bonnie had seen. The man claimed to be Laird MacGregor but what kind of laird brought others on his boat to torture them? Then again, he didn’t really have a reason to lie to her. What could he gain from claiming he was someone else? What could he gain from claiming he was Laird MacGregor, specifically?

It seemed more likely to her that he was who he claimed to be and he had simply lost his mind.

---