Page 10 of The Runaway Bride and the Highlander
At her shocked expression, he tried to soften his face, and Bram, who was watching them, suddenly started to chuckle deeply. It was a deep booming sound, and as Skylar looked at him with surprise, she found his laugh suited his entire person.
Laird Maxwell turned, glaring at him. “What’s got yer chops cackling?”
“Ye, brother,” Bram said, still chuckling and shaking his head in his amusement.
Brother?
“Even when ye’re trying tae be kind, ye cannae play the gentleman,” Bram continued.
Skylar could not help but smile, for Bram had said it exactly as it was. Even in his kindness, Maxwell was cold and reserved. Laird Macleod looked from Bram to Skylar and back again, and with a furrowed brow and a huff of temper, he turned and stormed away.
The men had taken great effort to make the tent as comfortable as possible, but Skylar was still freezing. The laird and his men had all shown kindness, but she felt quite awful that they had to sleep outside on such a bitter night. Perhaps they were used to it, but that knowledge did not make her feel much better.
Once she had been left alone, she tended to her torn dress. She knotted the material together and, using a cord from her sleeves, tried her best to secure the knots. It was not easy, for apart from shivering the entire time, she could hardly feel her fingers from the cold. In the end, while it was not a perfect repair, it ought to hold if she was careful, and it did make her feel a little more modest.
Settling herself down to sleep, Skylar wrapped herself in the laird’s large plaid and tried to warm herself but to no avail. She was tired and cold and wanted nothing more than to be back in the nunnery. She could never have imagined she would ever desire such a thing, but while she knew the men outside would not harm her, she still had a heavy feeling of fear and despair.
What if Colum didnae go back tae report tae Johnson as the laird assumed? What if he and his men had run and hid from the battle and followed us instead? What if they were just biding their time, waiting for the men outside tae fall asleep before they crept into this tent tae steal me away once again?
Skylar’s mind ran over and over with these thoughts, torturing herself with imaginings of what might still happen to her. The fact that she had been rescued from Colum’s grasp once already nearly made the fear worse. She had been lucky, but she was not completely safe yet. Laird Maxwell, Bram, and the others were all very brave and mighty men. But they could not help her if they were unaware of what was going on.
I could scream.
But doing that may cause more harm than good. Surely, Colum would have the camp surrounded, and if the laird and his men woke, they would be slaughtered before they managed to reach their swords. She could not do that to them after all they had done for her. Perhaps, she would wait until she was outside. She would make a decision on what to do when she knew for a certainty that the laird and his men could defend themselves.
Suddenly, her thoughts came to an abrupt stop when she heard a twig snapping a few feet from her tent. Sitting upright, she looked at the thin canvas. The fire still burned, and for a moment, the glow of it remained unobscured. She could hear the heavy snores of the men in their camp and came to the conclusion that all who were with her were still sleeping.
A second later, a huge looming shadow slowly hovered across the tent, and Skylar found her heart crashing against her ribcage as fear overwhelmed her. Looking about the tent, she tried to find something, anything she could use to protect herself with. But all she had was the metal flask the laird had given her. There had been a few drams of whisky left in it, and he had told her it would help avert the cold. Unfortunately, he had been wrong.
Grabbing the flask, Skylar pushed herself to her feet and, watching the shadow looming ever closer, stood close to the tent entrance. Another twig snapped, only this time, the sound came from right outside the tent. Her heart pounded, her breathing was erratic, and while she had shivered from the cold earlier, she now shook from utter terror.
She could not go back. The thought of Colum’s hands on her and what he had intended to do to her made her feel physically ill. But that would only be the start. What would happen when she was forced to marry him? The idea of that bastard being anywhere near her, taking her whenever he desired and her being powerless to stop it, was enough to drive a person mad. She would sooner die than let those things happen.
The entrance of the tent moved, and Skylar raised the flask high above her head. A foot entered, and bending their body, the head of the intruder came into view. Skylar did not waste any time, and with all the might she could muster, she brought the flask forward with such a force, punching it into the forehead of the unknown prowler.
CHAPTERSIX
Maxwell was a little stunned at the unexpected attack, but after years of battle, his instincts kicked in and took over his confusion. Grabbing her wrists, he stepped one foot behind Skylar’s leg, forced his weight forward, and having taken her completely off balance, flung her to the floor. The result did not displease him as, to control her more fully, he found himself on top of this beautiful woman once more.
Pinned down by her wrists, she looked up at him, her face morphing from one expression to the other. The terror he had first seen changed to shock at seeing his face which was then quickly followed by utter mortification. He could not help but smile at her in amusement. Evidently, it was not he whom she had expected to walk into her tent.
“Oh, good God,” she cried breathlessly, frowning at what he assumed was her colossal misjudgment.
“Well, he might be joining us in a bit, but for now, ye’ll have tae do with me,” he said with a wry grin.
“I’m sorry. I didnae mean tae…”
He gazed at her for a second too long before something pulled his attention further down her body. Cords lay loose, and her dress which she had clearly tried to mend had burst open, revealing round, pale, and rather lovely-looking breasts. Her nipples were taut and hard, likely from the cold, and in that moment, his manhood grew stiff as he imagined his tongue flicking over them and hearing her crying out in pleasure.
Upon looking down at her own nakedness, Skylar’s eyes flew open even wider. In her panic, she struggled to free her hands from his grip, which only amused Maxwell more.
“Och, come on now, woman. Ye shouldnae be acting as if ye grew up in a nunnery,” he mocked.
Skylar looked at him strangely for a second, and as he watched her realize his words were exactly true, they both burst into laughter at the same time. Right then, he felt a desperate wanting of this woman but suddenly realized he was still atop her. Quickly releasing her, he pushed himself up until he stood above her. Taking her hands as he had the last time, he pulled her to her feet.
With her hands now released, she grabbed at the fragments of her dress and tried her best to cover herself with what was left of it.
“I am sorry I caused ye such embarrassment,” he said.
