Page 42 of The Highlander's Auctioned Virgin
CHAPTER 11
Elinor kept waitingfor him to slip, kept waiting for the moment when his grip on her would loosen and she would fall. Seeing that smug look on his face, she needed something to go wrong so she could properly blame him for it.
But nothing went wrong. His grip on her was sturdier than anything.
A wave of utter despair crashed over her as they made their way to the castle. The last time she was carried like this was two years ago when she had tried to escape. Murdock would either come after her himself—which was always worse—or send his guards after her.
At least, all the guards did was find her and bring her back. It was during one of her escapes that she found the spot she had decided to hide in from the other lairds. Before the storm decided it had other plans. Before Ciaran found her.
Whenever Murdock came after her, he would go out of his way to inform her of just how utterly helpless she was. He wouldn’t waste any opportunity to drive home the fact that she was on her own and no one was coming to save her. He would tell her that he would have wasted no time killing her if he didn’t desperately need an heir.
Of course, Ciaran carrying her back to the castle dredged up all sorts of memories and feelings. The feeling of being helpless. The feeling of fruitlessly struggling against the guards who brought her back.
The feeling of trying to get them to put her down as the castle loomed ahead, like some inevitable end to her story. Feelings that triggered goosebumps all over her body and sent her heart racing like a firecracker.
“Put me down,” she heard herself say once they crossed the castle fences.
The courtyard stretched out ahead of them, and the castle stood just a quarter mile beyond.
“Elinor, I told ye nae to worry about– ”
“Nay, ye daenae understand,” Elinor hissed, her panic rising with each passing second.
Her breathing had grown shallow, and if she didn’t stop to catch her breath soon–
“Ciaran, put me down.”
“Elinor– ”
“Put me down!”
Perhaps her voice was a tad louder than she had intended, and perhaps it made her look like a mad woman, but it did the job.
Ciaran gently lowered her to her feet, ensuring she found her balance before letting go.
Elinor keeled over, trying to gulp in as much air as she could. Ciaran stood by, watching her silently. When she looked back up at him, she could swear she saw a hint of something cross his face. If she did not know better, a part of her would think it was concern.
“Elinor– ” he started.
“I am fine,” she cut him off.
She knew how this was going to go. He would ask what happened, and she wouldn’t be able to give a straight answer without getting transported back towhereit had happened.
“I am fine,” she reiterated, almost like she was trying to convince herself more than him.
Ciaran folded his arms across his chest. “I didnae ken that me carrying ye was such an inconvenience.”
Elinor finally straightened up, the fresh air a welcome relief on her face. She brushed back stray strands of hair from her eyes while he continued watching her.
“It isnae ye.”
“Then what is it?”
Elinor swallowed and looked around. She could see some maids standing by the doors of the castle and could hear some of the animals across the courtyard. She wondered how they would react once they saw her.
“I can walk from here on out,” she muttered.
Ciaran didn’t object or ask any more questions, for which she was immensely grateful. Instead, he only nodded and let her lead the way to the castle.
