Page 10 of A Wife for the Highland Villain
She clenched her jaw and held her breath.
That cocky bastard.
“Save us both the trouble and just come out.”
She didn’t move. Her back remained pressed to the tree as she slowly peeked around the edge. She couldn’t see anything except the thick cover of the night and the faint shadows of the trees that surrounded her. She couldn’t hear his men.
He had come after her alone, despite being wounded. Was that how certain of himself he was?
Something about that did not sit well with her.
“Ye daenae have to wait for me to find ye,” he repeated.
Now he was beginning to get on her nerves with that smugness in his voice.
She bolted again, weaving between tree trunks until she found another hiding place. This one was low and was well covered behind a tangle of bushes.
“I’m nae taking ye to yer death,” he added. “I’m asking ye to save lives. To take yer rightful place beside me as Lady MacRay. As theirqueen.”
Her heart pounded in her ears, and the anger in her gut was growing by the second. Did he really think he could swoop in with the promise of making her a Lady, and she’d agree just like that?
“I ken I’ve been gone for a long time. I ken I hurt ye. But I am here now. So please, stop acting like a child, and let’s get on with it.”
Her rage flared.
Child?
She stood up, her voice echoing sharply through the trees. “How dare ye!”
A pause ensued, then she stepped out of the shadows, her fists clenched.
“How dare ye call me a child!” she shouted. “Ye disappeared! Left without a word! Left before we could even begin to build anything. And now ye stand before me and callmea child?”
She saw him then, just ahead. He emerged from the shadows, limping slightly.
“We can settle this somewhere else, Lily. Come with me,” he said.
“Nay.” She turned around and ran again.
His footsteps followed, fast and heavy.
She only made it so far before he tackled her from behind.
The ground gave way beneath them, and they tumbled down a slope, their limbs tangled. Her elbow hit a rock, and his grunt echoed as his leg shifted beneath her. Lily shouted and kicked at his thigh where she’d stabbed him earlier. He winced, his body tensing in pain, but he didn’t let go.
She thrashed and tried to roll out from under him, but he was stronger. His hands caught her wrists, and he pinned them above her head, holding her still. Their bodies pressed together, both of them breathing hard.
Their faces were only inches apart as his weight pinned her down. She could see the outline of his cheek, the cut on his brow. Even in the darkness, she could see the sweat on the seam of his lips.
“Please,” he said, his voice low and rough.
CHAPTER 4
She kept writhing beneath him,but his grip didn’t loosen.
“I ken ye’re angry,” he continued. “And ye have every right to be. I left. I left with naught but a note and didnae write again. I didnae say a word. And believe me, I have lived with the shame of that every day since. Do ye think it was easy for me to come after ye in the first place? Do ye think I didnae have to think about the best way to approach ye?”
“And ye managed to settle onthis?”
