Page 24 of The Outlaw's Bride
Adaira continued to stare at the broch above her. She could see that part of it lay in ruin. It looked like one of those round towers that the ancient folk of Skye had inhabited, long before the Norsemen arrived upon the shores of her isle. There was one such ruined tower not far from Dunvegan that she and her sisters had once explored.
“It’s not what I imagined,” she murmured. “I expected Gylen Castle would be … grander.”
Lachlann huffed out a laugh, although there wasn’t any humor in it. His mood had suddenly turned strange. “It’s grand enough … although this isn’t Gylen Castle or Argyle.”
Adaira stiffened. She dragged her gaze from the fortress and focused on Lachlann.
“Where have ye brought me?” Her voice cut through the rumble of the surf and the whine of the wind that whipped her hair in her eyes. “Answer me, Lachlann.”
He looked at her then, and the hard look in his eyes made a chill seep into her bones. It was like observing a stranger, and she realized with a sinking sensation in the pit of her belly that, despite spending the last couple of days with him, she didn’t know Lachlann Fraser at all.
“This is Talasgair,” he said finally. “My father’s stronghold.”
Chapter Ten
Till My Last Breath
TALASGAIR.
ADAIRA STARED at Lachlann.
For a moment his words didn’t sink in, but when they did, she inhaled sharply, as if someone had just punched her in the belly.
No wonder this coastline looked familiar. While she’d slept during their departure from Kiltaraglen, he’d rowed north.
That had indeed been Duntulm she’d spied on the clifftop.
That was why he’d left her on the shore when he went for supplies. The crofters’ village would have been on her father’s land; no wonder he’d been on edge and keen to move on quickly.
Betrayal slammed into Adaira with such force that she gasped.
“Ye deceived me!” The words were hoarse; she could barely get them out. “Ye made me a promise, and ye broke it.”
Lachlann shrugged. “Deceived is a strong word … let’s not get overwrought.”
“Overwrought?” The word came out in an outraged whisper.
Adaira wasn’t quick to temper like Rhona or her father. All those who loved her described her nature as sweet and carefree. Few things got under her skin. Yet rage coiled in her now as she stared at the man she’d trusted, the man she’d set free.
The man she’d kissed so eagerly.
Her heart thundered in her chest, beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it.
“I’ll not stay here,” she ground out finally.
With that, she jumped out of the boat and into the surf. The cold water bit at her legs, the waves pulling at her heavy skirts, yet she ignored the discomfort.
Adaira started to push the rowboat back into the bay. “I’ll row myself to Argyle.”
“Slow down.” The thinly-veiled amusement in Lachlann’s voice made a red haze settle over Adaira’s vision. He’d betrayed her, and now he was laughing at her. “Ye aren’t going anywhere, Aingeal.”
He placed a hand upon her shoulder then.
Rage exploded within Adaira, a deep, feral thing that lashed out from a place she didn’t even know existed.
She whipped round and struck out at him. Her palm hit his face with a loud ‘crack’.
“Don’t touch me,” she snarled, “and don’t call me that ever again. I’m not yer ‘Aingeal’, ye cheating, lying bastard!”
