Page 19 of Awoken
She managed to rake him across the face, her nails leaving a red welt down one cheek, before he caught her by the wrists and pushed her back against the door. Breathing hard, Ross Campbell struggled to hold Leanna still.
The last remnants of restraint had gone from her now. She fought like a woman possessed, twisting in his grasp as she attempted to knee him in the cods. “Devil’s spawn,” she shrieked. “Ye have no heart.”
Finally, the only way he could still her struggles was to press his body flush against hers. Arms pinned to her sides, Leanna continued to writhe, her vision blurring as despair consumed her. It was all over. She was completely alone here.
It had been a foolish, desperate move to ask this man for help. But now she had just made the situation worse for herself.
“God’s bones, woman,” Ross muttered through clenched teeth. “Halt yer struggles before ye hurt yerself.”
Panting, Leanna sank against the door. She stared up at Ross to see that their faces were now only inches apart.
A flush had crept across Ross’s cheekbones, a muscle ticked in his jaw, and his blue eyes had darkened nearly to black. He looked angry—and upset.
“This won’t help, Leanna,” he rasped. “Even if I wanted to, I cannot aid ye.”
Leanna didn’t answer. She merely stared up at him, her throat aching. The back of her eyes prickled as tears welled, yet she kept them back. She wouldn’t weep in front of this man. She became aware then that their bodies were pressed hard together. She could feel the long, lean length of his body, the heat of him enveloping her. His closeness made her breathing quicken.
Leanna started to tremble. Suddenly, she bitterly regretted asking Ross Campbell for help. She wished only to be gone from his presence, to shut herself away.
“Then ye condemn me to death,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “Let go of me, Campbell. I will do as bid now.”
His gaze narrowed further, yet after a long moment, he released her wrists and stepped back. A chill rushed in between them.
Dragging in a deep breath, she moved toward the door. Then, with one last look, she turned away and let herself into her bed-chamber.
Ross Campbell stood in the hallway, watching the door thud shut.
His heart thundered in his chest, his breathing coming in short gasps.
What had just happened?
He knew Leanna was desperate, but he hadn’t expected her to lose control like that. Her behavior had angered him, and yet at the same time, her despair had stabbed him through the heart like a dirk blade. She had fought him without any thought to her own wellbeing, desperation turning her frenzied.
He didn’t blame her. In the space of a day, she’d lost her father, seen her escort murdered, and been ripped away from the security of her old life—and now she was about to be forced to wed a man she despised.
She’d asked for his help, and he’d refused her.
Ross breathed a curse under his breath.She’d have me risk my whole life for her.
There were some paths he’d never take—even if a beautiful, grief-stricken woman pleaded with him.
Ross bolted the door from the outside—as MacKinnon had instructed. He then stepped back and raked a hand through his hair. He’d known this whole business was ill-fated. MacKinnon thought he could bend this woman to his will, but even after just one day in her company, Ross realized he wouldn’t.
Instead, Duncan MacKinnon would just break Lady Leanna.
Ross turned and walked away down the hallway—and as he did so, he heard the muffled sound of sobbing.
“What happened to ye?” Carr frowned, peering at the scratch upon Ross’s cheek. “Looks like ye had a fight with a she-cat.”
Ross huffed a humorless laugh, lowering himself to the bench-seat and reaching for the flagon of ale between them. They sat in the guard’s hall, a rectangular space upon the ground floor of Dunan’s guard house. At this hour there were a few men seated around the space, although none occupied this table but Carr and Ross, giving them a rare moment of solitude.
“Lady Leanna gave her opinion of me,” he said, pouring himself a tall cup of ale.
Carr raised fair eyebrows, his grey-blue eyes widening. “She attacked ye?”
Ross nodded. “When I accompanied the lady to her bed-chamber, she flew into hysterics … and begged me to save her.”
This comment caused Carr to raise his eyebrows higher still. “And of course, ye refused?”
