Page 38 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
Tears filled her eyes and she tried to hold them so they would not slip down her face. The pain in her head did not matter, all she wanted was to go back to her bed with Ian and be with him.
She hadn’t gotten the chance to tell him her truest feelings, tell him that she loved him, and wanted to spend the rest of her days in his arms. That she wanted to bear his children, beautiful girls and boys with dark hair and eyes matching his and watch them grow together with him as they aged themselves.
Hope wanted a chance to say all of this to him. She hated Lyall, she wanted nothing to do with him, and she would never be with him even though he forced her. Her hatred for him was as enormous as her passion for Ian.
“Whatever ye do, dinnae hurt my daughter,” he warned, and Lyall laughed. The sound irritated Hope, and she couldn’t imagine herself being with him.
“I will cherish yer daughter, Laird Drummond, ye have nothin’ to fear. She is a woman, a bonnie one, and I cherish all my women,” he said and Hope whimpered lightly where she lay. She became still, hoping no one heard her.
Her father replied, “I enjoyed yer feast, I will return to my home by the morrow. Make sure ye take care of yer nephew as discussed, I dinnae want him near my daughter ever.”
“Ye have my promise.”
She heard the footsteps as they walked out of the chamber, and shut the door behind them, and Hope gasped as she opened her eyes. She was alone in the chamber now, so she stood up and rushed to the small window and stared out.
“What do I do, Ian?” she sobbed out and placed her hand on her chest as she cried. Scared and alone in the dark chamber, she stood by the window and cried, unable to shake off the dreadful feeling that she might never see the love of her life again.
She didn’t want to imagine not being with him, or spending the rest of her life with Lyall like her father wanted. Hope wished she could go after her father, and plead with him not to condemn her to that fate without Ian, not to let her be with a man as vile as Lyall, but she knew her father could not see who Lyall really was.
Either that, or he didn’t care about her at all.
All she could see as she stared far ahead, was the darkness of the night, and the white snow covering the mountains far ahead. She knew she was not in the Castle, and she feared that no one would find her here.
28
Ian was with Callum the moment dawn broke. He paced his friend’s front yard as Rhea and Callum tried to come up with a plan. Ian was seething, his rage unbound even though Rhea tried to calm him down, all he wanted to do was find his uncle and plant his fist in his smug face.
He planned to tell them about the treasure, but he decided that had to wait as Hope was more important to him. “Laird Drummond, Hope’s father, was in the court chamber, I had no idea he was in Galloway, and I dinnae think this has happened without him being aware of it.”
“I have men searchin’ the cottages in the village, if Lyall took her, he wouldnae hide her in the Castle.”
Ian raked his fingers through his hair, and closed his eyes for a minute. He sucked in a deep breath, and tried to maintain a calm composure, but his troubled thoughts overpowered his rational reasoning.
“What else can we do?” Rhea asked. “We cannae just sit and wait until the men come back, we have to do somethin’.”
Callum was silent, and Ian watched him ponder on his words for a long time before he spoke. “We can join the search, but we split up and meet at a general point after. We search the entire village until we find Hope,” he replied.
Orlaith stepped out of the cottage then, she was holding Callum’s sleeping daughter in her arms. “Did somethin’ happen?” Orlaith asked. “Hope is nay with ye today.”
Ian was reluctant to tell her what happened, so he forced a shaky smile on his lips and Rhea spoke, “She is in the Castle; she will come around tomorrow.”
Orlaith hesitated, then she went back into the cottage. Callum went in to speak with his wife briefly, then he joined Ian and Rhea for a ride to search the village.
Ian did not want to give up so easily, he continued the search long into the evening, not stopping to rest for a moment. The search continued through the next day and by evening, Ian was exhausted but not willing to retire.
He asked Rhea to return to the Castle while he searched more cottages. It was dark when he finally returned to his wing of the Castle, and instead of spending the night in his bedchamber, he went into his small court room and dropped on a chair. The servants served him his meal there and he toyed with the food, unable to eat it properly by himself. He fell asleep on the wooden chair, but awoke in the middle of the night when he had a nightmare.
Panting, he rubbed his face and tried to dispel the troubling images in his head, images of Hope, hurt and crying for him to save her. His throat tightened and he slowly rose from the chair and made his way to his chamber.
* * *
Hope stared at the food served to her. There were a lot of fruits, many vegetables and haggis, but she could eat none of them. Her stomach churned, her hair was a mess as she had not let the servants who came into the chamber touch her, and she refused to eat on purpose.
Hours passed, and Lyall finally came in to see her. There was a displeased look on his face as he paced the chamber, and Hope continued to stare at him with a blank expression.
“How long will ye keep me here?” she asked him in a shaky voice even as she clutched the hem of the dress she wore, and tried to stop herself from trembling in fear of him. He paused his pacing, and turned to look at her, then he walked to the bed, and dragged her to her feet.
Hope gasped as he plastered her against his chest, and his breath touched her face. She whimpered, and looked away from him, but he forced her chin to him so she had no other choice but to stare into his dark eyes.
