Page 5 of Captured By the Cruel Highlander
“It isnae personal, lass. Ye were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Och, aye. Well, so were ye!” she shouted, squirming like a worm in his grasp as he cursed. “Ye dinnae ken who ye are dealin’ with.”
“I ken full well of that dobber’s reputation. I’ll nae be intimidated by him.”
“I meant me!” she cried, twisting and turning, trying to bite the arm that held her.
Suddenly, there was a great commotion in the kirk, and Bruce sprinted outside. He had his sword drawn, blood running down his face. As soon as he laid eyes on Emily, he ran at full pelt toward them.
Emily felt the man beneath her tense up as he heard the footsteps coming up behind them. Unsheathing his sword, he turned, slicing it mercilessly through the air. Did he believe Bruce was one of Laird Orkney’s men?
Bruce staggered back, caught off guard by the speed of the attack. There was a long cut across his chest from the tip of the blade.
“Nay, Bruce. Nay! Put me down!” Emily screamed.
She redoubled her efforts, but it was no use. Even in her playfights with her brother, she had never felt strength like this. She did not consider herself weak, but this man was in a different league.
She looked despairingly back at her brother, who was doubled over, holding his chest. His fingers were soaked in blood. Her father emerged from the kirk, running over to him and examining the wound.
Before she knew what was happening, she heard the snort of a horse beside her head. Looking to her right, she met an enormous eye with long, elegant eyelashes and found herself face-to-face with her captor’s stallion.
“Get on the beast,” came the angry command.
He set her on the ground, and she tried to dash out of his reach. With a grunt, he sheathed his sword and wrapped his free arm around her torso. She was pinned and unable to move.
“Either get on this horse, or I’ll carry ye like a sack of potatoes all the way to me castle. It’s several miles, and ye’ll beg for the saddle by the end of it.”
That voice.
It was so low that she could feel it in her very bones. She shuddered as his arm tightened around her torso. Looking back at her brother, she was relieved to see he was standing besidetheir father. His léine might be soaked with blood, but he was upright and alert. They were both watching her in despair.
Behind them, her captor’s men were flooding out of the kirk. If she had thought them outnumbered by Laird Orkney’s forces, that was nothing compared to this.
“Well?”
Emily scowled at her kidnapper. “I will never do as ye say. I despise ye!”
“I’m devastated, lass. Now, are ye gettin’ on this horse, or will I have ye over me knee the whole way?”
Emily considered her options frantically.
Can I let this man take me?
Her brother and father were no match for him. If they attempted to rescue her, she had no doubt they would be killed.
With a bitter taste in her mouth, she realized she had little choice but to comply with the man’s demands.
“Alright.”
He lowered her slowly to the ground. Her eyes barely came up to his navel. She felt a jolt of panic as he pulled a small knife from his boot, but he merely used it to cut her bonds.
Rubbing her wrists, she didn’t delay in climbing onto the horse. It was a beautiful black beast, just as enormous as its rider. She struggled to find purchase on the stirrup, her foot unable to reach it. Eventually, huge hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her into the saddle.
It was a gentle motion, nothing of the roughness he had employed when he held her. She frowned down at him in surprise, but he was now glaring back at her family in warning.
He lifted himself onto the horse in one smooth movement, swinging a huge muscular leg behind her. It was a cool day, and the breeze was brisk, but his body was hot like a furnace.
She looked back at her father and brother.
