Page 101 of Captured By the Cruel Highlander
He approached her eagerly, taking her into his arms in a rare show of affection and then leaning back to look at her.
“I didnae have a chance to see ye properly last night. How are ye feelin’ after yer journey?”
“Well enough,” she said, gently taking his hands in her own, mindful of the painful stump on his left one. “How areye?”
“Och, the healer says it will heal well. I cannae complain. We are all alive and well.”
Emily pulled her hands back briefly and pulled the signet ring from her index finger. She handed it to him, and he raised his eyebrows as he took it.
“I didnae think I would see it again.”
Her father placed the signet ring on the little finger of his other hand and held it up to the light with a strange smile. Emily rather thought he saw it as a badge of honor now, a scar to avenge his daughter.
Emily hesitated. “MacNiall returned it to me. I think he always kenned I would see ye again.” She stared down at the ring, anger mixing with relief at the memories it invoked. “I wish I had had a chance to stab Stewart meself,” she said furiously.
“Now, now, I willnae have me daughter speakin’ of murder. He is dead, and that is the true victory. It is the one thing I am grateful to MacNiall for.”
Emily tamped down the immediate urge to defend Adam. It would be a long time before she could tell her father what had really happened between them—if she ever could.
They all took their seats. Emily smiled as she saw that her favorite foods had been prepared. There was a fresh seed cake at the end of the table, and her father clucked his tongue at her as she took a slice before anything else. There was bacon, eggs, and haggis. She felt spoiled and happy to be home despite the ache in her chest.
Breakfast was a cheerful affair. Bruce gave Emily the details of how they had spent the past weeks. She was startled to discover that almost as soon as Adam had taken her, Stewart sent men to follow her brother and father back to the castle.
Bruce’s voice was grave.
“We werenae able to leave the grounds. Everythin’ that was delivered was searched. We felt like prisoners in our own home, and we could do nothin’ against him. Every time we tried he threatened he’d…Well, that he’d hurt ye. He sent dozens of men, far more than we had to defend ourselves.”
Her father’s expression was angry and bitter as she listened.
“We desperately wanted to come and find ye. We tried to send scouts to look for ye, but after three of them were killed, we had to stop.”
“It was a difficult time,” her father added with a crack in his voice that made Emily tear up. She rarely heard any emotion from him, but her absence had clearly pained him greatly.
“Ye ken I was well looked after, Faither,” she insisted. “MacNiall isnae as bad as ye think.”
“I dinnae ken if I deserve such praise,” came a deep voice from the end of the room.
Bruce and her father were on their feet in seconds, their swords drawn. Bruce took a long stride forward, ready to kill Adam where he stood.
Adam was standing at the end of the table, as though he had materialized out of thin air, and Emily couldn’t take her eyes off him.
He was wearing the same clothing that he had at her wedding to James. The fur around his shoulders made him look like a wolf again, and he had tied back his hair, showing off his sharp features and high cheekbones.
Emily remained seated as those familiar blue eyes found hers.
“Ye have nay business here,” Bruce spat, taking another step forward. “Or have ye come to finish what ye started?” He raised his léine to show the thin cut that ran across the entire length of his torso.
Adam took a few steps forward as Laird Wilkinson rounded the table, standing behind Emily’s chair and glaring at him with pure hatred.
“I have come to speak to me wife,” Adam said evenly, watching the two men as though they posed no threat at all.
“I didnae think ye had a wife,” Bruce snapped. “Seein’ as ye sent her away after ye got what ye wanted from her.”
Adam laid a hand on his chest. “Ye are right. Ye have nay reason to trust me, and I will do as ye say. All I ask is that ye give Emily the chance to choose whether I remain or go back to me castle. If she doesnae want me here, I’ll let ye cut me as ye see fit.”
Emily swallowed convulsively past the lump in her throat, glancing between the three men in agitation. She didn’t knowwhat to do. All she was certain of was that a stupid part of her heart didn’t want Adam to leave.
He looked glorious before her. Like a dark angel come to rescue her.
