Page 5 of Highlander of Steel
“On ye get,” the man said in that deep, gravelly voice as he hefted her unceremoniously onto the horse’s sturdy back.
Her hand shot out to grab the pommel of the saddle, if only to stop herself from tipping over the other side. She definitely wasn’t willinglystaying seated. But the man used that opportunity to pull himself up behind her, his arm locking around her waist for a third time, while his other hand grabbed the reins.
“Ye might want to throw yer leg over,” he warned. “We willnae be goin’ slow.”
He didn’t wait for her to respond. The horse lurched into a walk that lengthened into a canter that soon became a breathtaking gallop.
Ailis didn’t intend to make the kidnapping easier for him, but sure enough, she swung her leg over. She had to, for though the man’s arm was strong and steady around her waist, she couldn’t ignore the feeling that she would fall and be trampled to mush by those huge hooves at any moment.
“Good lass,” the man murmured.
Those two words left Ailis breathless for another reason as the horse charged toward open moorland.
She had barely gotten over the dizzying speed of the horse and the press of the stranger’s hard body against her back when the drum of the stallion’s hooves was joined by fresh percussion.
Twisting her head as far as she could, Ailis saw the shapes of other riders, kicking up clods of earth as they raced to catch up. She counted five. Murdock and his usual vanguard of trusted men, riding in a ‘v’ formation.
All but Murdock were drawing their bows and nocking arrows.
“They’ll surely hit me too,” Ailis croaked. Her worry was so visceral that she had accidentally spoken aloud.
“Nay, they willnae,” her kidnapper replied, immediately turning his horse.
The great beast thundered toward the safety of the dense forest instead of the open moorland.
As the first arrows were loosed, thudding into the earth a good distance from the black stallion, Murdock called out, “Ye’ll stop at once and bring me sister back, or there’ll be an ocean of blood to pay!”
The kidnapper grunted, a sound that might have been his version of laughter. Without bothering to turn, he shouted back, “It’s yer sister’s life for me braither’s! I own her now, and if ye take what’s mine, ye’ll be the one payin’ in blood!”
His stallion sped up, crashing through the tree line and into the shadows of the forest, where Murdock and his four men likely wouldn’t stand a chance of getting Ailis back.
Ailis hadn’t heard the sound of pursuit for some time as the forest gradually thinned and the horse slowed to a less nauseating pace. Even so, it took her a while to find her voice after the wind and the panic had snatched it away.
“What do ye plan to do with me?” she asked quietly, taking in her surroundings.
They seemed to be following a trail that sloped upward, worn into the earth by countless feet and carts and hooves. On her right, in the distance, a river glittered in the moonlight. Undoubtedly the same river that marked the border between Ainsley land and MacNairn land.
For a moment, her kidnapper, whom she assumed to be the new Laird MacNairn, didn’t reply.
“It’s yer sister’s life for me braither’s!”
His words echoed in her mind, more or less confirming her suspicion. Then again, Fraser Lennox wasn’t dead.
Indeed, if her kidnapper had said, “It’s yer sister’s life for me faither’s,” then she might have been a little more concerned about her fate. Barron Lennoxwasdead. Or so Murdock had told her.
“Keep ye,” the dark-haired bear of a man said, at last.
She took a shaky breath. “Ye’re Laird MacNairn, are ye nae?”
“I am now, aye.”
She couldn’t ignore the slight bite in his voice, the accusation. As if she were the one who had held the sword that ended Barron Lennox’s life.
I have a chance of survivin’ this.
Clearing her throat, she pulled herself forward in the saddle. She had always been aware of her ample backside. Her father and brother, and whoever else wished to join in the mockery, always made sure to remind her of how large and unseemly she was.
But she didnotneed her buttocks to be cushioning her kidnapper’s loins at that very moment, the too-intimate nudge of him exacerbated with every rock and sway of the horse.
