Page 33 of When the Laird Claims
“Yes, I… well, I think that I might have a possible solution to your problem. But, I want to be clear that before I tell you my plan, I have some stipulations that must be put into place,” Victoria said, adopting a very formal tone that made him want to hear her gasping sighs even more.
“Such as?”
“I want your word that you will not kill the Earl, that you will hand him over to the appropriate authorities.”
“Yer authorities have nay power over me, lass, or him if what ye told me of his influence is true,” Arran answered honestly. “Ye have asked for the one thing that ye ken I cannae give ye.”
“Imprison him yourself, then. Here,” she urged, her throat bobbing. “Torment him, do what you please to him, just as long as it is not murder.”
He did not know what Kristin would make of that, having that wretch in the same keep as her and her child, but it was something he could ask. Negotiate, perhaps. If Kristin decided against it, then at least he could tell Victoria that he had tried.
“I can consider that,” he said.
Victoria chewed on her lip for a long moment. “Very well, then… I think that it would work best if ye were to use me.”
Arran could have choked on his tongue right then and there. “What?”
“I am perfectly serious,” Victoria continued. “I think that if you were to tell the men that you have there to start spreading rumors about my kidnapping, and that you are threatening to kill me… if his staff heard that, they would have no choice but toinform him. The Earl is an arrogant man; he would return home at once.”
That made much more sense than what he hadthoughtshe was implying.
“I appreciate the sentiment, lass, but I am nae attempting to put ye in danger. I have already told ye that ye are a guest here.”
“Yes, I understand that.” Victoria scooted closer in her chair. “But, Arran, if he were to eventhinkthat I was in jeopardy, or that something might actually take me from him? He would be obligated to return home. As it is right now, I am quite certain that he is pretending to be searching for me as an excusenotto return home.”
“The risk is far too great, and I cannae agree to yer terms. I willnae give ye me word about that,” Arran insisted.
“Will you at least consider it? Please?” Victoria pleaded. “I cannot stand the thought of you being a murderer, or that you would be forced to do something like that because of me. I do not think I could live with myself.”
Arran understood. He appreciated her soft heart. But that was simply not his reality. He looked away from her, training his gaze on the table in front of him. “He is nae the first man that I will have killed, lass, but he certainly will be the most deserving. And I willnae be shamed about how I choose to live.”
“That is not… what I mean to say is–”
Arran shook his head and waved his hand, indicating that she didn’t need to continue explaining herself. “I understand that ye are accustomed to a very… gentle sort of man. But, I am nae that sort of man. Within a bedchamber, I can be as tender as ye want me to be, but outside of it—I’m a warrior, lass. Have been all my life.”
Victoria seemed to let his words settle over her, but instead of commenting on what he said, she went right back to the subject at hand. “One of the servants in his manor must still be in communication with him. The Earl is vain; he will not be able to go without clean clothes, good food, or any of the other comforts that he has grown so accustomed to having access to. I truly believe that this will work, and it will lure him out of hiding.”
“And ye think nothin’ of the danger that it could pose to yerself in the process,” Arran added. It was not a question, but a statement of fact. “Does he truly love ye that much then?”
I willnae let ye be the bait for that sly fox. I willnae risk ye fallin’ back into his possession. Ye’re mine.It rankled him to hear her so willingly wish to throw herself into that man’s path. Of course, deep down, he knew that she did not actually want to be caught, but the very idea made his mood darken. Had that bastard not been given enough of her? Had that bastard nottakenenough of her?
Victoria flinched and shook her head, a bitter smile twisting her lips before it disappeared. It was almost as if he watched her gohollow right before his eyes. “No, but he believes that I am his. That will be enough.”
15
Whatever expression or reaction Victoria had expected Arran to have was not the one she received. He had looked vexed to begin with, but the moment that she referred to herself as a possession of Charles, he looked absolutely enraged. She had never seen him like that. It was the sort of expression that she would presume met his enemies on a battlefield.
She had to work to keep herself from flinching away from the intensity.
He would not hurt her. She knew that. At least she was mostly positive about that fact. She did not think that there was any reason to fear him. No, he was upset that she was being treated that way. He was not like Charles, not in any way. If anything, he was the opposite of him.
“I’ll only ask ye this once, Victoria, and please ken that I willnae think any less of ye, nay matter what yer answer is. After all, Iken what sort of man he is—what he did to my sister,” Arran growled. “Did that bastard…” He struggled to get the words out. “Did he lay claim to ye before he started mistreatin’ ye? Did he make ye his?”
It took her a moment to understand the meaning of his words and what he was actually implying.
The urge to slap him was something she had to swallow down. The very implication of his words was enough to cause a scandal where she came from.
“No!” she gasped. The only man who had ever touched her in that way was the one sitting across from her right now. He was the only one who had ever made her feel… like she might actually want to… “How could you even say such a thing to me?”
