Page 16 of Married to a Highland Brute

CHAPTERFIVE

Nora watched the tall shoulders of the Highlander as they exited the manor.

Could this be freedom?

Surely not.

A man was taking her back to his keep, no doubt to become his slave, all because of looming man-made wars. It enraged Nora, but she kept quiet, unsure whether the plan would succeed. She wouldn't know until they were safely off her father's estate.

She returned her gaze to the stairs, hoping to see Amelia come down to say goodbye, but no one appeared. She knew her twin sister was probably crying in her room. She realized as she walked away from the dining hall that she might not see her againfor a long time.

Nora bowed as she exited the front door and was led into the courtyard. Lord McKay—or, as she was surelysupposed to call him, Laird McKay—seemed to grow bigger the more she looked at him. He was an odd man, seemingly unlike everything she had heard about him.

Jonan McKay, brusque and rough, had been described as a beast within the halls of her father's manor. Though the man in front of her looked the part, his eyes were not nearly as menacing as she had imagined. He almost appeared to be pitying her.

Do not be fooled! He must treat you like a gentleman in front of Father. Hell begins once we get to his home, Nora believed and steeled herself. After all, this was all for Amelia.

Jonan got into his coach and waved her over to join him.

“Do ye nae have any luggage?”

She shook her head but still did not meet his eyes. “My father did not let us take any,” she said with a trembling voice.

Jonan seemed not to understand it. “We have a long ride ahead of us,” he said simply.

However, Nora remained outside the carriage, looking back at the house, thinking about her sister.

Where are you, Amelia? Nora wondered as she searched the windows of the house.

“Please, milady! We must be on our way. The roads are nae safe in the dark,” the other man accompanying Jonan said.

She is not coming. Nora's face sagged as she fought back tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. Her hands clutched her shawl, resisting the urge to squeeze her chest because the pain of this losswas causing her heart to explode.

I must go. She walked into the carriage with a heavy heart; that day she was leaving her home, and that home was her sister.

Better me than Amelia, shereasoned. She took a look at the large man sitting in front of her. He sister would have been terrified of him. Even Nora was worried;wonderingabout his possible temper.

But despite the fact that she was leaving with a group of strangers, she found herself calmer than she had anticipated.

Jonan ignored her, staring out the window, lost in thought. The wedding seemed to have been as unfeeling for him as it had been for her father. Nora, too, looked out her window, at the fields and the trees expanding before them.

“Stop!” Jonan suddenly yelled at the coachman. “Stop the carriage! Someone is comin’.” “Please stay here,” he told her before he stuck his head out to see who was approaching. He placed a hand on her leg as if to calm her.

Nora sat inside the carriage, shocked and unsure what to do.

She had never been touched by a man before, and while her instinct screamed at her to remove his hand off her thigh, she knew she was his bride.

That does not mean he owns me, Nora decided, removing his hand after all. He settled back into the carriage without reacting to her rejection.

“It must be yer sister,” he told her.

Amelia!

Nora pushed open the carriage door and stepped out with a gasp. Amelia was a good distance away.The girls dashed towards each other, eventually colliding halfway down the entryway.

“We will see each other again! You must promise me,” Amelia shouted.

“Yes! Of course!” Nora promised.

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