Chapter 3
Creating space between herself and her captor was impossible on a horse, but it didn’t keep Willow from trying. She was familiar with the gentle sway of riding on a horse, but she’d yet to share one with a man like this. It was a constant invasion of her space, and Willow was desperate to force her thoughts away from the feel of Keegan pressed up against her back.
It, too, proved futile. Willow was intimately aware of the firm muscles that surrounded her, and an odd pleasure accompanied it that made her cheeks burn fiercely.
Traitorous thoughts, body. Ye cannae get aboard the ship with the rest of yer parts. He is the enemy .
The remainder did little, however, and Willow forced herself to take a deep breath, seeking the clarity it usually brought. Unfortunately, all it did was pull Keegan’s scent into her nose, and she could not think around the unique scent of him.
Willow squirmed all the more in the saddle, shifting this way and that in an attempt to distract herself. But then Keegan let out a gruff groan.
“Will ye desist, lass? If ye keep brushing against me like that, ye willnae appreciate the outcome.”
Flames licked inside her cheeks, her blood, and Willow immediately froze. He couldnae possibly mean…Oh, hell.
Limited experience though she had, Willow had talked enough with the servants and other women in attendance at the clan gatherings to have heard at least a thing or two about men and how they…worked. Panic set her heart rate up, and Willow’s eyes squeezed shut as she imagined being at fault for that particular reaction.
Silence flooded back in around them, and the horse continued forward in the line of Brahanne men. Keegan rode with only Damon at his back and the remainder of the men before him. It gave her the perfect opportunity to study them, and Willow set to it forcibly.
There arenae many of them. A small unit. It had clearly been a targeted attack against the carriage .
Willow was no fool when it came to the workings of the world. She took every chance she could to learn and observe her brother’s dealings. Ignorance would not serve her in any life, and that was truer now than ever.
They were a burly crew as well, rough around the edges and capable of taking down her men rather quickly. Apparently, her brother’s men were not the stuff of legend that he made them out to be. Still, it would be like him to have given her protection detail to his least favorite men.
Ye need to see a weakness, Willow. A clue that may yet help ye to survive all this .
However, she did not know what to look for precisely, and her time on the road for the day was quickly coming to an end she realized. Keegan called out, stopping the men at the side of the road. As they gathered around the horse, Willow’s eyes flicked to each of them, unable to settle on any one man.
“We will ride separately from here forward. It will keep the McCallum from tracking down the correct trail. Set off in twos for the castle using varied routes. Ye all ken the land well.”
Willow swallowed down her gasp. Keegan was more intelligent than she had given him credit for, which, of course, infuriated her. Rescue by her brother or men would be delayed quite a bit if they could not find her, and reaching the castle would make her return to Magnus that much more difficult.
“I will ride with ye, Brother,” Damon offered, but Willow felt Keegan shake his head behind her.
“Nay. I willnae leave one of the others without a partner. I will meet ye all back at the keep. Understood?”
Her mind spinning, Willow went over the grouping of warriors once more. Groups of two would create such an arrangement that left one rider alone. There were seven of them in total if she did not count herself.
“Brother, are ye sure that is wise?” Damon glared at her before flicking his stare up to his brother.
“Aye.” Keegan jostled Willow in the saddle, playing it off as if he were adjusting for comfort. “I ken the land, and I shall be able to keep a single lass hidden from spies.”
Damon nodded, the irritation barely hidden on his face, and the men quickly separated into two groups of riders and each took off in different directions for the Brahanne castle.
Willow ground her teeth, ducking her head as she clamped her eyes shut. I see that I shall be alone with my captor. Well, he shall receive similar treatment to Magnus .
It had only been a few minutes, perhaps a grand total of fifteen or so, before Willow set her spine and at last asked the question that had been plaguing her mind.
“Are ye certain that me men were unharmed?”
Not so much as a word was offered from behind her, a slight grunt the only indication that the man had even heard her. Willow rolled her eyes with Keegan could not see, perpetually annoyed by his lack of flexibility.
“Will ye nae offer me anythin'?” Still nothing. “Ugh, what possessed ye to kidnap me at all? I am hardly a prize. I am a simple woman, and ye interrupted me journey to me betrothed.”
Keegan adjusted behind her, making Willow’s mind turn again to how very close they were, and squeezed his legs around the horse. It took off at greater speed as if Keegan himself were quite through with all this travel.
“Ye cannae even be bothered to tell me what yer laird intends to do with me? I’ve nay mind of what he wants from me or what great offense I may have done him.”
The aggravating warrior still offered Willow nothing except, of course, to nudge her in the back with the pommel of his sword. It bit into her spine, and she was quite confident that the man had done it purposefully.
Ye blasted, arrogant ? —
“Can ye at least tell me who this Melissa lass is? I would hear about the lass who has caused me such an experience.”
Abruptly, Keegan jerked on the reins, making the horse come to a sudden halt that nearly threw her to the ground. Willow yelped as she was pitched forward, only to have the strong hand of the warrior behind her grab hold of the back of her dress.
He used his grip to force Willow around and look him in the eye.
“Speak the truth, lass, or I shall think verra differently about letting ye fall to the earth. Do ye honestly have nay notion who Melissa is, or are ye lying through yer teeth?”
The ice in Keegan’s voice was enough to chill her blood, and Willow fought the urge to shiver. His bright blue stare was glowing with rage, the likes of which looked like it might burst free at any moment. She had rarely seen a man, or any person for that matter, so worked up, and so she took it to mean that whoever this Melissa was, she meant a great deal to the clan.
Straightening, Willow held Keegan’s gaze, doing everything with her own to convey the truth of her words.
“I daenae ken who this woman is, and I am sorry that yer clan has gone without someone who means so much to ye.”
As expected, Keegan studied Willow, scrutinizing every twitch and stillness of her face. His stare never wavered from her eyes, and she didn’t dare look away. The result, of course, was that Willow was given the opportunity to take in the tiny details of Keegan’s face and that wicked stare of his.
Striations of a deeper navy and lighter teal streaked through Keegan’s irises, flecks of color that created a universe in his gaze. His thick, dark slashes contrasted with their light color and the pale complexion of his skin. Keegan’s brows were down low over his eyes as well, and the chill that had taken her blood just a moment before began to shift to a burning the likes of which Willow could not stand.
There was something about the way the man’s stare penetrated her that forced Willow to blink, her attention moving to the ground where the tall grasses danced gently in the breeze.
I wasnae wrong, though. The woman is clearly of great importance to them. The lady of the castle, perhaps?
“Is she the Laird of Brahanne’s wife? The Lady?”
As she turned back toward the front of the horse, Keegan settled into the saddle once more, holding the reins at the ready but unmoving.
“Sister.”
“Please, I dinnae mean any disrespect. Can ye tell me what happened?”
Keegan tensed behind her, the frame of his arms around her body closing in. He was just so damned close, and Willow could feel every breath the man took, and each one he held deep within his chest, and he locked up tighter than a drum.
“Yer brother kidnapped her.”
At that, Keegan flourished the reins, sending the horse into motion. Willow could still feel the iron tension that ran through him, and she was forced to suck in a deep breath, her eyes closing for a moment.
She had never seen a strange woman about the castle, and when Magnus had arrived after his outing, he’d said that they captured a spy for the Brahanne. It seemed unlikely that he would kidnap a woman. Her brother was cruel enough. It wasn’t that. It was that overcoming a woman did not hold a point of pride in his mind.
He is greedy and violent, but me brother has never been overly distracted by a woman. Marriage and conquest are hardly on his mind by everything I’ve seen.
Still, she was beginning to believe that there was much more to her brother’s endless toiling than she realized.
Another thirty minutes or so had passed, and the ferocious growling of Willow’s stomach yanked her from her thoughts. She was starving, having not eaten since early this morning, and the bloody thing would not stop as Keegan pushed the horse forward.
The sky was darkening around them, and as another wave of hunger crashed over her, Keegan began to slow their ride.
“It is late. There is a village nearby. We shall eat and sleep at their inn.”
She was about to respond when the man called out to the horse and got it moving at full speed once more.
As he’d said, a village appeared as they crested over the top of the hill, and Keegan drove them down the other side until they pulled up to the outer wall and dismounted. The watch kept a keen eye on us as Keegan led the horse to the stables for the evening, and then he was pulling Willow along like a lost child until they were at the inn.
Inside, the building was warm and smelled so strongly of food that Willow’s stomach roared all over again. There were several men and women inside getting a meal and even a bard playing the bagpipes atop a small platform at the back. Keegan walked to the bar where the proprietor stood, and Willow hurried after him to keep up with the hold he had on her arm.
“Good evening, sir. How may I assist ye?”
The older gentleman who spoke was a portly fellow, his cheeks a sunburnt red and his brown curls frizzled and wild.
“A room for me wife and I, if ye’d be so kind. Thank ye.”
The word cut through Willow like a knife, and she flicked her eyes to Keegan, glaring daggers through the side of his face.
“Of course, sir. Shall ye be requiring supper this evening?”
Before Keegan could respond, Willow cut in. “I willnae be sleeping in the same room as ye.”
The words were chewed out through gritted teeth, but both Keegan and the gentleman helping them only chuckled. She was ready to scream, forgoing her promise to “behave.”
If this brute thinks I will be tending to his every word, I shall show him what I’ve learned from Magnus .
“Och, be at ease, mistress. I’m sure whatever slight yer husband has performed will be best mended by a night in the same bed.”
Willow scoffed, facing the innkeeper to glare at him, happy to do so until the rest of his scraggly hair fell out.
“Now, now, dear .” Keegan reached out, taking Willow’s chin and forcing her to look him in the eyes. “Ye can hate me all ye want, but ye willnae turn yer ire on this kind gentleman.”
She clenched her jaw, grinding her molars as Keegan held her still. As the older man turned away from them to fetch something, her captor leaned in closer, his lips brushing across her ear.
“Tonight, lass, ye will lie beside me—whether ye like it or nae.”