Chapter 3
“What do ye mean, ye have nay intention of gettin' married?” Darragh asked incredulously.
Talia wondered why her words surprised him, when she had repeated them several times. She was even tired of saying them over and over.
Perhaps she should have been more cautious when she woke up to that crack in her mirror. That was an omen she had ignored, but it seemed there was some truth to such superstitions.
“I meant just that,” she answered, raising an eyebrow at him. “I daenae intend to get married. If ye came all this way to convince me to marry, then I am sorry to disappoint ye.”
She watched his expression shift from incredulity to anger, but she was not in the least bit bothered. She was tired and angry that her day had been ruined with such unpleasant interruptions, when all she had intended to do was work on her herb garden and tend to her evening patients.
“Ye cannae remain unmarried,” he insisted. “Ye’re a woman. ‘Tis yer duty to marry.”
“Me duty to whom?” she scoffed. “I have nay father, and I have nay family name to carry on. I am free of duty.”
He looked taken aback by her question, and while the look delighted her, she was still angry.
Just who was this man to tell her what to do?
Jonathan had already betrayed her by adding such a stipulation to manipulate her into something she did not want, and she had not even been given time to process it. Now this stranger thought he could force his way into her home and order her to do his bidding?
How dare he?
“Jonathan trusted me with seein' ye well situated with a husband, and I have every intention of doing so.”
“If yer inheritance wasnae tied to yer duty, would ye have come all this way?” she hissed. “Ye were content to stay in yer castle all these years. I advise ye to go back there and leave me be.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw as he clenched his teeth.
She had insulted him, that much was obvious, and she was glad she had. Her fatal flaw had always been her ability to speak the truth, no matter how it hurt, and he needed to hear it.
He had not come out of some sense of duty to Jonathan. He had only traveled this distance because he wanted to claim his inheritance. It annoyed her even more that Mr. McCain had gone to him first to inform him of the will. Or how else would he have found her so quickly?
Gods above!
She was tired of the men in her life and their poor attempts to control her.
“Insult me all ye wish, but ye daenae have a say in the matter,” he said calmly, clearly trying to rein in his temper. “I am responsible for ye now, and ye will obey me.”
“And I have told ye,” she retorted, “ye daenae have to bother yerself with me existence. Discuss a way out of the terms with Mr. McCain. I am sure he will listen to ye.”
“It doesnae work that way. Why are ye being so stubborn?”
“Stubborn?” she scoffed. “I have just learned that the only father I had ken betrayed me trust and is trying to force me into a life I daenae want, and ye think I’m being stubborn? Ye clearly are an unreasonable man.”
His face softened, and she saw what she hated reflected in his eyes: pity.
“I daenae need yer pity!” she snapped. “I need ye to leave me home and to leave me in peace. I was doing just fine before I kent about the will, and I intend to continue doing so.”
“Yer future has been committed to me as such I cannae allow ye to continue to do as ye wish,” he insisted. “Ye have nay choice but to do what I say.”
“I daenae have to do anything ye ask of me.”
“I didnae ask anything of ye, Miss Collins,” he said in a pointed tone. “I gave ye an order. Ye will come with me to the castle—”
“Who are ye to give me orders?”
“I am yer Laird, and since ye are a member of this clan, ye have to do as I say.”
Talia could not help herself; she burst into laughter. But when she looked at him, she saw the grim look on his face.
He was actually serious, and he seemed offended by the fact that she was laughing at him.
What was he expecting, though? That she would follow his inane order?
“Ye cannae seriously think that would make me obey ye,” she snorted. “Does it usually work? Even if it does, I am sorry it doesnae make me change me mind. If it bothers ye so much, I can simply leave the clan. That way, I’ll be free of me obligations to ye.”
“Argh!” he growled.
She stepped back as he rushed forward, her heart lurching in fear. She felt her back hit the wall.
“What are ye doing?” she squeaked when he kept approaching.
Her heart pounded furiously in her chest, and she lifted her arms to protect her face, thinking he was going to hit her. But he did nothing of the sort.
She tentatively lifted her eyes to his and dropped her hands when she found him eyeing her warily.
“What are ye doing?” he asked.
“I thought ye were goin’ to hit me,” she mumbled.
He looked affronted. “I would never.”
“How would I ken that, considerin’ I daenae ken ye or what ye’re capable of?” she shot back with a frown.
“Ye can trust me nae to hurt ye, Miss Collins,” he assured her. “I am nae a brute.”
“I daenae ken if I can. Ye’re a stranger. Why should I trust ye? I daenae even ken what ye want from me.”
“I want ye to come with me. I want ye to stop being so stubborn about this.”
“I am nae being stubborn,” she huffed. “I am only telling ye I willnae leave me home to follow ye.”
“Ye’re an infuriating woman,” he breathed, looking down at her. “Why cannae ye just listen to reason?”
“If it is reason, then ye would consider me opinions before making a decision about me future.”
“I am considerin’ yer opinions,” he argued. “‘Tis why I didnae throw ye over me shoulder and into me carriage.”
“I wouldnae have made it easy for ye,” she retorted, squaring her shoulders.
“Ye would still have lost,” he said smugly.
And it would not be a difficult thing for him at all. He was so much larger than her and built in a way that spoke of strength and familiarity with toil. It would be as easy as lifting a sack of flour.
She hated how she found that attractive.
Of course, she had been around men before, but compared to this arrogant stranger, they all seemed like nervous lads fresh out of the schoolroom. There was a sureness in the way he carried himself, a strength in his broad shoulders that made her want to be near him.
She swallowed, hating how his handsome face and proximity had her heart racing in her chest. His rich scent enveloped her, grass and dew and something distinctly masculine, overwhelming her really. But rather than pull away, she breathed in deeper.
His nostrils flared as he watched her, his forest-green eyes darkening as they dropped to her lips.
For a brief second, she wondered if he would kiss her and wondered still why she did not think she would mind.
She knew she was attractive, considering the number of men who had pursued her. But while they had been pleasantly polite in their affections, this man, with his brash, barely restrained attraction, made her feel beautiful.
“I will go with ye,” she acquiesced, surprising him. “But I ask that ye give me a moment to pack some of me things.”
“There is nay need. I will have someone move yer things to the castle.”
“‘Tis only a few things I cannae go a day without,” she assured him. “I willnae tarry.”
He looked at her for a long minute and then nodded, stepping away from her.
She moved away from him, hiding a smile as she did. He would no doubt have his guard down now that he thought he had intimidated her into obedience.
Her plan was simple: pack a small bag that she could run away with, climb out of her chamber window, keep low until she had cleared the house, then head into the town
The elderly Mrs. Fraser would hide her for as long as she needed, and she only needed a few days. Surely he would give up looking for her after a few days.
She chuckled to herself as she went to her chambers and did just as she planned. A leather pouch went into her satchel as well as a dress, nightwear, her hairbrush, and some novels. Then she slowly opened the window, so as not to make any noise, and climbed out carefully.
She dropped to the ground on a crouch, looking around to check that no one had seen her. Sighting no one, she kept low and took off running. She could hail a hackney at the end of the road.
Freedom hung in the air, and she intended to make full use of it.
Darragh gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists as he tried to make sense of what had just happened between him and the infuriating lass he was now responsible for.
Never had he had such a visceral reaction to a woman, and in less than an hour of meeting her, he was struggling not to kiss her.
Devils!
He had not known what to expect when he had thought of his cousin’s ward, but he surely had not been prepared for the woman he met.
She was bonny in the way fire was on a cold night, with a full head of red hair that clashed with her fiery green eyes. Her beauty had struck him, but it was her mouth that had lit this fire inside of him that struggled to break free.
Soft and full, made for kissing, with perfect cupid’s bow lips that had his tongue itching to taste them. He had a weakness for full lips, and this woman was a temptation he had been sorely unprepared to face.
Devils.
He would need to call on the self-control he prided himself on having in the short time she would be with him until he found her a husband.
Jonathan had never mentioned anything about his ward in the letters they had exchanged over the years. Their relationship had been cordial enough for him to discuss intimate struggles despite their age gap, but not once had he ever mentioned the struggle of raising his ward.
Considering how she had infuriated him in the short while he had known her, she had no doubt been a constant headache for his peace-loving cousin.