Chapter Six
Artair
“Oh my god! Oh! Look!”
We were standing on a cliff overlooking Dunnottar Castle, and admittedly, it was a majestic site.
The castle had resisted Edward the Longshanks and a myriad of other invasions from the English.
It was said that being a POW in the bowels of the castle was hell itself, and from this vantage point, I could see why.
The castle was surrounded on three sides by the frothing Atlantic Ocean, and the salt water and wind would have howled through the prison level. “Poor bastards,” I muttered.
A storm had passed through the night Luna confessed the conditions surrounding her sudden departure from Canada, putting a dent in our plans for several days. Luckily, we'd been safely nestled in my castle for the storm's duration, giving me ample opportunity to offer her an indoor tour.
Of course, I couldn't help ravaging her along the way. With fifty rooms to choose from, there were plenty of opportunities to lift her skirt and shove my cock between those silky folds. The fact a tour group might suddenly come upon us just seemed to add to the forbidden excitement for both of us.
Except, I would never allow anyone to suddenly come upon us. No one was seeing my girl naked; that was for my eyes alone. Luna had quickly become my drug of choice, and dousing myself in her essence, my favorite activity.
When the worst of the weather conditions passed, she insisted on seeing Dunnottar.
Ironically, I'd never stopped to take a good look at it myself.
Everything about my homeland screamed of a history steeped in mystery and unfortunate affairs.
From an outsider's perspective, I easily saw the charm that drew tourists here in droves, including Luna, whose eyes were bright and shiny as she took in the site.
She moved closer to the roped-off area, taking photos with all the other tourists.
About fifty feet from where I stood, an elderly couple took a tumble on the slick mud of the path, and I rushed over to offer my assistance.
The path was narrow and forced me to help them, one at a time, to a bench by the area marked for cars to park.
By the time I returned, Luna was nowhere to be found. “Luna!” I called as loudly as I could.
Panic set in when I caught up to the group of tourists, and she wasn't with them.
I knew she wasn't in the parking area, as I'd just been there.
I ran along the cliffside looking for her.
I was almost to the war monument on the promontory overlooking Dunnottar when I heard her voice in the wind.
I raced along the deer path that ran straight up the side instead of taking the path that wound its way around to the top.
I froze when I heard a man's voice, and not a Scottish one.
“I knew you'd be hiding here,” the voice accused.
“What do you want from me? I told you I'm not giving you anything.”
“You will, or I'll make sure the world knows who you really are.”
What the hell? I reached the top in time to see a man holding Luna's arms and shaking her violently.
“Hey! Get your hands off her!” I shouted.
The man was so startled, he immediately dropped his hands and raced off in the opposite direction.
As much as I wished to go after him and beat him to a pulp, Luna was my first concern.
When I reached her, she was shaking, with tears staining her cheeks.
I took her in my arms and held her until the trembling subsided.
“Are you all right, lass? Did he hurt you?”
She pressed her face into my chest, her arms curled in front of her and pinned between our bodies. “No. I think I'm okay. Can we go home?”
That she thought of my place as home warmed my heart but was also a warning that things were progressing at a rate even I felt I had no control over. Regardless, I wanted to take her home and put her in my bed and keep her there.
I wanted to feed her and fuck her and never let her go. That thought brought me up short. This thing between us was growing, and rapidly, but where would it all end up? I needed some time to think about my next move.
“Aye. Let's go home.” I kept my arm around her as we walked the slippery slope back down and toward the lot where I'd parked my car. She was quiet on the way back, her eyes set straight ahead, but she was lost, her gaze staring inward and no doubt stuck on what had just occurred.
I had my suspicions, but a stalker following her to Scotland seemed farfetched, unless the stalker was one of what I called 'the crazies who wanted to get their way no matter the price.' But if that were the case, then why Luna? She wasn't rich or famous.
Once we reached the parking lot, he was nowhere in sight, but that wasn't a surprise.
I would use my local connections and find the guy, but for now, taking Luna home and seeing to her needs was my priority.
She was shivering, but I doubted it was from the rain.
The encounter had left her shaken, and I needed to help her rebalance.
Pulling out onto the freeway, I headed toward home.
It was a good hour from where we were, barring any traffic.
If Graeme had been driving us, I was sure we'd be home quicker, as he knew every back road in Scotland, but at Luna's insistence, he'd been given the day off.
“Did you know that man who accosted you?”
Luna had her gaze fixed on the landscape outside the passenger window. Her shoulders rose at my question. “Yes and no.”
“So he isn't an ex-lover?” I asked, trying not to sound like a jealous boyfriend.
Her shoulders hunched deeper. “I don't want to talk about it. I think I should leave.”
The hair rose on my arms. Leave Scotland? I must have misheard. “You mean leave Scotland, or just me?”
She turned to me, looking ravaged by the inner war she was clearly fighting. “I mean all of it.”
“Luna, what are you saying, exactly?”
“No one can keep me safe, so I should just give up.”
Safe from what exactly, or whom? I could, and would, keep her safe. I just needed her to tell me about the nature of who and what she needed safety from. At first I'd thought maybe it was a family issue, but she'd been vague regarding having met the person before today, so that was highly unlikely.
She didn't confirm or deny if the man who accosted her was an ex-boyfriend. I didn't understand it myself, but I had plenty of friends with online girlfriends or boyfriends. Their entire relationship lived out on the internet. Personally, I found the whole thing strange.
Tonight, after a bath and a meal, I'd do some digging and get her to confess what was going on. Whatever that man said to her, it scared her enough to make her think she had no choices, and that just wouldn't do.
When we arrived at the castle, I ran a bath for her with all the fixings: bubbles, flower petals, oils, candles, and I even set a glass of red wine on the tub's edge.
“You are so good to me, Artair. Thank you.”
“I'll have dinner set up in the solar room in one hour.
I'll see you then.” I left her in peace and went to my office to see if I could find out anything about my errant Little Lass.
It didn't take long to find a restraining order against a student on campus.
Not long after the order was signed, a court-ordered weekend for evaluation had been ordered after a failed suicide attempt.
Suicide? What had happened to my girl to have her try something so dark?
I couldn't access her medical files as they were encrypted, but a good hacker could probably access her case file.
What was I saying? There was no way in hell I would break into her private records, but I would encourage her to share with me what was going on.
I looked into the guy she had a restraining order against. He had a criminal record brimming with misdemeanors. I began to piece together what had most likely happened and found myself wanting to find the asshole stalking her and beat his ass.
I glanced at the time and realized dinner had been served ten minutes ago. I pushed back from my desk and made my way to the suite, my mind busy sorting through all I'd learned.
“Sorry I'm late,” I said, entering the suite.
“Luna?” The meal was set up, but she was missing.
A frisson of fear moved through me. “Luna?” I called loudly, but the silence was deafening.
I ran to the ensuite to see if she'd fallen asleep, but the tub was empty, so was the wine.
I hurried through the main living quarters, asking servants as I passed if they'd seen my guest, but no one had seen Luna leave the castle.
I'd given Graeme the day off, so he wouldn't have seen her leave. Is that why she'd insisted on him having the day off? Maybe she'd been planning to run this entire time, but with that monster lurking around, she was in danger, and there was no way I'd let him have her.
I should have known when I closed the bathroom door she was a flight risk, but my need to understand what was happening absorbed all my attention, and now she was gone. She'd left everything I'd bought her behind and only took what she'd been carrying on her back to Scotland.
I should have stayed with her and made her tell me what went down.
There was no point in beating myself up, as it wouldn't help her.
I called the local taxi company and asked if they'd had a pickup from my address, but no luck.
Uber only operated in the city limits and wouldn't have come here.
The rail! She must have walked to the train station.
If that were the case, I may be able to catch her.