Chapter 1
Chapter One
Briana Cameron had no particular hopes for an exceptionally happy marriage, but she did intend to be content and comfortable, whatever cost that might incur.
She wanted to make sure that her new husband was pleased with her enough that he would offer her the freedoms favored wives often earned from doting husbands; perhaps even offer her the esteem of being involved in raising their children when they arrived.
The thought of the process of bearing children, especially with Malcolm MacFarlane, intimidated her somewhat, but she pushed the thought from her mind.
She had worked too hard to secure this match, doing everything she could to encourage her father to give her to the relatively young MacFarlane heir rather than the horrible old McDonell man who had been her original suitor.
It did not matter that there was no love or affection there; Briana would do her duty well enough to please Malcolm, make him desire her, and ensure that she lived the rest of her life in peace.
With that in mind, she'd chosen her finest dress to wear this morning, asking her favorite lady's maid, Anna, to do her hair the way her mother had worn it when Laird and Lady Cameron were married.
She'd cried when her father had revealed that she'd have to leave Anna behind, but only when nobody else could see.
To his face, she'd simply nodded and said, "Of course, Father. I would never dream of takin' anything that belongs tae ye."
Now that she was on the way to her new home, she had lulled herself into a strange detachment.
If she only focused on the now, then there was no fear, no anticipation.
It was a trick she'd learned from her mother before she'd died, and now it was getting her through this too.
She would relax, ensuring that only the best version of herself was presented to her new husband by the time she arrived at the MacFarlane lands.
Briana had almost fallen into a light slumber when the door flew open and the world turned upside down.
She screamed as the stranger burst inside and tumbled onto the seat across from her, his tall, strongly built frame taking up much of the already cramped space.
Briana was already taller than most women, so with both of them in there, there was barely any room.
She reached for her necklace, ready to offer it in exchange for her life, but the stranger—an outlaw, she assumed—paid her no mind, instead slamming the door closed and then sagging back into the opposite seat.
He was breathing heavily, obviously having just been running.
His dark curls were tousled, swept by the wind.
Briana's eyes lingered on the broad shoulders and the sharp jawline in a way that made her heart race from the danger and a darker excitement inside of her.
Pushing down the thrill, she arranged her expression into a glare, ready to defy this strange man who had possibly come to hurt her.
The man looked up as she started to speak, and the words died on her lips.
One look at those deep gray eyes and that slightly crooked nose was enough to shatter her composure forever.
She'd dreamed of this man for so many years, alone in her bed with the secrets nobody could take from her.
She'd slept with the memory of his gaze as her comfort, the remembrance of his voice still prickling down her spine, for ten long years.
She'd only been a girl the last time she saw him, and he had been barely more than a boy, but there was no mistaking him.
The years that had piled onto him had done nothing to change the way she felt when his eyes were upon her, nor the way her heart and soul reacted as he leaned slightly forward.
Was he real? He couldn't be. Theon MacKenzie only lived on now in her dreams. She'd forced herself to believe that, even when rumors of his leading the Broken Blades had swept through the clans like high tide.
She'd preferred to believe that he'd died rather than been a party to his clan's treachery—part of the reason so many had died.
She'd told herself over and over again that the Theon the whispers spoke of was an imposter.
A ghost. Anything but the man who'd been the first to set her heart aflame.
Her breath stuttered, and she raised a hand to point at him. Her arm was shaking and the words weren't coming properly, but she managed to stammer out, "You?"
He met her gaze, and she saw no recognition in those steel-gray eyes. He quirked his mouth into a little half smile, calm as stone despite the stunt he had just performed, and inclined his head.
"Ye ken me? I'm afraid ye have me at a disadvantage, me lady. But dinnae fear, I willnae harm ye," he said. "Forgive me intrusion, but yer carriage was the only chance I had tae escape people who certainly wouldnae have greeted me so graciously."
"Me lady?" the driver, Allan, called. "Should I stop the carriage?"
The stranger—no, Theon—raised an eyebrow. Briana huffed and, knowing she had little choice, called back, "No, Allan. Faster, please. We need tae get tae the far end of the village."
"Aye, miss," Allan replied, and the carriage lurched as the horses picked up speed.
Theon bowed his head in thanks. Briana glared at him, folding her arms across her chest. What was he doing here?
She didn't know what the story was with the people he'd been running from, but she knew it could be no coincidence that he'd found her.
She couldn't quite understand why he was playing this part when it was just the two of them alone, but he could not fool her.
"What—" she started, but Theon shook his head. He was staring out of the window, brow furrowed, eyes intent, and Briana understood with some annoyance that he wasn't going to answer any of her questions until they had gotten further from the village.
They trundled along the road until they had cleared the village, a few miles down the road where the forest looped ahead.
The road to the left was a sharp turn that would take Briana on to her new home.
This was as good a spot as any to get the truth out of Theon.
Anticipation was biting at Briana's skin, making it impossible to sit still.
"Allan! Stop here!" she called.
Theon whipped his head around to stare at her, but he didn't say anything.
A moment later, Allan pulled open the door to let Briana out of the carriage.
She accepted the driver's offered hand to help her down the large step between her level and the ground.
Taking a few steps away, she turned around with her arms folded but was surprised and even more annoyed to see that Theon wasn't following her.
Instead, he remained in the carriage, fully visible, nodding politely to Allan but not moving at all.
"Get out!" Briana demanded, all but stamping her foot. "Whatever do ye mean by this? Do ye expect us tae take ye all the way tae the next clanlands? This isnae a public carriage, ye ken."
Theon's eyes flicked to her at that, the ghost of a smile on his lips. A moment later, she was sure she must have imagined it, because he was as stonefaced as ever. He remained in the carriage, settling more comfortably in the seat.
Allan cleared his throat. "Sir, I think ye should disembark," he suggested.
"Och, never mind that, Allan. Take a walk and leave us be," Briana ordered. She realized how sharp her tone was immediately, and softening her voice, she added, "Please. I just need a moment tae meself."
Allan didn't look convinced, but he nodded and wandered off just past the tree line. There was a long, long pause. Then, after a few more moments, Theon eventually exited the carriage. He looked left and right and then moved forward, stopping in front of Briana.
Her breath caught as she took him in. He'd gotten more toned since she last saw him a decade before. His shoulders were broad, his beard thick—so different from the clean-shaven young man she remembered—and there were small crinkles at the side of his eyes that added intrigue to his face.
Danger shivered through her. This wasn't Theon, her first love—it was Theon, son of the traitorous clan who had tried to destroy everything the alliance held dear. She had to be careful, and yet… yet she couldn't stop looking.
She noticed a small scar right under his eye and had to fight the urge to touch it, to run her fingers down his face and ask him how he got it.
The closer he stood to her, the more her body reacted.
It had been so, so long since she'd felt this way, a feeling that she'd consigned to childhood memories and hadn't dared believe she'd feel again.
But now Theon was here.
He'd come for her, just as she'd hoped and prayed he would for so long before she'd learned the truth of the evil that surrounded his family. He'd heard about the wedding and he'd come to steal her away.
It was improper. Scandalous, even.
She must do her duty and run from him, away from the darkness he'd caused.
Her family would be heartbroken. But Briana knew that if her name fell from his lips, she'd be under his spell just as much now as she had been at fourteen.
The roughness of him now only added to that dark swirl inside of her that longed to touch, to explore, to find a new kind of freedom.
He met her eyes and her breath caught in anticipation. "Well," he said.
"Aye?" she breathed, her voice strangled.
"It's time I was on me way. Thank ye for the lift. I much appreciate it, miss."
Thunderstruck, Briana could do nothing but gape. What was he talking about? He intended to just… leave? After everything—after bursting into her carriage, delaying her journey, he was just going to walk away?
"Is this a jest?" she demanded. "Will ye deny that ye came here tae steal me away?"
Theon paused. "Steal ye away?"
"From me wedding! Dinnae deny that it's why ye are here. Dinnae ye dare try tae fool me in such a way, nae after all this. Ye've come here tae claim me, have ye nae? Ye've come tae stop the marriage and take me for yerself! What else could ye possibly mean by comin' here, now?"
She could not believe that he was toying with her. Anger and hurt and complicated fury swirled inside her, and she clenched her fists so hard she could feel the nails digging into her skin.
But the look on his face wasn't amused nor angry. He took a step away from her, speaking very, very carefully, like someone talking to a child.
"Miss, ye are bonny indeed, but I have nae intentions of interferin' in yer nuptials, never fear. I dinnae ken who ye are. I spoke truly earlier; I only invaded yer carriage in need of escape. Now that I have done so, I need tae reunite with me friend. Farewell."
He turned to go. Briana stood, frozen, her mind racing.
She'd dreamed of him for so long, and for just a second, she'd truly believed that he'd overcome his family's darkness to come for her.
Or, perhaps, he'd come to claim her as part of the evil his family had caused?
Why did that thought excite her? Why did it make something deep within her pulse, not with yearning, but with a heat she'd never known?
Either way, she'd known he was here for her.
But now… now he acted as though he didn't even know her.
Maybe it wasn't an act—maybe he simply had forgotten her.
Who knew how many women had come and gone in the time that had passed?
Who knew how often he'd mocked her while crowing about his hatred for her family and the alliance?
Who knew if he'd ever thought about her at all in his life as a ghost in the wind?
Whatever resistance Briana had vanished into the air.
Tears filled her eyes, tears of exhaustion and pain and fury, tears of crushed hope and lost wishes and the kind of crushing loneliness that a lifetime of being alone had still not been enough to get her used to.
And he thought he could simply humiliate her after everything?
No. No. Something in her snapped, and a red fury fell over her vision.
"Ye bastard!" she shrieked, the unthinkable word heavy from her mouth as she cursed him into the night. In a blind rage, she kicked off her heavy traveling shoe and grabbed it in her hand before throwing it hard toward his retreating back.
It connected with an extremely satisfying thud, and Theon stumbled forward with a curse of his own. He spun around to face her, eyes wild, rubbing the sore place on his shoulderblade and staring at her with a mix of rage and confusion.
"What's wrong with ye, ye madwoman?" he demanded.
"I'll show ye a madwoman!" Briana snarled, kicking off her other shoe.
Laughter suddenly pierced the tense atmosphere around them, echoing from beyond the trees.
A few seconds later, another man exited from the forest, and Briana's anger was quelled in place of surprise at the sight.
He was even taller than Theon, his hair and beard bright red and his shoulders broad, putting Briana in mind of a woodsman.
He winked at her as he approached Theon.
"Will ye survive?" he teased. "Do I need tae get a healer?"
"Nice tae see ye survived," Theon grumbled. "I thought me carriage play was the best bet, but it seems I've stumbled across madness personified. God almighty."
The other man arched an eyebrow. "Did that shoe turn ye blind, man? This isnae just any personification of madness. In fact, we were just talkin' about her nae so long ago."
Briana's eyes flicked rapidly between them, her heart hammering as she tried to understand what was happening, embarrassment already flooding her from her act of anger.
Who was this other man? He seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place him.
And why was Theon pretending he did not know her if this man said they'd been talking about her? None of this made any sense.
The other man picked up her shoe and sauntered over, holding it out. She snatched it from him, not meeting his eyes to hide how flustered and confused she suddenly felt about the whole situation.
"Most say thank ye," he said, shaking his head. Then he glanced at Theon again. "Then again, brother, what else can we expect from a spoiled wee princess?"
Theon blinked. "What?" His voice was suddenly low, dangerous in a way that sent a shiver down Briana's spine. "What are ye talkin' about, Graeme?"
"I'm nae princess—" Briana started.
Graeme smiled, but there was little humor in it now. "Near enough tae make no difference. But, look, Theon. Yer madwoman is none other than the spoiled Briana Cameron herself. Now, what are we gonnae do about it?"