Chapter 2
Killian took the dangerous route back to MacColl Castle so he could avoid the McLennan men he knew would be searching everywhere for him and Laird McLennan’s sister.
He had planned this out for months and mapped out every corner of his route, so he had known of the river and considered the possible chances of his captive trying to flee and jump.
He just hadn’t expected this much feistiness, and skill too. The way she had rolled off his horse earlier proved she was strong enough to handle herself. He didn’t think she could handle a weapon, though. She was, after all, a lady.
And a very beautiful one, he thought as he became aware of her constantly glancing over her shoulder or to her side to take in her surroundings.
Killian had been trying to ignore the stir her scent caused inside him. He had first inhaled it when he had knocked her out at McLennan Castle. For a second, he had paused because he had not expected to love it. It was a floral scent of jasmine and lilies, one that already toyed with his senses.
Her eyes too.
Her blue orbs were captivating. He had to remind himself not to stare too deeply into them because he might get lost.
Shuddering, he mentally kicked himself out of his thoughts, reminding himself that the lady was his enemy. Yes, a means to punish the man who had taken away his only family.
Killian knew once his revenge was over, Laird McLennan would beg for his mercy. Unless, of course, he was every bit the vile man the rumors said he is, and he cared little for his sister.
Then I would have no other choice than to kill her.
Even though Killian would miss looking at her lovely features, and inhaling her scent that already frazzled his mind.
He drew closer to MacColl Castle now with every distance they covered, and by dusk tomorrow, they would arrive at his castle.
Killian would put enough distance between himself and the stubborn lady once they arrived. His plan was all mapped out in his head. He would hold the lady captive until Laird McLennan came for her. Then, he would make the laird pay for killing his brother!
Dragging his mind out of his thoughts, Killian sighed and motioned for his men to take a short break. His horses needed to drink, and perhaps the lady, too, was thirsty from exerting herself when she had tried to fight him.
“Halt,” Killian signaled to his men as he slowed his ride, came to a stop by a large oak tree, and jumped off his saddle with ease.
He reached out to untie the gag shutting the lady up so he could ask her if she needed to drink water.
She stirred awake then and slowly angled her head to look at him.
For a split second, their gazes met and locked.
An instant surge of tingles rushed through Killian as he stared into her blue eyes.
They had deep flecks of gold, and he thought it was an unusual combination to have that shade of eyes and black hair.
But it made her beautiful. Breathtaking, in fact, if he was being honest.
He loved how short her locks fell to her shoulders. Simple, he thought. That, too, was an unusual style for a Scottish lady. Most ladies liked to wear their hair in braids or decorate them with pins and furs.
“Are you going to help me down, or do I have to jump off the saddle like some caveman?” she snapped, the intense look in her eyes he had just been admiring replaced by an icy glare that cut through the bubble of warmth tunneling through him.
Her lips formed a stiff line, and her eyebrows creased together.
Killian ignored her tart comment and pulled her off the saddle with little remorse as she yelped from his force, then he dragged her to the tree, made her sit, and then crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Do ye need water?”
“I need to do lady things,” she replied instead, still glaring at him. “Surely you can let me do that, at least.”
“Nay,” he replied and turned away from her, but not before he saw her eyes widen and her lips part. “If I give ye the chance, ye will try to run or kill yerself by runnin’ into a wild boar or another dangerous animal that would rip ye to shreds.”
“Then you can come with me,” she said, making him halt in his tracks.
Killian turned to look at her and saw that her eyes remained serious as she cocked her head to the side.
“Or have your men come with me if you think you cannot be a gentleman while a lady answers nature’s call.”
“I am a gentleman,” Killian insisted. “I willnae hurt ye. My men, on the other hand, will if ye try to escape from them.”
She snickered. “I highly doubt they can overpower me,” she shot back as her gaze skittered from his to his men. “I am not that fragile.”
Her last statement elicited a light, mocking laugh from him, and he found himself amused. First off, she had a sharp tongue, and now wit too. He eyed her as she struggled to stand on her feet.
The lady had a small frame. She was wearing men’s breeches and a léine, but none of that hid her feminine figure. He could make out the curve of her hips, and see the creamy skin of her face. He imagined the rest of her would look the same.
And feel the same.
When he had touched her bare arm earlier, his entire body had warmed with sensations he had not understood or liked.
“They will watch ye,” Killian said, shoving away the insane thoughts that invaded his mind each time he looked at her.
This time when he turned away from her and ordered that she follow him, he saw the smirk on her lips.
He watched his men lead her into the bush, and he went to the river bank to drink, guiding his horse with him so it could drink too. A long minute after he did not see his men return, his instincts kicked in, and he wandered into the bush to look for them.
“Odhran?” he yelled at the top of his lungs, calling out to his most trusted confidante. “Matthew…”
Killian shouted their names three more times as he searched around him, then he saw footprints deep in the mud and followed them towards a deeper part of the bush.
He heard a large growl as he drew closer, and froze in his tracks.
A wild boar.
The black boar growled again as the lady stood in front of it, and Killian watched from behind her as she stayed stiffly poised. She had managed to free herself, and the blood stains on her clothes proved she had killed his men too.
So, she is strong. Her brother must have taught her a few things about fighting.
He had underestimated the woman! Killian gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to leap in and save her from the boar if it decided to attack.
She suddenly made a strange call sound and gently lowered herself to the ground on all fours while howling out like an animal.
What is she doing?
Killian watched her, confused and yet at the same time amused. Whatever those sounds she made, they worked, because the boar growled at her one more time, turned and then continued on its path into the thick forest.
She gently lifted herself off the ground and dusted off her hands. Killian relaxed as she faced him and huffed out a breath. The air from her lips blew some tendrils of her hair off her face, and the gentle breeze around them ruffled it backwards.
“Your men are dead,” she announced as she met him with her unflinching gaze again. “It was easy to kill them. Especially because they had no self-control. Seeing a lady undress probably got them excited.” Her lips curved at the corners, and her eyes gleamed. “You are next.”
“Ye think it’ll be easy to take me out too? I certainly cannae be seduced by ye, me lady, trust me.”
“Oh, I do not need to seduce you,” she countered as she grinned again. “I just need to kill you.”
The words were barely out of her lips before she thrust her right leg forward and drew out a dagger from beneath her stockings.
Killian caught a glimpse of her fair leg when she lifted the leg of her breeches up, and a tight knot settled in the base of his throat as desire knocked the wind out of him.
He recovered, however, as she leaped towards him with ease, her dagger aimed for his throat as she threw him to the ground with her weight.