Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
"Ye think ye're fast enough to outrun me, lass? I've trained and I've trained hard. Ye'll tire yerself out soon enough, and when ye do, ye'll be mine. Make nay mistake of that." His laughter was cruel as it rang out through the trees, a predator's call.
Lukas Moore.
"Ye'll nae catch me," she whispered to herself through jagged breaths.
Her betrothed. The man refused to let her go. The man who thought of her as his right, his property. She shivered, nearly tripping over a gnarled root.
Blair had sworn she would never marry him—a vow she'd made a thousand times, and one she'd decided she'd die keeping.
Blair's breath tore from her in ragged gasps as she sprinted through the dense woods. Her skirts were tangled and torn from branches that clawed at her like desperate hands. The forest was suffocating, yet not nearly as terrifying as the man hunting her.
Keep movin'.
She willed herself forward. In the distance, she could hear echoes of her name. "Blair!"
A smirk crossed her lips. She was putting good distance between them.
Nae bad for a lass.
He'd been hunting her, and though she'd managed to evade him up until this point, she wasn't sure how much longer she could manage it.
"Runnin' will only make things worse," Lukas called through the trees. He was getting closer now.
The devil himself would be gentler than that man.
Blair pushed herself harder, her legs burning as she pushed through undergrowth, not caring about the brambles scratching her skin. She would rather bleed, rather run until her feet blistered, than get caught and thrown into a life with him.
I'll die before I let ye trap me, Lukas. I just might.
She didn't dare look back or slow to catch her breath. Every ounce of her strength was focused on moving forward, away, toward her freedom. Her mind whirled desperately for a place to hide. Somewhere for her to disappear to until he gave up the chase. But the forest seemed endless.
Thunderheads crackled in the sky, and rain started to pour down, wetting Blair's hair and clothing.
This is the last thing I need.
She navigated through the trees and the rustling of the brush and the rain beating down made it difficult to gauge how far or near Lukas was.
As the earth beneath her started to slick and she slipped and slid with every hard step, Blair began to become desperate.
I need to find shelter.
Finally, ahead, through the twisted branches, she spotted a rocky rise behind shrubbery. She thought she saw a darkened opening.
"Saints, have mercy!" She pushed herself forward. Ducking behind the shrubbery branches clawing at her, her face stung, but within moments, she was out of the rain. She closed her eyes, allowing herself a brief moment to catch her breath.
Please let him pass me by. Just this once, let me be invisible.
With another deep breath, she wrinkled her nose. Is that smoke? But before she could open her eyes to investigate, a voice, low and sharp as a blade, sliced through the quiet and put a fire in her belly.
"Who are ye, and what are ye doin' here?"
Blair's eyes flew open as she spun around, instinctively pressing herself deeper into the shadows, carefully reaching for the blade hidden beneath her tattered arisaid. There, barely a few paces away, stood a man with a sword aimed directly at her heart.
She froze, her pulse thundering anew.
Cornered like a hare.
But as she met the stranger's gaze, her thoughts stumbled, all plans of flight forgotten.
Dark green eyes narrowed on her. They were intense and filled with a suspicion that pierced straight through her.
A thick dark beard on his face did little to hide the fine cut of his jaw and the plumpness of his lips.
His shoulders were broad, and he towered above her steady and unyielding; a man carved from stone and shadows.
Great heavens, he's…
Nay.
She tore her gaze away and set her jaw tightly.
He could kill me with one shot, and I'm noticin' his eyes? I must be mad.
The stranger stepped forward, and pressure pooled in her lower belly.
All men are brutes, liars, or worse.
Blair reminded herself in an attempt to chase off this attraction, yet here, facing a stranger with a weapon drawn, her heart had the gall to race for an entirely different reason.
Pull yerself together, Blair.
"I asked ye a question."
Blair swallowed, lifting her chin in the air. She wasn't about to let this man see her weakness. "I mean nay harm," she replied, her voice firm, though her hands trembled as she raised them in surrender. "I'm only seekin’ shelter. That's all."
His gaze swept over her, taking in her ragged skirt, bruised arms, and mud-streaked shoes. She felt his eyes linger on the scrapes and bruises and, more humiliatingly, on the curve of her waist and the mounds of her breasts.
"Who are ye runnin' from?" he demanded, his words blunt, his gaze hard as the cave walls around them. He looked her over as if deciding whether she was more trouble than she was worth.
If he throws me out, Lukas will find me in an instant.
Her chest tightened at the thought. She couldn't let that happen, even if she had to confide in a stranger.
"Someone who believes I should be their property," she replied, not lowering her chin.
Heat flushing over her cheeks. "A man me maither insists is a fine match despite his…
temper." The word barely did justice to the cruelty lurking behind Lukas's well-practiced smile.
The stranger's gaze flickered, his expression still unreadable. For a moment, she thought he might show her a spark of sympathy. But instead, he merely looked annoyed, his grip tightening on the sword.
"And ye thought hidin' here was the answer?"
"I suppose ye're here just for a laugh? Or is there a reason ye might also be seekin' shelter?" Blair asked, meeting his gaze defiantly, growing tired of the back and forth. She let her words hang, refusing to flinch under his scrutiny.
I will beg nay man.
He watched her for a long, uncomfortable moment.
She could almost feel his judgment, feel him weighing her worth as if he might just as easily push her back into the night as give her a place to hide.
Finally, he lowered the bow, though his expression didn't soften.
"Then ye'll keep quiet and stay out of sight.
I daenae need any more trouble than I've already got. Understood?"
Blair nodded, her relief tempered by pride.
Better to keep me head held high than let him see how relieved I am.
"Understood," she replied, her voice even.
Yet, as the man turned away, retreating further into the cave's darkness, she couldn't help but let her gaze linger on him. He moved with jagged steps, as though he were hurt but still he maintained a strong, broad-shouldered confidence in himself that suggested he was used to leading—or fighting.
There was something magnetic about him, fierce and controlled, even as he held her life at the point of his blade. And despite herself, despite the hardness in his eyes, she felt the faintest tug of curiosity—or was it attraction?—thrumming beneath her fear.
Ye're runnin' for yer life and standin' here like a fool, thinkin' of how handsome the man ye are trapped in a cave with is. What is wrong with ye?
She clenched her fists, annoyed at herself.
Daenae ye dare let yer guard down... He cannae be different from Lukas—just another brute tryin' to stake his claim.
But even as she scolded herself, her mind betrayed her. There was something different about him, something she couldn't quite name. And in her exhaustion, with her mind still reeling from the flight, she felt the slightest glimmer of hope that she hadn't made a terrible mistake.
A deep groan echoed from somewhere deeper in the cave. The man froze, instantly tense. His gaze flicked toward the back of the cave, worry flashing across his face for just a moment.
"Ye need to stay near the entrance. Or we will have a problem, do ye understand?" Without waiting for her response, he stalked off toward the darkness, leaving her alone near the entrance.
She stepped forward, a whisper of curiosity pulling her despite herself.
Who else is here? What else is he hidin'?
Then the groan came again, softer but unmistakable, and she stepped deeper into the cave.
Her heart raced as she followed the stranger, a heat rushing toward her that made her realize how cold she had been.
Still, she hesitated, knowing whatever waited at the back of this cave would only bring more trouble.
And yet, despite her better judgment, she couldn't stop herself from moving closer, taking one more step deeper into the unknown.