The thought shocked her,yet she couldn’t banish the image of him lowering her onto the furs of his bed rather than simply tending to her wounds.
Heat flooded her cheeks,and she looked away, disturbed by her body’s betrayal after months of fearing men’s touch.
He sether down on the edge of the bed. “These are yer quarters now,” he said, taking a step back. “Ye’re safe here. Nay one will be able to hurt ye in me home, lass. Ye can do whatever yer heart fancies.”
Gabriella looked up at him,searching his face for any sign of deception. “What do ye mean? I thought—I still dinnae understand, Laird McCulloch.” She swallowed hard. “Am I nae yer bed slave?”
Genuine disgust crossedthe Laird’s features. “Nay. I caught ye to save ye.” His voice lost some of its edge. “Every lass taken from that place today is free. None of ye will face the fate intended for ye.”
Her fingernails duginto her palms, a strange hollowness replacing the fear she’d carried for months. She couldn’t name this feeling—this odd mixture of relief and something that felt absurdly like disappointment—as though a door she hadn’t known she wanted open had been firmly shut instead.
“Then I can leave? Right now?”she asked warily, even as her mind raced to consider where she might go with no coin, no shelter, and barely enough strength to stand.
The Laird’s jaw tightened,his rugged features hardening into a mask of barely concealed impatience. “Aye, lass. Ye are free. Nay one owns ye.”
Gabriella’smomentary relief crumbled as reality sank in. “I have nowhere to go,” she admitted reluctantly, hating the weakness in her voice. “Nay family left, nay home to return to.”
“Lass,do ye have anyone in the village?” he began.
“Nay!”Gabriella cried, tears stinging the back of her eyes. “I have nay one, and even if I did, I cannae go back there. The man that hunted me, he has friends in every tavern from here to Inverness.” She looked away, pride warring with desperation. “I’m still too weak to travel far. Perhaps… perhaps I could stay here? Just until I’ve regained me strength.”
The Laird towered over her,his broad shoulders tense as he crossed his muscular arms over his chest. His penetrating gaze raked over her with calculating assessment.
“Ye’ll have to stay,”he said firmly, his tone brooking no argument. “Ye’re in nay condition to be wanderin’ the countryside with those bastards still on the loose.” His jaw tightened as he added, “Besides, I’ll nae have it said that Hector MacLeod turned away a lass in need.”
“Thank ye.I willnae cause any trouble,” she promised. “I can work. I served in a tavern before?—”
“Ye’rein nay condition to work,” he cut her off, his tone brooking no argument.
Silence stretched between them,tense with unspoken thoughts.
Finally,the Laird sighed. “I have a proposition for ye while yer body heals.” He moved to the window, his large frame silhouetted against the fading daylight. “Me sister, Erica—she’s a hellion and gets herself into trouble because of her sharp tongue.”
His response was not at allwhat Gabriella had expected.
“Yer… sister?”
He nodded.“She needs a companion. Someone to keep her occupied and out of trouble.” He turned back to face her. “If ye succeed in keepin’ her out of trouble for a month, I’ll grant ye a wish—as long as it’s nae irrational.”
Gabriella stared at him,trying to make sense of his bizarre offer.
Was this some strange game?A test? She searched his face. Was there even a possibility he was sincere?
She thought of Madison,of Flora, of Piper. “What about the other women? The ones who were with me?”
“They’resafe with the other lairds who helped in the rescue.”
Her mind raced.If what he said was true, if she really was free, what did she want most?
The answer came immediately.
“If I do this,will ye fund me escape to France?” The words tumbled out before she could reconsider.
He tilted his head,his penetrating gaze studying her. “France? Why there?”
“It’s far from here.”Far from life as a tavern girl, from the hunt, from a life of knowing nothing but loss and disappointment. “I could start anew where I dinnae have to remember any of this… where nay one kens me.”
For a long moment,he just looked at her, his expression unreadable. Then, he nodded. “Agreed. One month with Erica, then passage to France if that’s still what ye want.”
