She nodded; the blood draining from her face again. Logan thought she might faint. He readied himself to catch her.
He took a step closer to her. She looked up at him. “Craigton Castle. I had to put up with people throwing their food at me if it displeased them. Men slapping my bottom when I passed them and them blaming the man next to him while they laughed and laughed.”
“No one will touch ye at Tor,” Ewen swore between his teeth.
“They willna dare,” Logan muttered under his breath.
Mayhap he should claim her. If people knew to whom she belonged, she would be safest. Many feared Ewen because of his great skill and cunning on the battlefield. But Logan demanded loyalty without ever having to speak of it. His men…his kin, would die to save him, just as he taught them, he would do for them by almost dying four times. His uncles, both on the Cameron side and the MacDonalds’, would look after her if the Lochiel’s son but asked.
“My father is Captain Constantine Cameron, Lochiel of Lochaber, but ’tis my mother ye should fear if she hears ye makin’ threats against me.”
“Noted,” she said with a subservient nod. “I will keep my threats to myself.”
He almost…for an instant…believed she might not be so dangerous after all. But she proved to be contemplating his demise every moment. Tor might not be so safe for her, after all.
He watched her for another moment. She drank with his cousins, paying him no mind. She was like a hellcat without any claws. She fought back but gave up quickly. Or did she? Her sea-blue eyes held secrets in their roiling depths. She was a storm in the distance, coming like a curse. She’d promised to kill him. Many times, in fact. She had good reason to hate him and his kin. Would he be putting his kin in jeopardy by bringing her to Tor Castle? Should he keep her here?
“Ye three,” he blurted to Ewen, Steafan, and Jamie, “go back to Tor withoot me. I will remain here with Miss Woodburn until I decide what to do with her.”
Jamie laughed. Ewen and Steafan did not.
“We are no’ leaving ye here alone with her,” Steafan let him know.
“Are ye tellin’ me I canna handle a lass made of veils?” Logan asked darkly.
“Logan,” said Ewen, concern marring his brow. “There is nae reason to do this. I will take her somewhere besides Tor, aye? If ye refuse and insist on stayin’ here, I will have to insist on stayin’ with ye.”
“Aye, me too,” Jamie exclaimed.
“No one is stayin’ with me,” Logan said with authority and a scathing look that silenced them. “I’m no’ a child who needs lookin’ after. Ye will all return to Tor withoot me. I’ll no’ have this lass cause any harm to my kin, nor will I have them cause harm to her. The only way to ensure that is by keepin’ her here. I dinna need ye to stay here to ensure my safety. Ye insult me by suggestin’ it.”
“Logan,” Steafan tried.
Logan held up his palm. “And dinna any of ye arrive here while the sun is up tomorrow. I see more of ye than when I lived at home. Now, nae more. Let us get some sleep.”
They left the sitting room with the lass lagging behind.
When his cousins disappeared into a room at the end of the hall, Logan looked around. When and why had he slowed his steps to wait for her? Suspicion of why she hadn’t left the sitting room with them. Something else? Something that made his heart beat a wee bit faster.
Before he had time to consider it, he turned around and walked back to the sitting room to find her.
He wasn’t sure what he would find her doing when he returned to her, but sitting where he’d left her, staring at someplace far away, where only she could see, wasn’t it.
Were her eyes misted with tears? And how did she manage to make him give a damn if they were? He wanted to ask her what was troubling her, but nae. Deep down he reallydidn’tgive a damn. Her father ruined his life. She didn’t deserve his mercy, nor did she want it. He was correct to keep her away from his kin. He had to keep her away from him too.
He turned to step back out of the sitting room but her fingers grasping the sleeve of his shirt stopped him.
“Thank ye fer not bringing me to the castle.”
“I didna do it fer ye alone,” he assured her, lest she think more of it.
“But do ye think we should be here alone?” she asked, unfazed by his last statement. “Mayhap ye should insist that yer men stay here too.”
“Why?’ he scoffed. “Do ye think I fear ye?”
“I dinna know, Mr. Cameron, but ye should.”
At this, he chuckled. He’d fought skilled soldiers armed with various weapons. Should he fear this wisp of a woman?
