She gave him a shrug. “I’m a Covenanter’s daughter. Have ye fergotten?
“How could I?”
“Precisely.”
He sheathed his blade when she turned away from him and went after her. “’Tis ye who keeps me from fergettin’, lass. Yer anger holds us both captive.”
She stopped and turned to look up into his eyes. “Am I to abandon my family?”
He wanted to close his eyes and hide in the dark when he answered her. “They are gone, lass. Do ye truly want to die fer them? What will it serve, but to break my heart?”
Her eyes, staring back at him, sparkled with tears under the sun, but she visibly fought them. “Ye assume I will be the one to die?”
She could not defeat all his kin. Her only chance would have been her poisons, but he sent his cousins home with warnings that if anything were to befall him, they should not let her into Tor Castle. He hoped it did not come to that.
“Ye will be.”
He fought the urge to step back as she poured her gaze into him. He felt bare, on display for her perusal.
“Do ye truly believe that?” she asked.
“Lass, I pray ye hear me. Give up yer revenge. Let me cure ye of yer hatred fer me. I dinna expect anythin’ in return,” he quickly added. “I will find ye a safe place to live.”
What was she looking for so intently; tearing away layers of him until she found what she was searching for? What was it?
Since she was looking, he felt compelled to show her a part of himself that was most real. Something he believed she needed most. He let his smile shine from within, lighting his eyes, his skin, the air around him.
“Mr. Cameron,” she said dreamily.
“Hmm?
“I willna become beguiled by yer charms.”
“Then ye have the advantage, lass,” he admitted.
Was that a hint of a smile he saw on her bonnie face?
“I dinna want to be yer enemy,” he told her.
“Mr. Cameron, what ye want makes nae difference to me. It doesna change my duty as a daughter and a sister. I must do what I was put here to do.”
“Fer revenge?”
“Aye.”
He dipped his head and stared at the ground while he walked. If she was this bent on killing him, maybe he should find a place for her right away. He didn’t know what else to do.
“I never expected ye to pout, Mr. Cameron,” she muttered as they went.
He scoffed. “I dinna pout.”
“Ye are pouting right now,” she pointed out.
He lifted his head and glared at her, but when she startled away from him, he softened his gaze. “Dinna fear me, lass.”
She pulled her hand away when he reached for it. “That is an honor ye must earn.”
He ached to sweep her up in his arms, but he agreed with her. Whether she meant it as an honor to not be feared, or to let him touch her, he agreed. He still tried to deny that he was falling for Miss Woodburn, the Covenanter’s daughter. But his fight against it was less passionate. It was no use. He had no defenses against her. He hated himself for it, but then the moment he looked at her, he understood his own heart.
