The darkness was a mistake. Elspeth knew it the moment he spoke and his breath fell against her ear, consuming her in the sound of him, the scent of him, like peat and pine. She became more aware of the quiet way he moved, and the calming rhythmof his breath. “Was I?” he asked, setting her heart to ruin. “Why do I suddenly remember…”
Nae. Nae!
“…lyin’ with ye with my arms around ye, and yers around me?”
She shook her head. No words came out.
“Was I dreamin’, lass?” His question drifted over her ear and seeped into her bones, her blood.
“Ay—ay—” She had to tell him, aye, he was dreaming. She didn’t want him to remember her clinging to him beneath the mighty Ben Nevis. Aye! Aye! Say it! He was dreaming!
“Nae, ye werena’ dreaming! But I had no other choice if I didna want ye to die and have—why are ye smiling at me right now?”
“Ye didna want me to die.”
Why did that make him happy? Whatever he assumed she meant, she had to let him know he was wrong.
“Ye should have let me finish. I was going to say…and have yer cousins hunt me down when they found ye dead.”
She didn’t see him move in to gather her up in his arms. She had no warning.
She had never been in such a position before: a man’s embrace. She didn’t know what to do or how to react as he molded her to all his hard angles and strength. She stood weak and unable to move while he breathed into her shoulder. “That is why I made ye leave,” he told her. “’Tis what I made ye feel.”
He was correct. What he made her feel again now. She closed her eyes and let herself be engulfed in his virile allure. But she only remained still for a moment. He wasthe Cameron, her demon for the last six years.
“I lost everything because of ye,” she said, pushing away from him. “I canna ferget. I willna ferget.”
He released her and took two steps back. “Aye, fergive me. I was wrong to presume—”
“Aye, ye were,” she shot at him. Even more than killing him, she wanted to get away from him. Revenge could wait. Just like earlier, she had to leave before the thought of killing him repulsed her. “I realize I canna remain here. Tomorrow, please bring me to the nearest village.”
“Nae. I will find a safe place fer ye.”
“Nae, I willna be indebted to ye any more than I am already.”
“Ye owe me nothin’, lass,” the thick timbre of his voice reverberated through her blood.
She wanted to cover her ears. She wanted him to stop speaking. Was every kind thing he said meant to move her? She would stop him. “Not even the use of yer arm?”
He didn’t flinch. “Ye were no’ the one who drove his sword into me fer lookin’ at his daughter.”
Elspeth wished she had his fortitude when she swayed on her feet. “If ’tis true and ’twas my father who did this to ye, will ye stand there and tell me I shouldna be punished for his action?”
“Ye shouldna be. The offense is too grave, and though ’tis nowhere as grave the offense my kin caused ye, ye wouldna survive.”
“And ye shouldna be punished fer what yer kin did?” she put to him. “Yer kin would no’ have been there if no’ fer ye. Are ye dense?”
“Aye, fer the last several days, I have been. I must ask myself why I cared tonight if ye were still alive.”
“So ye can have someone to insult?”
He smiled again, as if despite his otherwise better judgement. “Good dreams, Miss Woodburn.”
She heard him moving away from her. She was glad. He made her life easier when he wasn’t in it.
She watched until he came into the moonlight and walked to the larger house. His cousins appeared and hurried to him, filling the night air with laughter.
With a sigh of resignation, Elspeth made her way back toward the small house. His house.
