He caught up to her when she reached the end of the inlet, and the mountain blocked her way.
With no other choice, she stopped and faced him, laughing as if he was tickling her when he hadn’t touched her.
Head tilted, dark eyes staring into her soul as he reached her.
“Stay away!” she demanded playfully.
He did not obey but gathered her in his embrace. “I canna stay away, bonnie Elspeth. I willna. Nothin’ or no one will ever keep me from ye.”
She breathed and it felt as if she hadn’t done so in six years. Her hatred was gone and it was not Roderick who ended it, but this man. Logan Cameron, who won her heart and healed it.
Chapter Nineteen
They rode backto the house in silence with Elspeth’s cheek pressed against Logan’s chest, her arms coiled low around his waist. He hadn’t kissed her, but he ached to do so.
He would not take advantage of her by tempting her to do something she might not do if she were thinking clearly.
Her thoughts and memories must be in a shambles. She would forever see her brother doing the unthinkable, and for that, Logan hated Roderick Woodburn. If he met him, he might kill him. He wondered if his cousins had found the unholy bastard. What would happen if they did? He would be brought before the Lochiel, who would decide his punishment.
Logan knew his father would not leave a man alive who wanted his son dead. Would Elspeth hate him forever?
When they reached the house, his mother hurried out to him, waving a handkerchief as if it were a flag of surrender.
“Logan,” his mother said, then hit him with her handkerchief she’d been waving. “Where have ye been, and where is yer brother?”
“What is it, Mother?” Logan demanded.
She moved her head closer to his. “Yer—”
“Logan!” A familiar, booming voice shook the walls.
Logan smiled when he saw his father leaving the sitting room.
“Father, ’tis good to see ye.” It was always good to see him. Logan cherished his mother, but it was at his father’s side whereLogan set himself from a young age. He went to him now and was caught up in his father’s tight embrace.
“Mother said ye had meetin’s and such,” Logan said, stepping back. “What brings ye here?”
“This lass,” his father said, turning to set his gaze on Elspeth. “I would have ye know that I questioned all the men, and they all tell me the same thing; they set yer keep ablaze, but they didna kill yer kin and throw them in the fire. In fact, they didna have to kill anyone, as the guards had all been dead already or asleep.”
“Save fer Ewen MacDonald,” she told him. “He killed one of the guards asleep outside yer son’s cell. I understand why he did it now, but that guard was my friend.”
“Do ye have proof of yer claim, Miss Woodburn?”
“Aye, my lord, my eyes are my proof. I was hiding in the shadows. I saw Mr. MacDonald do it.”
“What were ye doin’ hidin’ in the dungeon with yer father’s prisoner?”
There was nothing in the Lochiel of Lochaber that was soft, like his son. This one was just as striking as his sons, and a hundred times more threatening.
“I was trying to save yer son.”
“Why?” his father demanded.
“Because I take nae pleasure in seeing a man suffer.”
He stared at her in much the same way Logan did. As if he was trying to understand her. Like his son, he came away none the wiser.
Finally, he gave her a slight nod and moved on to Logan.
