Page 58 of Hold Fast

“Nay!” she spat at him. “And shame on you, Ewan MacDonald, for letting that old goat trade me about like chattel.Again.”

“Och, chattel, are you? You think that I dinnae care more for you than I do my sheep?” her father asked smugly.

“You dinnae ask your sheep if they want to be supper,” she said before wheeling on Ewan, “And you didnae ask me if I want to marry you!”

Through gritted teeth, Ewan said, “Una, a word.”

Una opened her mouth to tell him exactly which part of her anatomy he could converse with when he jerked his hand toward the far side of the hall. He stalked into the buttery, leaving behind a satisfied-looking Fergus, who sat down at the table and poured himself more ale from a pitcher. Una rolled her eyes and followed after Ewan. When she entered the buttery, she found him pacing like a wild animal, anger and frustration radiating off of him like steam from a boil. But she did not cower. She was not afraid of him.

How very refreshing.

“Well,m’laird?”

He wheeled on her, his hurt feelings only barely concealed by his anger. “I willnae remind you of your promise. Which youinsiston breaking to bait me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest.

“What is it, Ewan?”

Abruptly, he stopped pacing and turned to her. “What is so damned offensive about marrying me?”

“Nothing!” she snapped.

“Then why do you refuse?”

“Because I willnae be traded about like livestockyet again, Ewan!”

“You would be safe as my wife!”

“Aye. And under your thumb!”

He reared back. “That isnae fair, Una. I havenae once tried to control you, and I wouldnae start now.”

“Perhaps you havenae tried to controlme, but you tried to fix it so that if I wouldnae stay in the keep, that I would be close enough to the walls that your guards can spit in my garden to water it. You made arrangements for a cottage without talking to me. You made arrangements with my father without eventhinkingto talk to me. He doesnae care one bit about what I want, and neither, it seems, do you!”

“I thought you made it pretty clear what you wanted upstairs when you climbed me like a tree,” he said in a low voice.

“You swiving bastard!” Una shrieked, turning to leave, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back. She spun around and landed against his chest.

“You did, Una,” he barked before lowering his voice to barely above a whisper. “And I have never experienced anything like it.”

She snorted in disbelief and pushed him away.

“Believe it or nae, Una, I am nae in the habit of rutting against lasses like a beast in heat.” His voice was soft now, smooth. Coaxing. The same tone he’d used to earn Greer’s trust. “You make me burn.”

She looked up into his eyes, a shifting, subtle green, like the moss-covered rocks at the bottom of a burn. His heavy eyebrows were drawn close together, and she could almost see him trying to work it out in his mind.

“Una,” he said in that same gently voice. “I amaskingyou now. Will you marry me?”

“Nay,” she bit out, sounding more petulant than she intended.

He dropped her wrist and took a step back. “God save me from stubborn, impossible women!”

“And by that you mean a woman who willnae be ground under a lairdly boot again!”

Ewan’s brow furrowed and mouth hung open as he dragged heavy breaths into his body.

“Is that what this is about? Why you refuse me? You think I would treat you like he did?” he asked in an agonized whisper. “You think I’d abuse you? Lock you away? Try to break your spirit? Is your opinion of me truly so low, Una?”