Page 107 of Dark Seduction

Aidan shook his head. “’Tis nay allowed. A Master canna go back to the past an’ change it fer his own whim.”

“You follow the rules now?” she cried furiously.

He gave her a look. “No god would allow the Code to be broken like ye wish, Claire.”

Claire gave up, for she didn’t understand that. “Then what are we going to do?”

“I’ll do what needs to be done, Claire. Ye’ll do nothing. Yer in my care now, until Malcolm be released. In fact, I’m takin’ ye far from the court, as there be nothin’ here fer ye.”

“Malcolm is here—locked up and awaiting a verdict for what I have done. I am not leaving court without him.” She had never meant her words more.

He stared.

“I am desperate, Aidan,” Claire admitted, resorting to any feminine wiles she had left. She let tears fill her eyes—genuine tears of fear for Malcolm. “I love him and I have to stand by him, just as he has stood by me.”

Aidan softened. “I ken ye love him deeply. I dinna think he’ll be imprisoned fer too long. He’ll probably pay a high price in coin and lands fer the assault. Very well. I’ll find us rooms until he be released. But,” he said fiercely, “ye’ll do nothing to make matters worse.”

Claire quickly nodded. “Agreed.”

“Ye will obey me, Claire,” he added.

Although she wasn’t sure she meant it, she nodded again. “Okay.”

Then she saw Moray, staring at them from steps leading to the hall.

Divide and conquer, she thought, her insides lurching with sick dread.

MALCOLM TENSED. Claire was looking for him, filled with desperation. He could sense her racing through the palace corridors, lost and confused. Alarm filled him. She should not be looking for him, as he was the king’s prisoner. It was not safe for her to be searching for him now. Linlithgow was not safe.

Malcolm, where are you?

He had been lying on a thin pallet on the stone floor in his cell. He sat up. Claire, go back. Do not come!

But she did not answer him and he knew she hadn’t heard.

She was too afraid to hear him, he realized.

He heard her calling to him again.

Malcolm, help me find you!

Claire, there be guards. Go back to yer chamber, he ordered. But he knew she would not obey him, as she never did, and he was afraid for her.

He felt her despair intensify. He sensed she was lost in the maze of hallways. But he felt her presence. She was closer now. And then he heard her scream and he saw her standing in a dark, shadowed hall. She had come face-to-face with Moray.

Moray was smiling in evil anticipation.

No!

She was running. Malcolm encouraged her to run faster. Claire screamed again, so loudly she must have been outside the cell door, and he heard Moray’s laughter. Malcolm banged on the cell door, furious and desperate. He had to help her escape Moray!

And he knew Claire’s strength was failing her. She was sobbing, trying to run, but her legs had become oddly useless. He seized the door to wrest it from its hinges. And before he could do so, the door opened and Claire stood there.

He had never been happier to see anyone.

She cried out in relief, throwing her arms around him and holding him tightly. He held her hard, unsure he could ever let her go, thanking the Ancients for sparing her life. As he held her, his concern changed, and so much warmth began, not just in his loins, which swiftly hardened, but in his chest.

She smiled at him, her green eyes sparkling with unshed tears.