Page 54 of Enchantment of a Highlander

Something outside her cabin cracked, like a stick snapping beneath a heavy boot. She jumped and her heart agitated in her chest with such force her body trembled.

Her gaze fixed on the door as if she expected it to explode inward.

Had the man with the red ring found her?

Was he back to finish what he’d started?

Someone pounded against her front door. She pressed a hand to her mouth to suppress the squeak of fear and grasped her dagger.

She crept to the wall and flattened herself against it. If she stood motionless, he wouldn’t see her. Perhaps he would leave.

A fist slammed into the door again, this time hard enough to rattle it on its hinges.

Her palms were slick against the dagger’s hilt where she held it tight.

“Damn it, Celia, open up.”

Alec.

The frantic hammering of her heart went from fear to a wash of relief, which quickly gave way to a lurch of unwanted excitement.

She crossed the room on shaking legs, twisted the key in the lock, and pulled the door open. Alec stood with his hand braced against the side of the doorway. Rainwater streamed down his face and his clothing was so sopping wet it glistened black against the glow of her firelight.

The muscles of his neck tensed visibly. “Ye’re safe,” he said quietly.

“Ye dinna come to the castle today,” Alec said, louder this time. More certain. His hand tensed around the doorframe and his head dropped forward.

Several of Alec’s men stood behind him, shifting from foot to foot with unease.

Celia did not turn her focus from them. “I was…detained.”

“Is Duncan here?” Alec asked.

She shook her head. “No, why would he be?”

“He’s missing.” Alec raised his face and turned those pale blue eyes on her. Lines carved across his brow.

“Duncan?” Her chest squeezed a gasp from her lips. “What happened?”

His brows furrowed and he stared at her injured cheek. He straightened and caught her face in his palm. “Who did this to ye?” His thumb brushed just under the scrape. “Was this why ye dinna come?” His voice was as soft as his touch.

It felt so right, so comforting. It made her want to lay her head to his chest and feel the strength of his heartbeat.

Instead, she pulled back from him. Hurt flashed in his eyes before his stare went hard once more.

“We must find Duncan,” she said, ignoring his question. She grasped her thick cloak hanging beside the door and swung it over her shoulders.

Alec’s jaw tensed. Even if he wouldn’t admit it, she knew part of him was scared for Duncan.

“He is much stronger now than he was when he first woke,” Celia said softly. “He’ll be fine.”

She glanced behind Alec before locking her door. There had been no sign of the man who’d chased her since she left the forest near Duart.

She knew she’d be safe with Alec, but that thought left her more uneasy than if she were on her own.

Because she knew he would give his life for hers.

And that would kill her as surely as the hard steel of a blade.