Page 8 of The Highlander’s Gypsy Temptation

Idalia looked at him curiously. “What is your name?”

“Bran MacLeod,” he answered her. It was dreamlike, going through the formalities of introduction, given everything they had been through together, and the fact he now held her hostage.

“Aye, my sister is safe with her husband and newborn child.” Bran frowned, wondering why she was being so forthcoming with information despite all that was happening, but he did not question it.

“Child?” Bran looked up, filled with pleasure at the news.

“His name is Bran.”

“They named the bairn after me?” he asked in shock.

It stunned him when she nodded in confirmation. “They did.”

Bran shook his head. “I dinnae deserve such an honor.”

“To my sister, you are a hero. She mourns your loss, as do many others. They believed that you died protecting her. Your brother Andrew is the child’s godfather.”

Bran turned his head so she could not see his face as he tried to stop the tears that threatened to spill at the mention of his brother. He had tried not to think of him, because of how much he missed him, but also because it filled him with shame.

“I did nae ken,” he said when he finally got his emotions under control.

“He misses you,” Idalia informed him. He could hear the sympathy in her voice. “You are all of the family he had left in the world. Now, he has my sister.” Bran smiled, comforted by the knowledge that his brother had someone. “Why did you not come back all of this time? Why did you not send a letter or something to let your family know that you were still alive?”

Bran shook his head. “I could nae. August had me watched every moment o’ the day and night. If I did anything he did nae like,” he shrugged his shoulders, choosing to let his words hang.

“What does he have against you? For you to accept this, something must have happened.”

He shook his head, refusing to tell her anything more. He gave her a warning look to drop the topic of conversation. “We all change.”

She shook her head. “Your family deserves to know you are still alive. I would have told them myself had I known who you were.”

“I told ye nae tae.”

Idalia responded defiantly. “I did not know you well enough to obey you, nor did I know who you were.”

Bran snorted in amusement at that. He turned to look at her once more. “Ye have fire in ye. That is nae small accomplishment, given all that ye and yer family have been through. Ye will need that fire where we are going.”

“Where are we going?” Idalia asked, staring at him with dread.

“Tae a place just outside o’ August Raymond’s Romani encampment. He awaits ye there.” The sound of men arguing behind them made him stop speaking for a moment to listen. When the argument stopped, he continued on. “I am sorry, lass. If I could do otherwise, I would nae do this taeye.”

“Is there any way that we can both escape August’s clutches?” Idalia asked him hopefully. “Is there any way that you could release me, and we could return home to Orkney together?”

Bran shook his head. “I have tried tae get away from him. If we were tae be caught he would put us both tae death, killing us slowly for the pleasure o’ making us suffer.”

“Bran, please, there must be a way,” she pleaded, causing his heart to fill with even more guilt.

“I am truly sorry, lass, but yer only choices are August Raymond or death.” Bran pulled his blade and held it in the air between them. “Which will it be?”

Idalia swallowed hard looking at the blade balanced between them. “Whatever yer choice, yer body dead or alive will be delivered tae August Raymond,” he informed her, the sympathy gone from his eyes, a cold calm in its place.

“Where there is life there is hope,” Idalia murmured, refusing the offered escape of death.

Bran nodded, then sheathed his blade. “I must go and speak with the captain. I will return with some food for ye ‘afore darkness falls.” Rising, he left her alone in the canvas-protected midship for the exposed deck beyond.

Idalia looked all around her for a means of escape. As much as she did not wish harm to Bran, she was not about to surrender her life to August Raymond. I will find a way to help Bran get back home, but I will not be a sacrificial lamb upon the alter of Raymond’s evil desires.

Squirming, Idalia tried to undo the ties that bound her hands and feet. She did not know what she was going to do or where she was going to go once she had freed herself from her bindings. She was on a boat after all. There were not very many places a person could go. If I can manage to free myself, I could jump over the side and into the water. I am a strong swimmer. Perhaps I could survive the sea. Doubt niggled at her, but she could not let herself consider anything else. She had to escape.