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“Aye, now ye’ve got it,” Dougie agreed, nodding.
Murdoch clapped him on the shoulder. “There will be a dram for you tonight if this works,” he said with a wink.
Even though Murdoch had his back to her, Keira could see Dougie’s face. Though he was too far away from her to enable her to lip-read, she could read the expression on his face and knew that they were discussing her. He grinned a couple of times and glanced in her direction, and she felt enraged again that they had not at least gone into a huddle and hidden their faces from her.
They must think I am completely stupid,Keira thought angrily, as Murdoch turned and approached her again. Despite herself, she could not help observing what a magnificent man he was.
Everything about him spoke of strength, from his square jaw, his muscular chest, and broad shoulders to his narrow waist and hips and the powerful muscles of his arms and legs. Then she reminded herself that he was the enemy. He worked for her father and obeyed his orders, and it did not matter how desirable she found him; he was still her foe.
Murdoch knelt down before her, then he took out a glass of ale and poured some into a cup for her.
She hesitated, then accepted it, but only because she was desperately thirsty.
“Mistress,” Murdoch said gently, “I understand your position, and I know how much the people on the estate mean to you, but please understand mine. I swore an oath to work for your father and to uphold the honor of the McTavish clan, and I cannot run away from that responsibility. If I lose my position here, I will not find another, and the person who replaces me might not be so understanding. As well as that, you will not help the tenants of this estate if your father imprisons you or exiles you.”
Keira smiled coldly. “Ah, I see what you are trying to do,” she remarked. “Is that what all the sniggering was about over there? She is only a woman, try to charm her, pretend to see her point of view, soon she will be putty in your hands because women are soft and witless creatures. Do you really think I am so stupid that I cannot see through your deception? You may think we are idiots, Captain of the Guard, but we silly females can read faces as easily as you can read a book.
“Tell your idiotic second-in-command to keep his head turned in the future!”
Suddenly, on a wicked impulse, she threw the ale in his face and watched the shock on it with gleeful satisfaction. The ale was dripping onto his shirt, and he looked down at it stupidly for a moment before he stood up again, glaring at her.
However, Keira could see that he was quite simply at a loss as to what to do with her. He could take her to her father, and God alone knew what he would do to her. On the other hand, he could not leave her to roam about leading a band of rebels, and neither could he be responsible for her himself. He wiped the ale from his face and turned away, then sighed deeply.
Dougie, who had been watching with some amusement, smiled at his captain. “I take all hope of the dram has disappeared, then?”
“Yes,” Murdoch growled. “Definitely. Take her home, Dougie. Let her ride her horse beside you and keep her safe ’til you get back to the castle.”
Dougie looked at him in amazement. “Ye are no’ takin’ her back to her father?”
Murdoch shook his head firmly. “In all good conscience, I cannot, Dougie,” he replied. “She is…different from any other woman I have ever met, and she deserves a chance to be free. I have the power to turn her into a fugitive or a criminal. I will do neither. Take her home.”
He turned to Keira and said grimly, “You are free to go, Mistress McTavish.” Then he turned and picked up the thumb screws and pincers again and handed them to her. “Take these and dispose of them as you see fit. They have only ever been used as a threat. They have never touched anyone’s flesh, and they never will.”
Keira touched the instruments of pain with great reluctance. She did not wish to accept them but was afraid of the consequences if she did not. Somehow, she believed Murdoch when he said he would not use them, but some of his other guards might. At last, after a silent battle with herself, she took them from him, and her hands touched his for a moment. She felt as though a shock had gone through her, and it was so sudden and overwhelming that when she stood up she stumbled a little.
Murdoch put out his hands and grasped her upper arms to steady her, and for a moment, their faces were very close. He looked down at her lips, and Keira saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed nervously. His head was dipping toward hers, the urge to kiss her almost overwhelming, but just before their lips touched, Keira turned away. He blinked, realizing what he had almost done. He flushed with embarrassment and let go of her arms. This was happening too often.
Keira was mesmerized as she watched Murdoch’s lips approaching hers, but at the last second, she realized what it would mean if any connection between them was established. He would likely have to surrender her to her father, and if there was any emotional tie between them, it would be disastrous for both of them.
She turned away at the very last second and felt his mouth brush against her hair. Damn. Even now, her body was reacting to his nearness.
