Worse and worse and more and more mistakes. The hornets buried in her body swarmed as Mairead rode with Caird. She’d given him everything he wanted, the truth or at least what he needed to know, the gem, everything. She negotiated, begged, for him to release her. Exactly want he wanted since he couldn’t stand touching her.
But that’s exactly what he did as he rode with her, alone, heading towards her clan. Touching, forever touching. A loose lock of his hair against her cheek, his breath against her neck. Even his clean scent seemed to touch her. It was so intoxicating, she wanted to lean against him and inhale it.
Still they rode over the rough terrain. The tall summer grasses hid the dips and crevices Caird tried to avoid. Hours they travelled. So when his broad legs tightened and swayed, she felt him controlling the great horse as if she was the very beast. When his hands tugged the reins, she felt his arms’ movements as if he was guiding her home as well.
Home to a clan that would ransom a Colquhoun without question. All to get answers that didn’t exist.
Because of that, she knew Caird wouldn’t leave her alone. The hornets swarming made her nauseous and she was no closer to a resolution.
It had been a mistake to believe he’d let her go.
She should have trusted her instinct when he’d left to talk to Malcolm. If she had, she’d have gone into the woods and not returned.
Yet, like a baby deer, she had skipped back to the campsite, only to be caught in Caird’s trap.
He wasn’t going to the games; he was taking her home.
She didn’t understand. He had insisted on going to the games. Of course, at that time, he had believed she would be going with him. No, that was being too generous with him. He had made plans and he had changed them. Ultimately, she had no argument against him taking her home. Nothing.
So Caird took her home. Home to a brother who was no longer there. With his continual arrogance and superiority, she knew Caird didn’t deserve to know of her brother’s death. A part of her thrilled at the fact the journey would be wasted for him. That she now used him to get her safely and quickly to her family.
But that still didn’t change the fact something else was going on.
‘I want to get off this horse,’ she said. Her limbs were beginning to numb.
He ignored her just as he had dismissed her requests before. She could do nothing. So as not to backtrack, they were travelling towards Buchanan lands, not near the inn, but directly south.
Travelling this way meant crossing the streams and river that riddled this entire length of land. There had been much rain this summer making the river full and causing dangerous flood plains.
‘I can see from here that the stream up ahead is full,’ she said instead. ‘How are we to cross?’
Silence as wide as the loch separating their clans.
Anger stung her eyes. She hated to feel helpless. She hated to be trapped and not understand why.
For his abduction wasn’t about arrogance, or pride or any Colquhoun trait she could fight against. The brothers held a secret. An important secret. That was why the Colquhouns had separated. They might not know everything about the dagger and gem, but they knew more than she did.
All she knew was the dagger was dangerous. Her brother had died trying to sell it and Caird had kidnapped her because she said it was her brother’s.
‘It’s the gem and dagger, isn’t it? It’s why you won’t let me go,’ she said.
She felt him become alert, but he did not respond. ‘Since you’ve kidnapped me, you should tell me what is happening.’
She knew she was but a mere pawn in whatever game was being played. Her only regret was that her brother had found out too late. ‘You think the dagger doesn’t belong to me, but you think you know who it does belong to.’
Nothing from the silent Colquhoun and it frustrated her that she couldn’t see his reaction. But she heard the light tapping of his teeth as if he wanted to say something, yet kept his jaw tight to prevent any sound.
‘Even if you won’t tell me, I know the gem is costly, that men fight over it, that it has some great importance.’
‘We’ll need shelter after the streams,’ he answered.
The hornets began to sting. ‘You talk of weather?’ she said, barely understanding her own words through her clenched teeth.
‘There are dark clouds on our left,’ he replied.
‘I want to get off this horse. Now. Or I’ll jump.’
He flexed his left thumb, letting her know exactly how he felt, but he slowed the horse. It wasn’t fast enough for her.
Frustration like she’d never known flashed through her at the delay and at the tiny movements he made until they fully stopped. Anger flared when he waited for her to dismount first. A reminder of when she’d kicked him and run free.
She loathed his control, his arrogance, his secrets, and she hated her body for not caring. Her desiring him made her angrier still.
Untangling herself, she jumped to the ground and waited.
When he dismounted, she reared back and hit him for all she was worth.