Embraced by a Highlander

by Donna Fletcher

“If you ever hide and listen to a conversation that is none of your concern again, I will see you punished for it. Do you understand?”

  Hannah nodded, her voice caught somewhere in her throat.

  His lips moved away from her ear to settle near her mouth. “And if you ever dare try to enter the east wing again—”

  He brought his lips closer to hers, so close she thought for a moment that he intended to kiss her.

  “You will regret it.”

  He did not wait for a response. He released her after making sure she had steady footing when he lowered her to the floor. She watched as he strode away, not that she could get a good look at him. She knew him more by scent than features, since she had yet to see him clearly. At least seeing him from behind, she now knew he was a tall man, his dark hair barely reaching his wide shoulders. He appeared trim and lean, not bulky as she imagined a savage might look.

  “You are to rest your arm. No chores for you today,” he called back to her. “I will make it known to Helice.”

  He turned the corner and was gone from sight and she let out a breath she did not realize she had been holding.

  She remained where she was, wondering over Slain, wondering if it was wise for her to remain here, wondering if life would ever be as it once had been. Or if she wanted it to be. A chill ran through her at the same moment, a tear suddenly threatening the corner of her eye and she wiped it away and hurried out of the dark alcove and over to the fireplace.

  She had cried enough tears. They had only served to fill her with sorrow and she had had enough of that as well. But sorrow could not always be quashed. It lingered deep and would creep up when you least expected and take firm hold.

  Do not dwell, she silently scolded herself and hurried to her feet. She went and fetched the cloak Slain had provided for her and hurried out of the keep through the kitchen. She was grateful Helice had not returned yet or the woman would have stopped her and demanded to know where she was going and at the moment, though she fought the well of tears building inside her, she feared she would not be able to hold them back. Nor did she know if she wanted to.

  Hannah took off for the woods, aching to escape, yet having no place to go. She had nothing. She was alone. She dropped down to sit on a stump after only going a short distance. Her life had had its trials, but had been basically good while her mum had been alive, but once she died everything had fallen apart.

  A tear ran down her cheek and she let it fall. She had gone through hell the last few months. A hell she feared where death would be her only rescue. Another tear followed and she did not stop it.

  She wished she could go home, but she truly had no home left. Her safe haven had died along with her mum. Now she did not know who to trust. She did not know if she would be safe, especially if her step-brother had found out that she was still alive. He would search for her and he would see her dead.

  Here was the only place she could find protection.

  Here with the savage, where people feared to tread.

  Tears spilled freely down her cheeks. How else was she to stay alive? Her only hope of survival was to seek sanctuary with a man feared by many. Then there was her other problem, one she did not want to think about. One she believed there was no solution to and ironically made worse by being here. But it was a chance she had to take.

  More tears fell as sorrow filled her heart and squeezed it tight. She let herself cry like she had not cried since her mum died.

  “Why do you cry?”

  The gruff demand had her jerking her head up. Her tears ceased out of fear or shock she was not sure. Slain MacKewan stood a short distance from her. It was the first time she got a truly good look at the man. He was dressed in a brown and black plaid with shots of red weaved through it and a brown shirt beneath. His black boots rode up his lean calves, the black leather aged and worn. And his features were the handsomest she had ever seen on a man. Strangely enough though, what caught her attention the most was how his brow scrunched not with anger but concern and his dark eyes held even more concern. Her tears actually upset him.

  She spoke honestly. “I am not where I wish to be.”

  “Where do you wish to be?”

  His strong voice held interest not annoyance and as he took a step closer to her, it was then his features caught her breath and she understood why women would want to return to him again and again. He was a feast for the eyes. Even an artistic hand could not capture his fine features they were so defined. Dark brows arched over dark eyes and his narrow nose appeared sculpted perfectly along with his high cheekbones. His narrow lips sat slightly parted and looked as if they invited kisses. One would never grow tired of looking upon him. But as before that mattered not to her. It was concern that held strong in his dark eyes that appealed to her, for she had known little of that from a man.

  “Home,” she said.

  He took another step closer. “Then why not go there?”

  She wished to speak the truth to him, but she could not chance it, perhaps never would be able to. “I am no longer wanted.”

  “Why?”

  The sway of his broad shoulders and long legs as he took another step toward her added to his not only powerful but confident gait. But then she had heard tales about the savage.

  He is confident in victory. It shows in his ever step.

  Her response came easier than she thought and held a bit of truth. “I am not an obedient daughter.”

  “Is that why you were tortured?”

  Her eyes could not hide the surprise at his words.

  “When I asked you about your arm, your only word was… torture. The bruises on your body also tell me you have suffered at someone’s hands.”

  His words confirmed what she had suspected. He had been the one who had stripped her and slipped her into the nightdress. Heat rushed up to sting Hannah’s cheeks at the thought of him seeing her naked and for a moment she found herself speechless.

  The words Helice had used to describe her that one night echoed in her head. No one of importance.

  She regained her wits and said, “Punishment for what someone thought I deserved.”

  His eyes narrowed as if he did not believe her or perhaps it was that he did not agree.

  “You said you had need of me,” he reminded.

  The words rushed from her lips. “A place where I will be safe from monsters.”

  “If it is monsters you run from then you will not be safe with me.”

  Panic struck Hannah and she tread lightly with her words. “Are you telling me that I should leave?”

  “A safe place is here if you want it, but it comes at a high price.”

  She thought of her mum’s warning that you never got something for nothing. “What price?”

  His dark eyes traveled over her slowly, lingering at intimate places until Hannah shivered and pulled her cloak snugly around her.

  “A price I do not think you will be willing to pay. Think carefully on it and seek me out when you have the courage. And, Hannah, never, ever go into the woods alone again.”

  Hannah shivered once more as he turned and walked away.

  Slain walked the woods that were as familiar to him as was every nook and cranny in the keep. He had been born here like his many ancestors before him. Only endless wars, pointless skirmishes, and greed had been hard on the land and the clan, though foolish decisions by his father had been the costliest. He had managed to restore much of his clan, but it had come at a price that continued to make demands on him.

  When he had returned home and had caught a glimpse of Hannah, he had made a point to catch a better look more than once. Her beauty defied his eyes. That raging red hair, her lovely green eyes, her flawless skin touched ever so slightly by the sun, and a vulnerability that she worked hard at hiding had intrigued him and it had been a long time since any woman had intrigued him.

  His first thought had been to send her away, to keep her safe from him. Then when he saw her hanging from the window ben
eath his, he grabbed the rope he kept in his bedchamber, if a quick exit proved necessary, and rushed down to save her from landing on the thorny thickets.

  Once he had her in his arms, he had not wanted to let her go. Somehow his actions had made him feel as if he had claimed her. A foolish thought, yet one he could not shed. He had not thought twice about slipping her out of her worn garments and into a nightdress, the torture that it was. And seeing the bruises on her lovely, and far too tempting, body had infuriated him.

  He had never touched a woman against her will and he had certainly never taken an unconscious woman, that was beyond cowardly. Besides, seeing her there so vulnerable once again and her telling him that she had need of him had made him want to protect her. He had not known what happened to her, but he certainly wanted to find out… and make the person suffer for it.

  He snapped the twig, he had scooped up as he walked, in half. It had been obvious to him that she was not telling him the whole truth. She was running from more than she had told him, which was why he made her the offer that he did… the monster that he was.

  She would accept it. She had no place to go, leaving her in no position to refuse him.

  It was not right, but he had need of her as well, and she fit that need perfectly... she was a person of no consequence. She would be the solution to his one problem. The other problem? There was time to think on it, but not now.

  He would settle the one problem and be done with it and Hannah would help him do that. He had thought to walk away when he had seen her in the woods crying. Normally, he ignored tears on a woman. Too many of them used it against a man. But Hannah had been sitting alone, crying to herself. They had been sincere tears and he wondered what had brought them on. What she had told him about needing him had only fueled the idea he had been contemplating since seeing her. And once she asked to stay and be kept safe from monsters, any doubts he might have had vanished.

  Unfortunately, she had run from one monster to another, and monsters had no souls. It was why he had no remorse for what he was about to do to Hannah, and once it was done, there would be no changing it.

  Hannah would belong to him.

  Chapter 7

  Hannah sat near the warmth of the hearth in the Great Hall, her legs tucked up against her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and her chin resting on her knees. She had fled Helice’s presence after supper, the woman so angry that Hannah had expected to see fire spew from her mouth. It had started when Helice had informed Hannah she was not to do any chores until told otherwise. She could not blame the woman. There was much to be done in the keep, far more than two people alone could do.

  “You should leave.”

  Hannah’s head shot up to see Helice standing a short distance away.

  “There is nothing here for you. Go now while you can. I will give you food to last for a few days. Find someplace safe.”

  Hannah did not expect to hear the last three words from her. She was telling her it was not safe here. She almost laughed, not with humor, but fear. No matter where she turned, there was no place for her to go. No safe haven. No one to help her out of kindness, except for the healer who had freed her from that hell. She had been the only one who had showed her true kindness, wanting nothing in return for it.

  “I have no place to go.”

  “Any place is better than here. There is no heart to this place, no soul. It will swallow you whole and you will never escape.”

  “If that is so, why do you stay?” Hannah asked curious of how the woman came to be with Slain.

  Helice’s chin went up. “I owe a debt and I will see it repaid.”

  “I guess then we are both stuck here,” Hannah said.

  “You can find another clan who will surely take you in,” Helice said almost as if she commanded it.

  “Trust me, Helice, when I tell you that this is the only place I can find refuge and I will do what I must to remain here… for now.”

  “If you do not leave by morning’s light, you will never leave here.”

  A direct warning that sent a small shiver through Hannah.

  “I will leave a cloth wrapped with food for you in the kitchen if you should change your mind, and I hope you do.”

  Hannah watched Helice turn and walk away and she considered paying heed to the woman’s dire warning and advice, but it always returned to the same thing. Where would she go? Her only other choice would be for her to leave the Highlands and go where? This was her home and the only place she knew. The only place she wanted to be. Besides, there was no safety for a woman traveling alone.

  When she had been freed from that hellhole of a dungeon, she had kept company with another woman who had been freed along with her. They had traveled at night and had avoided the well-traveled roads. They had parted when their destinations went in different directions and Hannah had to admit she had missed traveling with her. They at least had each other even if the woman had barely spoken a word, but then she had suffered far worse than Hannah had.

  Slain was her only hope at the moment, and Helice might think that she would never leave here, but Hannah knew better. There would come a day when one, or perhaps both, of the monsters she had escaped would come claim her.

  She had no choice but to agree to pay her due for being allowed to remain here, though she would give herself a few days to think on it. Sometimes solutions could be found for the most improbable problem if one gave thought. Or so she told herself, when she knew better. Sometimes there was no solution… only surrender.

  She was no fool. She had known by the way Slain’s dark eyes had caressed her body slowly what demands he would make of her and she had to be sure that she was willing to surrender to him. She would be a servant and she would serve the chief of the clan. Was she truly willing to pay such a price to survive?

  She would think on it, though she worried her fate was already sealed.

  Hannah could not sit idle the next day. Without her hands busy, her thoughts were chaotic. After making sure Helice did not see her, Hannah grabbed a bucket of water and other items she needed and went to the Great Hall to continue cleaning it. She intended to take her time since her arm remained weak and still pained her. But the pain in her arm was a welcoming relief compared to the endless, disturbing thoughts that plagued her.

  She smiled and raised her arm to wipe the back of her hand across her brow, after finishing cleaning one table and the benches along each side. She kept her left arm tucked against her since it was simply too weak to be of any help.

  “What did I tell you?”

  Hannah jumped at Slain’s unexpected and fierce reprimand and turned to see him walk with quick strides toward her. Instinct warned her to back away from him, but courage rose up and refused to allow her to move.

  He came to a stop directly in front of her and she could tell he had recently been in the woods, the scent of pine heavy on him. He remained there, his arms folded over his chest. His sleeves were rolled up, the cuffs clinging tightly to the defined muscles in his arms.

  There was a sternness to his expression, his brow narrowed and his mouth tauter than pinched, but his eyes told a different tale. A spark of concern flashed in their dark depths, similar to yesterday when he had found her crying, and she wondered if there was a more human side to the savage than he allowed anyone to see.

  She realized he waited for an answer. “I cannot sit idle,” she explained.

  His hand reached out to cup her elbow. His touch was firm as if not giving her a choice and his hand warm against her bare skin, having rolled up her sleeves to work, as he directed her to sit on one of the benches that had been cleaned.

  “Tell me of this torture that injured your arm,” he said and sat beside her.

  She had spoken of it to no one, but then who was there to tell, and she would have preferred not to speak of it. However, his stern tone told her it was not a request. “My upper arm was shackled and I was left to hang from it for long periods of time, my feet unable to touc
h the ground.”

  His brow scrunched as he measured her words. “That is how you got that bruise that looks like a band around your arm?”

  Hannah nodded, fearful he would demand to know who tortured her. A question she would not answer, so she spoke quickly. “A healer told me it would take time for my arm to mend, though it may never heal completely. That it may always remain weaker than my other arm.”

  “That is a harsh punishment for a disobedient daughter,” —he paused a moment— “Or is it a husband you run from?”

  She was quick to say, “I have no husband and no family who wants me.”

  “Then who are these monsters who chase you?”

  He had trapped her with that question. He was searching to find out some truth about her. Hannah’s mum had once told her that the truth was not something always to be told, especially if the truth could prove harmful to one’s self. In this situation, the truth could prove deadly for her.

  “Those who would do a woman on her own harm.”

  “How long have you been on your own?” he asked.

  “Long enough to know there are too many monsters for me to fight alone.”

  “Why come here? Why the Clan MacKewan?”

  “You are feared and respected, and you are a chief who has already fought monsters,” she said.

  “It takes a monster to fight other monsters,” he cautioned.

  Hannah shook her head, ready to correct him, “It takes courage—”

  “To confront a monster, especially in his lair. With such courage, why would you need me?”

  “Courage only goes so far when you are on your own.”

  “So what you truly seek from me is… friendship?”

  An unexpected smile rose on Hannah’s face at the thought that that could actually be possible. “It would be nice to call you friend.”

  Slain leaned his face close to hers. “It is not friend you will be calling me, Hannah.”

  He brushed his lips faintly across hers with a tenderness that sent a ripple of pure pleasure cascading down along her body to fade at her feet.