She had never seen a strange woman about the castle, and when Magnus had arrived after his outing, he’d said that they captured a spy for the Brahanne. It seemed unlikely that he would kidnap a woman. Her brother was cruel enough. It wasn’t that. It was that overcoming a woman did not hold a point of pride in his mind.
He is greedy and violent, but me brother has never been overly distracted by a woman. Marriage and conquest are hardly on his mind by everything I’ve seen.
Still, she was beginning to believe that there was much more to her brother’s endless toiling than she realized.
Another thirty minutes or so had passed, and the ferocious growling of Willow’s stomach yanked her from her thoughts. She was starving, having not eaten since early this morning, and the bloody thing would not stop as Keegan pushed the horse forward.
The sky was darkening around them, and as another wave of hunger crashed over her, Keegan began to slow their ride.
“It is late. There is a village nearby. We shall eat and sleep at their inn.”
She was about to respond when the man called out to the horse and got it moving at full speed once more.
As he’d said, a village appeared as they crested over the top of the hill, and Keegan drove them down the other side until they pulled up to the outer wall and dismounted. The watch kept a keen eye on us as Keegan led the horse to the stables for the evening, and then he was pulling Willow along like a lost child until they were at the inn.
Inside, the building was warm and smelled so strongly of food that Willow’s stomach roared all over again. There were several men and women inside getting a meal and even a bard playing the bagpipes atop a small platform at the back. Keegan walked to the bar where the proprietor stood, and Willow hurried after him to keep up with the hold he had on her arm.
“Good evening, sir. How may I assist ye?”
The older gentleman who spoke was a portly fellow, his cheeks a sunburnt red and his brown curls frizzled and wild.
“A room for me wife and I, if ye’d be so kind. Thank ye.”
The word cut through Willow like a knife, and she flicked her eyes to Keegan, glaring daggers through the side of his face.
“Of course, sir. Shall ye be requiring supper this evening?”
Before Keegan could respond, Willow cut in. “I willnae be sleeping in the same room as ye.”
The words were chewed out through gritted teeth, but both Keegan and the gentleman helping them only chuckled. She was ready to scream, forgoing her promise to “behave.”
If this brute thinks I will be tending to his every word, I shall show him what I’ve learned from Magnus.
“Och, be at ease, mistress. I’m sure whatever slight yer husband has performed will be best mended by a night in the same bed.”
Willow scoffed, facing the innkeeper to glare at him, happy to do so until the rest of his scraggly hair fell out.
“Now, now,dear.” Keegan reached out, taking Willow’s chin and forcing her to look him in the eyes. “Ye can hate me all ye want, but ye willnae turn yer ire on this kind gentleman.”
She clenched her jaw, grinding her molars as Keegan held her still. As the older man turned away from them to fetch something, her captor leaned in closer, his lips brushing across her ear.
“Tonight, lass, ye will lie beside me—whether ye like it or nae.”
4
Arock in one’s shoe was not nearly as irritating as spending even just five minutes with Keegan. Willow would have been thrilled to see the man be robbed by highwaymen when next they set off or perhaps booted from their shared room and left locked out for the entire evening.
The latter she might attempt to arrange.
Cocky bastard. He can jump in a creek and freeze for all I’m concerned.
Willow’s heart beat furiously against her ribcage. She was so vexed by every last word that spilled from Keegan’s mouth, and she tracked him as he stood next to her, waiting for the innkeeper to return. He’d yet to let go of her arm, and the burn of his touch etched its way through her veins.
It surely must be the rage funneling through her that made her heart quicken as it did when he touched her. It certainly didnothave anything to do with the shudder that worked its way through her when he’d whispered in her ear or the clear blue of his eyes like the ocean on a sunny day.
“Right this way, if ye please.”
The man returned to them with a grin, holding a large key in his hand. As he stepped free of the bar top where he’d stood dusting glasses, the older gentleman led the two of them to the rear of the building and up a set of stairs.