“So when did it start?”Margaret asked, stepping over a fallen branch gracefully. “I didn’t realize that there was an attraction between the two of you until I saw you in the gardens a few days ago.”
“We’ve beencareful nae to let anyone ken,” Cali admitted, the brush rustling beneath her feet. “And I couldnae tell ye exactly when everythin’ started between me and Colby. He annoyed me to nay end when I first came to Castle McGhee. If ye had asked me back then, I would have told ye I didnae care for him one bit.”
“Truthfully,I assumed that he did nothing but get on your nerves,” Margaret hummed, her eyes flitting toward a cluster ofleaves moving in the wind. There was nothing solid there, no chance of there being a darling creature waiting for her. “You never shy away from putting him in his place.”
“Ach,well he does get on me nerves!” Cali said with a laugh though there was fondness underneath it all. “That’s nae to say I daenae enjoy his company, but he enjoys gettin’ under me skin.”
Margaret giggled as she said,“I think you like having a reason to get onto him.”
“Ye might be right about that,”Cali agreed, something like resignation coloring her tone. “But sometime along the line, we realized that we got along quite well. I daenae ken what the future holds for us, but I do look forward to findin’ out—even if he does irritate me to nay end sometimes.”
“And I look forwardto hearing more about it,” Margaret said, stopping abruptly when she saw movement deep within the trees.
It could have just beenthe wind, though. Her mind may have been playing tricks on her and showing her what she wanted to see. She wasn’t going to go storming into the woods for no reason. If she made too much noise, she could scare them away if they were there.
“What are ye lookin’at?” Cali asked, her own footsteps coming to a halt. “Is there somethin’ out there?”
“I don’t know,”Margaret said as she crept a little closer. “I think there might be a deer.”
“Really?”Cali murmured, creeping closer to Margaret as she tried to see what had caught her attention.
Margaret nodded,not looking away from the spot where she’d seen movement. Then, it happened again. Something dark shifted through the leaves. It was graceful and quick, perhaps an animal that didn’t want to alert the two women on the other side of the tree line.
Exhilaration rushedthrough Margaret as she rushed forward. She was careful to keep her footsteps light, raising a hand to keep Cali from following. She was worried that the noise from the two of them would be enough to scare the creature away. If the deer didn’t run from her, Margaret would call for Cali after greeting it.
Perhaps the clearingthat the deer enjoy is through here. Ryan hasn’t told me where it is yet, but he did say it was close. That would be such a nice surprise.
As she got closer,she lost sight of the creature. It must have sensed her quick approach and fled. With a huff, she glanced around the area. There weren’t any signs of the deer nor any signs thatanythinghad been here.
She ventured further in,the woods getting denser. The animal could be hiding anywhere, shielded by the old growth of the lush Highland forest. When she turned back, she was unable to seeCali any longer; her maid was concealed by the sheer number of trees and bushes growing. Still, Margaret was determined to find what she saw. She remembered the path she’d taken to get here.
Before she wasable to continue on, something gripped onto her upper arm tight enough to hurt. Unyielding fingertips dug into her flesh. It was enough to bruise and enough to frighten her.
She openedher mouth to scream in terror, the need to alert Cali that something was terribly wrong driving her. Margaret wasn’t able to get any sound out though. Her captor, whoever it was, acted quickly. A hand covered her mouth, pulling her back against a firm, thin chest. Something cold and sharp rested against her throat, a threat against any further action.
“If you knowwhat’s good for you,” the man who had hold of her said, his tone making her stomach turn violently, “you’ll stay quiet.”
Margaret knew that voice.She’d heard it before and had always made a point to avoid it. It didn’t matter where she heard it, at balls or on the street, she’d always turn on her heel and walk the other way as quickly as she could. Avoidingthatvoice was the entire reason she’d come to the Highlands in the first place.
Duke Cunningham.
“It wasbold of you to send two letters so close together,” he said, his mouth next to her ear. Her chest ached with fear, and her body went cold as she struggled against his grip. “You weresmart with that first one, I’ll give you that. But wouldn’t you know it? All I had to do was come to the area, and you sent another one, letting me know exactly where I’d find you.”
Tears prickedat the back of Margaret’s eyes as she kicked out wildly. The Duke skirted her attempts to break free, pressing the edge of his dagger more firmly against her neck. Despite the threat, she still struggled against him. She refused to let him destroy what she was building here. She refused to let herself be taken away without putting up some sort of fight.
“You’re just makingthings worse for yourself,” he growled, starting to force her deeper into the forest. It felt as though he were struggling to keep them both upright, but Margaret wasn’t able to knock him off his balance. “I’m already going to teach you a lesson for running away like you did. If you cooperate now, I won’t be so harsh.”
She letout a scream against Duke Cunningham’s palm. It was muffled, and she knew that it didn’t reach anyone’s ears but her own. Still, she did it again as she thrashed in his hold, desperate for anyone to come to her aid. She couldn’t get away from him on her own.
“Keep struggling if you please,”he said, unfazed by her attempts to break free, still pulling her further away from Cali and Castle McGhee, “but when I’m done with you, you’ll never disobey me again.”
“Ye’ve got a visitor, Me Laird,”Colby said, walking into Ryan’s study without knocking. “Ye might want to put aside whatever it is ye’re fussin’ over.”
“Who is it?”Ryan asked without looking up, not bothering to conceal his irritation at being interrupted. “I’m a wee bit occupied at the moment.”
Another voice chimed in saying,“Ach, are ye really too busy to greet me and me wife?”
“Aaron?”Ryan said, pushing aside the page he’d been reading and rising to his feet. He was caught between disbelief and boyish excitement. “Ye didnae tell me ye were comin’ to visit.”