Page 16 of To Claim His Highland Bride

She’d learned long ago the futility of arguing with her brothers. Marcus appeared to be just like them once their mind was made up. To them, there was no other way forward except what they thought was right, no matter who was left behind or how much pain they endured. Rowena straightened. “Since there is nothing left to say, you should be going.”

“Then we are agreed, it is best to part?”

Instead of confirming what he wanted to hear, she took a step away.

He caught her hand with his. “Rowena . . .”

A jolt of awareness tingled against her skin. She jerked her fingers away at the sensation. The effect of his touch on her senses was more pronounced than ever. She’d forgotten what it felt like, the physical manifestations of the soul-deep connection they’d once shared. Her body was still tuned to him, her nerves stretching when he drew near in telltale anticipation—an anticipation that could never be fulfilled. “I must go. Goodbye, Marcus.”

Rowena turned away from the castle and ran down the path lined with trees that bordered the edge of the loch. She heard Marcus call after her but she dared not stop or go back. If he caught up with her, she would make a fool of herself and beg him to stay. He’d made his position clear. It was time for her to move forward with her own life—a life without Marcus.

Her heart hammered in her chest as her feet pounded on the gravel path, passing the walled garden entrance and on towards the birch trees. Mayhap she could lose him in the trees. She knew all the hiding spots in these woods, had used them during her youth to conceal herself when she and her brothers played hide-and-seek.

When she was into a small fringe of trees, she heard footsteps coming swiftly behind her. She took a deep breath to brace herself to confront Marcus—but it wasn’t Marcus who came to a halt before her. It wasn’t Marcus who grabbed her, and it wasn’t Marcus who clamped a brutal hand over her mouth to stifle her scream.

Chapter Seven

“Rowena!”

Marcus cursed and chased after her. She had put an abrupt end to his practised speech. As much as it pained him, things were done between them. Though he would not leave her alone and unprotected outside the castle walls. Her brothers Alastair and Tormod would skin him alive if anything happened to her.

Marcus followed her down the path, keeping her in his sights until she broke from the path and headed into the birch trees. He was entirely to blame for her running away. He never should have reached for her hand, but the temptation to touch her one last time had overwhelmed him. Instant desire had flared as it always did. He’d looked into her hazel eyes and let the moment flow over him before she’d jerked her hand away. But the warmth had remained, paralysing him momentarily as he’d remembered everything he’d spent the last six months trying to forget.

“Rowena?” He stopped, listening for a reply, but there was only the flutter of bird wings overhead. An uneasy sensation pricked the nape of his neck. He stared hard into the trees on either side of him to determine if something was amiss, but he could see nothing. He could hear nothing but the breeze as it rustled the leaves overhead. Even so, his hand drifted to his sword as the uneasy feeling continued to grow.

He was about to turn around and head back to the path when, where there should have been only brown and green, he saw a bright patch of burgundy, and a red and green tartan.

The MacDonald colours.

Marcus surged forward, shouting alarm to the guards on the castle towers and to Aria and her men at the gates as he ploughed through the trees, following Rowena and her captor. He had to reach her before they made it to the loch.

The man dragging a very reluctant Rowena towards the shore and a boat waiting there must have sensed Marcus was closing in. The man stiffened. Like a fox catching the scent of fresh blood, he turned and Marcus saw who had abducted Rowena for a second time.

Bryce. A wave of anger, black and burning like acid, boiled up from the hidden depths of Marcus’s soul. He pushed himself to his limits and erupted onto the shoreline just as Bryce plunged Rowena into the water, trying to force her into the waiting boat.

“Release Rowena.” The words were squeezed through taut white lips. “This is between you and me. It always has been.”

Bryce stopped then jerked Rowena against his chest. He drew a dagger from his belt and held it at her throat. Even so, Rowena continued to kick Bryce in the shins. His features hardened at her continued assault. “She’s the only leverage I have to make you do what I want. I will kidnap her as many times as it takes to force your cooperation.”

Marcus took two steps towards the water but stopped when the dagger was pressed more firmly against Rowena’s skin.

Rowena stopped struggling. Her hazel eyes held no fear, only anger.

Marcus’s hand moved to the hilt of his sword. Behind him, the rapid footsteps of the castle guards grew ever closer. “You will soon be outnumbered.”

“You are already in jeopardy,” Rowena said, her gaze shifting to the left, towards the shoreline. “Release me this instant or Aria will put an arrow through your heart.”

Marcus drew his sword and dropped into position even as his own gaze shifted to the shores of Loch Dunvegan. Aria raced towards them, an arrow nocked and ready to fire.

“Her aim is quite accurate,” Rowena said. “Or would you rather test her abilities with your life?”

Bryce turned so that Rowena’s body was between him and the female warrior. “Tell the woman to lower her bow and arrow.”

Marcus took primitive delight in the sudden fear in his cousin’s eyes. “Not until you release Rowena.”

Bryce shoved Rowena forward as he took cover behind the boat.

In a heartbeat, Marcus sheathed his sword then raced to catch Rowena before she tripped over the weight of her sodden gown. He helped her to shore before turning back to his cousin. With Rowena out of danger, Marcus drew his sword once more and plunged into the water after his cousin. “Get in that boat and leave this isle. Go find your own way in this life, Bryce. For you’ll not get another chance to torment the MacLeods.”