Page 23 of Katie's Highlander (Highland Protector 3)
Glancing around the unfamiliar part of the woods and lengthening shadows, Katie snatched the bottle back and took another deep drink. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she balanced the bottle on her thigh for easy access. “I hope we’re headed to the keep because I am so out of here tonight. I don’t care if I have to walk out of Brady, North Carolina.”So much for going along with the crazy old man. A sliced hand and a day of unbelieveable crazy that I can’t even describe. I couldn’t have made today’s shit up—not in a thousand years.
She took another deep drink and peered up at what little sky she could see through the leafy tops of the trees. “Are we going down the mountain or up? This direction seems off.”
“I must keep to the path, lass. Did ye no’ hearAthair’swords?”
Katie kicked her feet and yanked the reins out of Ramsey’s hands, pulling on them until Dubh came to a standstill. “Are you fucking kidding me? He’s nowhere near here and you’re still doing what he says? It’s over, Ramsay. We did what the hell he wanted and now it’s over. What the devil is wrong with you?” She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and pretty soon, with another healthy snort or two of the whisky, she’d probably do both simultaneously. “I know I said I was willing to humor the man, but this…this…” she struggled to choose the right words. “This went way beyond keeping some confused old man happy. I’m sorry—but I’m out. No more playacting. I’m out of Brady tonight.”
“Ye saw the lightnin’ and heard the thunder after Dwyn spoke the blessing, aye?”
He hadn’t heard a word she’d said. Totally ignored her. Totally. Katie took another deep swig then said, “Aye, laddie, I heard.” She sounded a great deal like a tipsy Scottish parrot—even to her own ears. She hit the bottle again.
Taking the whisky from her, Ramsay shoved it back down into the leather bag and cinched it tightly shut.
“Hey!”
“Ye can have more when we stop for the evenin’.”
Katie looked around and held up both hands as though revealing a surprise. Dubh hadn’t resumed his slow plodding walk. “Looks to me like we’re stopped now.” She rocked in the saddle to get Dubh moving and thumped both elbows hard enough into Ramsay’s stomach to make him grunt. “Take me to the keep, Ramsay. Now.”
“We must keep to the path,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Why?” Katie roared out with an angry growl that made screaming seem pathetic and made her want another drink to wet her throat. Her vented frustration caused a nearby flock of birds to evacuate their roost and flutter up through the trees. “Get it through your head—your father isn’t here. Neither is Dwyn. Take me to the keep. I’m ready to pack my shit and get the hell away from Brady, North Carolina, and forget this cult of yours ever existed.”
“Aye, lass. I know,” Ramsay answered in a quiet resigned tone. He urged Dubh forward and gently but firmly pulled Katie back against him. “But ye must understand,Athair’swords were a warnin’ and Dwyn agreed with him. We must keep to the path—at least until the sun rises and we see what the mornin’ holds. I think we might be safe by then.”
“All the morning holds is my happy ass buying a bus ticket out of Brady, North Carolina, since Adam finally decided to text me and tell me he can’t get here ’til the weekend.”
Ramsay’s thighs flexed around her, urging Dubh to resume at a faster pace. “There’s a clearing up ahead. Still well on the path. We can safely spend the night there.”
“I am not camping out even if I have to walk back to the damn keep in pitch-black darkness.” And she’d be taking the damn whisky bottle with her. All she had to do was head down the mountain. If she missed the keep, at least she’d find some sort of civilization eventually and get the hell out of here.
“Ye’ll no’ walk. I intend to explain everythin’ to ye and then ye’ll sleep and in the mornin’, if ye wish, I’ll find ye a way home then.”
“IfI wish? Are you out of your fucking mind?”
Ramsay remained silent, but Katie felt victorious by the tensed hardness of his body. He was pissed.Good. I am too.Admittedly, the man was intriguing beyond words—what with his background and that mind-boggling druid altar in his own backyard. And he was gorgeous. And more than likely an awesome lover. But…damn. How much did a girl have to put up with just to get close to a guy? This afternoon had been a little much.
“I need another drink.” She had quite the bravado-building buzz going on and she wasn’t about to let it fizzle out.
Ramsay grabbed hold of her hand as she fumbled with the ties on the saddle bag and in one graceful movement, he dismounted and pulled her down into his arms.
“What do you think you’re doing now?” She thumped his chest with her fist. “Put me down.”
Without a word, Ramsay thunked her down on a hollow log, hard enough to make her teeth rattle. He strode back to Dubh, removed his spear from the holster, then stripped the animal of saddle and rigging. Tossing the articles into a pile on the ground, he patted Dubh on the flank then returned with whisky bottle in hand.
Staring down at her, his face shadowed by the subtle shade of early nightfall peeping through the canopy of leaves behind him, he finally blew out a heavy gusting sigh, took a long drink, then handed the bottle down to her.
Katie started to take a drink but something about Ramsay’s stance and the way he kept clenching and relaxing his fists kept her from taking the sip. She slowly lowered the bottle and leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees and balancing the bottle between her hands. “Now what?”
When Ramsay finally spoke, the deep richness of his voice was low and steady. He talked as though in a trance. “As of this evenin’, ye are now the wife and soulmate of Ramsay Danann MacDara. Third son to the MacDara high chieftain. Born at MacDara Broch in the Highlands of Scotland…in the year 884.”
The bottle of whisky almost slipped from between Katie’s hands. She double-clutched the long neck of it to keep it from hitting the ground.I haven’t had enough alcohol to hallucinate or hear things.
Gently, she set the whisky bottle down between her feet. She sat up straighter, planted her hands on her knees, and locked her elbows.Surely, I heard him wrong. She leaned forward a bit and angled an ear toward him. “Come again?”
“Ye are my wife. And soulmate.”
“Yeah…I already had the handfasted wife part figured out. History buff—remember?” Katie shooed away his words and swallowed hard, doing her level best to reason out what he was saying. A hysterical rant wouldn’t solve anything—at least not yet. “Repeat when you said you were born?”
