“I’m sorry, Edan,” she mumbled, dropping her gaze from his. “I truly am, but ye must move past me. I hae naw choice but tae stay. Me fate is tide up in Cadwell.”

  Before he could respond, she moved to dash past him toward the door. Like lightning, he snatched her arm before she could get away and whipped her back around to face him. Taking hold of her shoulders, he backed her up until she was pressed against the wall of the keep.

  “Ye will nae get away fae ye again, Miriel,” he growled, leaning in close to her face. “Ye keep running fae me, and I grow weary of it. I’ll nae let ye run again.”

  “Unhand me, Edan,” she hissed, jerking against his hold. His grip was like iron, however, and his touch burned into her. Her breathing grew heavy and her sex began to throb at his nearness.

  “I willnae, Miriel. Nae until ye tell me the truth.” His lips hovered over hers and his eyes flashed with lust even as his voice was cold with anger.

  She beat her hands against his chest. “Release me!”

  “Nae until yer honest!”

  She grabbed the front of his shirt and glared up at him. “Are ye such a brute ye’d hold a woman against her will?”

  He bared his teeth at her. “Only when that woman is a wildcat in need of taming.”

  Something exploded between them at his words, and his lips came crashing down to claim hers in a brutal kiss. She cried out in surprise and need, yanking on his shirt to pull him closer until his body was pressed flush to hers. Anger and lust swirled about them as his hands landed on her hips and began yanking up the skirt of her dress.

  They were panting and cursing each other by the time he wrenched the material up to her waist. He cupped her pulsing sex with his large hand and she moaned, biting into his bottom lip like the wildcat he claimed her to be.

  Snarling, Edan picked her up and urged her legs around his waist. He massaged the bare skin of her backside before dipping one hand between her thighs to run his fingers through her hot feminine flesh. She arched her back, and her head fell to rest on the stone wall behind her.

  He pressed his lips to her exposed throat and sucked her there.

  “Ye drive me mad, woman,” he growled into her skin. “Ye hae me so twisted up inside, I dinnae ken up fae down or left fae eh’ anymore.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him as he continued to work her with his thick fingers.

  “Edan,” she panted. “Please, I cannae take much mair.”

  “Ye’ll take aw I give ye.” He slid one finger inside her and stirred it within her depths until her hips squirmed. “Naw woman has driven me this mad afore, Miriel. Whit are ye daeing tae me?”

  “I dinnae ken,” she sobbed, her toes curling as her belly tightened with the pleasure he was wringing from her. “Perhaps the same thing ye are daeing tae me?”

  “Truth?” he snapped, slipping in a second finger to join his first. “Dae ye speak truth? Dae I drive ye mad as ye dae me?”

  “Aye,” she gasped as he pumped his fingers. It wasn’t enough, though. She didn’t want his fingers. She wanted him.

  I need tae feel him…be connected tae him…

  As if he could read her scrambled thoughts, Edan pulled his fingers from her hot sheath and hurried to lift his kilt out of the way. Taking himself in hand, he lined his length up with her entrance. His lips claimed hers once more at the same moment he surged his hips forward to impale her with his hardness.

  She released a shriek of ectasy that he caught with his kiss. Holding her against the wall, he moved his hips at a punishing pace, but she didn’t want soft and gentle from him. Not now, when they were so close to breaking apart from one another.

  She wanted his brutality and his strength. Wanted him to dominate and punish her with pleasure. She wanted him to make her forget, if only for a moment, how terrible her life had truly become.

  There is only us. Only me and him. Naehing else matter eh’ noo but us.

  When his thumb came down to circle that tight little nub at the top of her flesh, she thought she would lose her mind from the pleasure. She didn’t want this to end, even as she yearned for that sweet explosion of release she knew awaited her.

  Harder and harder he thrust into her, driving her against the wall again and again. She didn’t care, however. The bit of discomfort at her back was a small price to pay for the ectasy he drove her towards.

  Her belly began to tighten, that bundle of knots a sign she was beginning the climb toward her peak. She ground her hips against him, meeting his thrusts so she could chase her release faster. He moaned against her mouth before dropping his face into the corner of her neck.

  “Miriel, Miriel, Miriel…” Her name was a prayer on his tongue.

  “Ach, Edan! I’m so close. Dinnae stop, please!”

  “Never,” he growled into her neck. “I’ll never stop. Yer mine, Miriel. Accept this as fact. Accept me!”

  Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as the intensity of his words mingled with the powerful sensations coursing through her. She released a helpless sob as the wave built up higher and higher and higher.

  When it reached the hightest point it could go without completely destroying her, the world seemed to still for the briefest moment of time. Miriel felt suspended, as though she were floating in a dark pool of water. Nothing else existed but her and Edan and everything she felt for him.

  I dinna want tae give him up.

  That was her last conscience thought before the wave came crashing back down and she was overwhelmed with mind numbing pleasure. Edan pressed his hand over her mouth to muffle her scream as her release shattered her down to her very soul. His lips met her shoulder as he tried to contain his own roar, following after her into the abyss moments later.

  His hot male essence flooded her, and she clutched him tighter with her arms and legs as she took everything he gave her. When the waves settled into small spasms, she gasped for breath as he held her secure between his large body and the keep’s wall. It was the safest she had felt in a long time.

  Chapter 28

  Miriel

  She didn’t want to let him go. Several minutes had passed since Miriel and Edan had found their mutual release, but they continue to hold each other in silence. Her arms and legs were all still wrapped around him like chains, and she feared the moment she loosened them, she would lose this sense of security and belonging that was thrumming through her.

  She didn’t want to lose that.

  Didn’t want to lose him.

  But how could she keep him without confessing everything to him?

  Am I willing tae walk away fae him, even kening he wid help me?

  Even if it put his clan at risk.

  The tears she had been fighting to hold back broke free and began streaming down her cheeks.

  It isnae fair. Whit hae I done tae deserve such a terrible choice?

  Why couldn’t she just be granted her happiness, for once in her life?

  “Miriel?” Edan’s voice rumbled at her ear. “Are ye aw eh’, lass?”

  She sniffed and tried to hide her face in the crook of his neck, but her tears began wetting his skin. He jerked his head back in surprise, forcing her into the open. He gazed down at her with a furrowed brow and agonized expression.

  “Ach, lass, whit has ye so upset?” he murmured, cupping one side of her face with his large hand. She couldn’t resist the urge to lean into his touch, desperate for the comfort it could provide.

  “Edan, I’m so lost,” she confessed in a broken whisper. She squeezed her eyes shut and her tears continued to fall. “I dinna ken whit tae dae.”

  “Just tell me whit is gaeing oan, and I can help ye,” he urged, his tone as gentle as his touch. “Please, trust me wi’ yer secrets and yer pain. I want tae help ye carry them.”

  Her eyes flew open again and she regarded him for several moments, trying to tell if he truly meant what he said. The concern in his gaze was so genuine, just like that first day they’d met in the garden, before she’d known who he was. Now, just as then, it made her yearn to give in to her exhaustion and rely on his strength and support.

  Back then, she had resisted in the moment, unaware that he could offer her the safety she’d so long craved. Now, having come to know him and the good man that he was, she couldn’t fight the temptation any longer. With a shuddering sob, she collapsed into his arms, giving him her weight as she gave into her need for his care.

  His grip on her tightened as he spun them around to press his back against the wall and sink down to the floor. He cradled her in his arms, petting her hair and cooing soft words in her ears as she buried her face against his chest and cried. Her shoulders shook with the intensity of her sobs as she released all the pain, grief, and anger that had built up inside her throughout the years.

  “It is aw eh’, sweet lass,” he murmured as he began to rock her. “Yer safe noo. I’ve goat ye, and I swear, I’ll never let ye gae.”

  His words and warmth were a soothing balm on her broken and scarred soul. He let her cry without interruption for several minutes. When she finally felt herself begin to calm, and the worst of her misery passed, she took a deep breath and turned her gaze up to him.

  His brow furrowed and he ran a hand over her forehead, pushing her tangled hair from her face.

  “Ach, lass, it pains me tae see ye so hurt.”

  “Why?” she whispered, clutching his shirt in her hands. “Why dae ye care so much if I’m hurt or nae?”

  He frowned. “Whit dae ye mean, why? Is is nae obvious how much I care fer ye?”

  She sat up and arranged herself so she straddled his lap and could look straight in his eye.

  “Truly? Ye truly care fer me so much, ye’d risk the safety of yer clan fer me?”

  He gripped her waist, his fingers digging into her so she had no chance of escaping his hold.

  “The Tosh clan is strong and capable. I wid nae wish tae bring them war, and wid dae everything I could tae avoid such an outcome. But there is one thing I willnae dae, Miriel, and that is leave ye behind.”

  Her heart raced as she stared into his eyes. She couldn’t believe this man was willing to risk so much just for her. She’d never had such a stalwart defender before.

  She’d never had anyone truly on her side before.

  Why am I so stubbornly rejecting his help?

  Whether she liked it or not, she knew she could not kill Cradoc by herself. She couldn’t seek her vengeance, or gain justice for her parents, without the aid of someone strong and capable.

  She needed Edan, in more ways than one. It wasn’t only her revenge that would benefit from his involvement, but her entire life. If she pushed him away, what would her life become after Cradoc was dealt with?

  Whit could it be if I kept him?

  “Miriel,” he murmured. “Please, tell me whit is oan yer mind. Whit are ye hiding fae me?”

  With a weary sigh, she leaned forward to rest her forehead against his.

  “Verra well,” she whispered. “I’ll…I’ll tell ye everything.”

  The look of relief that crossed his features made her gut clench with guilt.

  “Thank ye, Miriel,” he said. “I promise ye willnae regret this.”

  Nodding, she dropped her gaze from his to focus on his chin, unsure if she could look at him as she revealed all.

  “This morning, when I returned tae me room, Deoiridh was waiting fer me.”

  “Yer aunt?”

  “Aye. She told me…ach, Christ, Edan, she told me Cradoc was the one who murdered me da.”

  Edan released a gust of stunned breath that ruffled the top of her hair.

  “Lord in Heaven, dae ye believe that tae be true?”

  “I dae,” Miriel confirmed, her tone growing hard as her rage bubbled. “I had always suspected he may hae had a hand in it, but I never thought he wid hae done it himself. When Deoiridh told me he had confessed the truth tae her, I ken in me heart it was nae a lie.”

  He reached up to scrub a hand over his jaw.

  “That bloody monster,” he growled. “Why wid he dae that tae his own brother? Tae be Laird.”

  “It wasnae just that,” Miriel murmured. “He wanted me maw fer himself. Was mad wi’ jealousy toward me da.”

  “My God, Miriel. That’s terrible.”

  She closed her eyes a moment as she felt tears threaten to fall once more. When she had regained control of herself enough that she could continue, she opened her eyes up again.

  “Me aunt wishes fer me tae kill him.”

  Edan went very still. “Kill him? She wants ye tae murder Cradoc?”

  Miriel gulped. “Aye.”

  “And…ye plan tae dae so?”

  She took in a deep breath, afraid of his reaction to her answer.

  “Aye, I dae.”

  Silence fell between them, and Miriel was too scared to look up at him to try and determine what he was thinking. What if he thought she was as much a monster as Cradoc for wishing to bring about his demise? What if he decided she was too much trouble now to bother with?

  She didn’t know if she’d be able to survive such a blow.

  “Miriel,” his voice was a low growl, “dae ye ken whit ye are saying? Ye wish tae take a life.”

  She licked her suddenly dry lips. “I ken.”

  “That is nae something ye can undae.”

  Her heart seized in her chest as she whispered, “I ken.”

  “Ye are set oan this path? There is nae swaying ye fae it?”

  He is gaeing tae reject me…

  Yet, she managed to square her shoulders and drag her gaze up to meet his at last.

  “Aye, Edan, me mind is made up. Ye willnae change it.”

  He cupped her face with both his hands so she couldn’t look away from him again.

  “I dinnae intend tae try. Just answer me this last question. Why hae ye agreed to marry Nathair?”

  It wasn’t the question she was expecting him to ask, and it took her by surprise.

  “I…I thought it the only way tae lower Cradoc’s guard enough that I could exact me revenge. If he believes me obedient in this, he is likely tae leave an opening fer me tae strike.”

  To her shock, Edan released a sigh of relief.

  “Christ, lass, that is good tae hear. Ye had me scared ye actually wanted tae gae through wi’ the marriage.”

  She furrowed her brow, confused. “So…it disnae bother ye that I wish tae kill Cradoc?”

  He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I confess, I dinnae like the idea of ye daeing something so dangerous, but I understand why ye wish tae. I’ll help ye, lass, and make sure ye are safe.”

  Her heart fluttered and she gasped in disbelief. “Truly? Ye’ll help me?”

  He nodded. “Aye. Cradoc deserves tae die, I willnae argue against that, but I will insist that we find someway tae exact yer revenge that disnae lead tae yer marriage with that soulless commander of his.”

  Joy exploded throughout Miriel’s whole being. She threw her arms around Edan’s neck and claimed his lips with her own.

  “Thank ye,” she murmured between kisses. “Thank ye fer accepting this. Thank ye fer helping me. Thank ye fer caring fer me.”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him.

  “Yer welcome, lass.” He returned her kisses with a fervor. “I’ll keep ye safe, I swear it. Yer mind noo, remember?”

  She laughed as fresh tears of happiness streamed down her cheeks.

  “Aye, Edan. I’m yers.”

  * * *

  Artair

  His heart was heavy as he wandered through the keep. The hour was late, and most of the castle was abed. The silence that greeted him as he moved was deafening and only made his heartbroken thoughts that much more difficult to avoid.

  Cairstine was leaving.

  She was returning to her home for the foreseeable future, and there was no telling when they would see each other again, if ever. She’d given her tearful explanation to him in the garden, after they had snuck away from the banquet together. Her brother was concerned for her wellbeing here and didn’t want to leave her behind.

  Anger boiled next to his hurt, but it wasn’t toward Laird Edan. After all, Artair suspected he was right to be concerned. No, all of Artair’s anger rage was for his da.

 

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