The Highlander's Runaway Bride

Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

If she did not know him or the Mackintoshes, then they could not be the reason for her refusal to accept the marriage. Yet, she did the unthinkable and left the safety and protection of her father’s keep to avoid it. Was it just maidenly fear or something more? Though clearly fear was not something that seemed to rule her life if she was brave enough to do what she’d done.

Rob stared at her, trying to decipher her actions and her intentions. If she did not want to marry him and had a good reason for her objections—one that would satisfy Brodie and Arabella—he would see that the betrothal was broken. He’d not expected a love match at all, but he would be damned before he married an unwilling woman.

If she would only explain herself...

The winds howled then, rattling the wooden walls of the cottage and sending cool air through the cracks. The low flames of the peat fire danced in the current. It would grow much colder before the sun rose in the morn.

Eva shivered then, curling herself into a tight ball under the blankets. He was tempted to wake her and give her the tunic she’d refused earlier, but he would not disturb whatever rest she could get. On the morrow, he would send word to her father that he’d found her, and they would begin the journey back to Castle Varrich a day or two after that.

For now, he did what he’d done these last three nights—he took off his boots and tunic and lay down next to her, sharing his body’s warmth with her. She startled a moment and then moved back nearer to him, as she did each time he shared the pallet with her. Then he pulled the extra blanket over both of them.

Although she sank into a deep sleep, it evaded him for hours. The riddle that Eva MacKay was haunted him all night. At some moment, he realised that she was awake next to him. So, he decided to ask her for her reasons.

‘Have you need of anything, lady?’ he asked first. ‘Do you thirst?’ Helga had told him he should give her as much to drink as possible.

‘Nay,’ she whispered back.

Silence reigned for a long minute or two before she spoke again.

‘You have slept like this each night, then?’ she asked.

‘Aye.’ Then he explained further, ‘At first there was no sleeping, you were that ill with fever. Then, I found that you were cold more than hot, so lying this way seemed to keep you warm.’

‘And you knew of the betrothal, so there was nothing wrong in the eyes of God or the law in doing that.’ Her words were more a declaration than a question, but there was something buried within them.

‘Just so.’

The lady began to say something more but paused and held her words behind her teeth. A minute later, she did the same thing—began and paused. When she did it for a third time, he spoke instead.

‘Just speak your mind, lady. Between us. Tell me what you wish to say.’

‘I mean no insult, sir. I have no intention to embarrass or insult your laird and chief. I just cannot marry you.’ He could hear her trying to remain calm and failing as her voice hitched on the words.

‘Is there someone else, lady?’ he asked. ‘Or do you have some other objection? Give me some reason that I can understand, for I have no wish to marry an unwilling bride.’ And he did not.

‘I cannot marry you,’ she repeated.

‘Mayhap if you’d remained in your father’s house and discussed this before the betrothal, we could have made an agreeable arrangement. Now, though...’ he said.

‘Nay, pray do not say it is too late now?’ she asked, turning to face him. The grimace of pain told that she’d forgotten that injury in moving.

‘The betrothal is legal and sound. I fear it is too late.’

Rob waited, waited for tears, waited for angry words, waited for some emotional reaction from her. None came. All he heard was the sound of her ragged breathing. Once more she turned away from him, tucking her face into the pillow.

* * *

A thought occurred to him in the night some time later, as they both yet lay awake in the dark.

He’d not wanted this marriage. She wanted it not. So, why would he force this? It spoke of a disaster in the making. And problems and conflicts every step of the way. He would not even have a marriage of convenience, he would have a marriage of catastrophe.

‘I will speak to your father when we return. ’Tis clear to me that we do not suit. My laird will offer suitable compensation for breaking the betrothal contract and handle the issue.’

‘Truly?’ she asked, her voice now filled with hope. And that stung worse than any of her words so far.

‘Aye. I want no unwilling wife.’

Then silence filled the cottage, broken only by the occasional crackle of the fire or burst of wind outside. He thought she might have fallen asleep as he still tried to do.

‘I thank you, sir. I will always be grateful for the mercy and good will you have shown me when you have every right to treat me otherwise,’ she whispered.

Again, her words stung him. However, he’d spoken the truth. It would be easier to return to her father and his laird with a specific reason for breaking the contract, but Rob knew Brodie would have his back in this...or in anything he asked him to.

He rolled to his side and found himself drifting to sleep.

* * *

At some time in those last few hours before dawn, she turned to him and he slipped his arm over her, drawing her closer. He drifted in and out of sleep until the sound of swords being drawn got his attention.

Opening his eyes, he found Ramsey MacKay and six of his warriors standing around the pallet where he and Eva lay.

Where the MacKay’s daughter lay naked in the arms of her betrothed husband. Where Eva MacKay sighed his name before opening her eyes to find her father standing above them.

Her reaction—a loud, shrill scream that filled the cottage and made him squint—was something Rob could understand. But it was the MacKay’s soft words that bothered him more.

‘Well, I guess ye have no objections to taking my daughter as yer wife after all, Mackintosh. Welcome to the family.’

Chapter Six

The door to her chambers slammed open and the maid helping her with her bath let out a shriek. With a nod of his head, her father ordered the maid out and closed the door behind her. Eva knew there would be a reckoning, and it appeared to be at hand.

‘You are quite bold for someone with so much to lose,’ he said quietly. Too quietly. ‘I told you what would happen if you did not do as I said. ’Tis the little bastard who will pay for your sins, daughter. All I have to do is send the word, and she will die.’

Eva grasped the sides of the tub, unable to breathe or reply.

He stood next to the large wooden tub and glared at her. There was no way to hide herself or to leave the tub. Her ankle was much improved but would not hold her weight yet. So, she was trapped here until he left and the maid returned.

‘’Tis a good thing he is willing to overlook your disobedience and stupidity and wilfulness,’ he began. ‘And a good thing he does not know you are nothing but a lying, ungrateful slut who does not know when to keep her mouth or her legs closed.’

She made the mistake of opening her mouth then, determined to find out what he’d done with her child, but he slapped her with the back of his hand. Her head bounced back against the side of the tub.

‘God knows, I have been too lenient with you. ’Tis your mother’s fault—she coddled you and allowed you too much say,’ he said, grabbing her by her hair and dragging her over the side of the tub. Unable to stand, she tried to crawl away, but he grabbed her arm and pushed her to the floor.

‘You dare demand that I tell you what you want to know? You dare threaten to reveal it to the Mackintosh’s man if I do not?’ He held her down with one strong hand on her back, and she could not move from his hold.

‘Mayhap if you’d been strapped well when I found out about that boy and what you’d been doing, you would have lost it and saved me such trouble.’ Only then did she see the long leather strap in his hand.

Eva tried to grab for some covering, but she was too far from the bed and from the stool where the drying cloths lay. He did not wait before striking her, laying it hard on her back and buttocks. She screamed against such pain, but it had no effect on him.

‘I have him where I want him. You will not speak of this to him,’ he said in a lower voice. ‘Or your child will not live to see the first anniversary of her birth.’

The threat took away her breath then, against Mairead and against Rob. She tried to bear it in silence but could not and screamed with each blow. Four lashes delivered with a heavy hand and he’d reared back to hit her again, when the door opened. Already out of breath, her father called out over his shoulder rather than stop.

‘I’m seeing to my daughter. Get out now,’ he called.

‘She is my wife.’

Rob.

Eva could only curl up in a ball there on the floor. The pain in her back and her buttocks took her breath away.

‘Then learn from my mistakes, Mackintosh. She needs to be taught obedience. She only understands the strap. Used often and used well.’ Her father swung once more, wrenching another cry from her.

Eva wanted to die then. Humiliated before the man who would control her life, she could not raise her head to look at him. It seemed that every time he came into her life, she was helpless. Now, worse than helpless, for she was naked on the floor being beaten by her father.

‘Then I will see to it,’ he said to her father.

The tension in the chamber heightened as she waited to see what her father would do. Ramsey MacKay was not used to interference with his wishes or to being ordered about, so she held little hope that he would cease now. Eva dared a glance to see what would happen.

‘I agreed to the betrothal. I agreed to the marriage. She is mine, to do with as I please and no longer under your authority, MacKay. Or do I tell Brodie Mackintosh that you reneged on the contract?’

When she dared to peek, Rob had crossed his arms over his chest in a frightful pose. His face grew dark and threatening, and Eva was not certain who was most in danger: her or her father. She shivered at the sight.

‘Very well,’ her father said, relenting. He tossed the strap to Rob and crossed the room to the door. Staring at her, he began, ‘Do not allow her disobedience to go unanswered. You will rue the day you did not make certain she knows who is in control of her.’

Eva dipped her head again, unable to look at his face and see his hatred of her. She cried now, unable to control her tears in the face of the pain and humiliation.

‘Give me your hand,’ Rob said.

‘Please, I pray you leave,’ she whimpered.

‘I said give me your hand.’

Eva pushed herself up and held out her hand as he’d ordered. Her hair dripped on the floor and was a tangled mess over her face and shoulders. It was long but not long enough to hide the rest of her from his sight. She was not certain what he planned to do, for he had reason to continue the punishment for her sins against him.

He took her hand and then helped her to her feet, careful to keep her weight on one foot. Then he lifted her up and carried her to the tub. Placing her in the still-warm water, he stepped away, never looking at her. Eva held herself away from the side of the tub, not resting back now, but hugging her knees.

‘I will send your maid to you so you can finish your bath, lady,’ he said. ‘We will speak our vows before the evening meal and leave in the morning.’

She nodded, surprised at his gentle touch and treatment.

‘I have to say I am confused.’ He reached for the latch on the door and turned back to face her. ‘You want to refuse marriage to me and remain here with your father, knowing what will happen to you. What would keep you here, Eva, rather than taking the chance with a man who has done nothing to harm you? I think it must be something very important indeed.’

He paused then, and she wanted to tell him. She wanted to explain that this had nothing to do with him. That she needed to be here to seek out her daughter before her father moved her so far from her reach that she would never find her. The words were there—she owed him at least that. She struggled to keep the words within her. Eva just could not take the chance that her father would hurt her child...as he already had Eirik.

She looked down at the water that swirled around her and said nothing.

When she looked up, he was gone. Shuddering from the pain and humiliation, Eva rocked in the water. Her father would kill her daughter, she doubted it not. But what had he meant about Rob?

She remembered Rob’s promise to end this betrothal, a promise made in the dark of night just before her father had found them. However, with her lying naked and next to him on the pallet, there was no way to talk their way out of it. The marriage was a fait accompli because of those circumstances, with the witnesses and those who would swear to what they’d seen.

And the villagers who would tell that Rob had cared for her for days alone.

Had Ramsey MacKay arranged it all, then? To trap Rob into having no choice? For surely a report back to his laird that he’d compromised the MacKay’s daughter would result in the marriage going forward. No MacKay would speak to an outsider about last year’s incident and her disappearance for several months. A bit of hysterical laughter escaped her then, echoing around the chamber.

It would not surprise her at all, for he was a master at manipulation and deceit.

A soft knock on the door warned her of her maidservant’s arrival. The girl approached slowly and then gasped.

‘Oh, my lady,’ she said. ‘Let me get some ointment for your back,’ Nessa said. ‘And a cool cloth for your face.’

Her face was the least of it, with her back and buttocks burning in pain from his blows. She accepted the cloth and held it to her face as Nessa saw to her injuries.

Did she have any choice in this at all? If she spoke of it to Rob, her father would deny it and punish her through her daughter. If Rob backed out of the contract over it, there could even be war between their clans, or the Mackintosh could seek retribution in some other way.

And what of her daughter’s fate?

Her father had sworn that she was some place safe and would be raised well. Eva might never see her again, but she would be safe. Mayhap that was the price she would have to pay for her sins?

Running away had not worked. Eva was in exactly the same position she’d tried to avoid by escaping her father.

Seeking her daughter on her own had not worked. Her heart broke as she knew she’d failed.

Trying to protect the man she loved from her father’s wrath had been a terrible mistake and had ended horribly, a cost her soul must bear forever.

Eva hissed when Nessa washed her back, no matter that the girl had a light touch in the task. The pain brought her back to her predicament.

‘Just see to my hair now, Nessa,’ she said. ‘You can see to those when I dress.’

As the efficient maid washed her hair, Eva faced the unspeakable realisation that her only way out of this was to protect her daughter. She would have to take her father’s word that he would not harm Mairead if she did as he ordered. And it meant forcing the Mackintosh’s man into a marriage he did not want.

Between the devil and the deep sea, Eva made her decision in that moment.

* * *

After shaving and dressing in his finest shirt and plaid, Rob strode down to the hall, needing something to drink after the scene in Eva’s chambers. His hands shook in fury as the image of Ramsey taking a strap to Eva repeated in his mind. He wanted to strangle the man for such a callous act. Especially now that Eva was Rob’s.

He stopped. Buffeted by the servants and others in the corridor who were not expecting him to do so, he leaned against the wall, out of the way.

When the hell had he decided she was his?

Thinking back over the last days, Rob realised that when he’d rescued her from the cave and took her to the cottage, he began to accept the idea of it. That was why her pleading words to escape him bothered him so much.

The idea of being forced in to marriage had angered and repelled him at first. Just as it clearly had Eva.

It took him the weeks of travel here to begin to accept it as his fate. Eva had not.

It took days for him to accept her. From what he’d just witnessed and heard...and not heard, it would take her much longer, if she ever would.

Yet, in spite of his actions and treatment of her and in spite of her father’s, she seemed disinclined to marry him.

Had she set her sights higher, then?

As the reality struck him and the old wounds of pride surfaced, he knew he needed a drink. He pushed off the wall and made his way to the hall. Expecting something to mark the occasion of the wedding of the laird’s daughter, instead he found the hall as it had been during other meals.

Although he would sit at the high table, he searched for a servant and asked for something stronger than either the ale or wine he usually drank. He drank the first bit down and held out the cup for more...and twice more. He waved the man away then, for a drunken groom would just give wagging tongues something else to pass around.

Rob moved aside and watched as the hall filled and the priest arrived. The portly man almost waddled as he walked, making his way to the table at the front of the hall and greeting several MacKays along his path. From what Rob could see, the priest seemed good-natured and well liked among those here. When the lord and lady arrived and took their seats, he knew it was time, both to make his way there and to take this step that would change his life forever.

The laird greeted him and introduced him to Father Darach before sitting and motioning for them to sit. The lady conversed quietly with the priest at her side and the laird nodded to those at this and the other tables.

Nothing in his words or manners gave any sign of the scene above stairs a short time ago. No clue to what the man truly felt or was about. Rob’s gut told him something was going on here, but outwardly all seemed well enough. When silence filled the room, he looked up and saw that everyone’s gaze was turned to the stairway in the corner.

Eva MacKay had arrived in the hall.

He was on his feet before he knew it and on his way to escort her before he could think of it. A blank expression momentarily changed as their eyes met, and Rob watched as surprise gave way to a glimmer of fear. Even that disappeared and the neutral countenance was back in place.

Rob stopped several paces from her and took his first true look at the woman who was his bride. The simple but elegant gown outlined her lush curves, and he noticed the way her long, unbound hair fell over her breasts and ended just above her hips. His mouth went dry even while his palms grew sweaty. Her hair was pulled away from her face with only a few curling tendrils outlining her face, and the graceful lines in her jaw and neck were revealed to him.

This woman before him was new to him.

Not the runaway disguised as a boy.

Not the ill woman, pale and wan.

The only signs of her recent illness or injury were the dark circles beneath her ice-blue eyes and the limp.

The limp. He strode to her side and bowed.

‘Lady Eva,’ he began. ‘Should you be walking on that ankle without help?’

A blush rose in her cheeks, giving her more colour than he’d seen there before. Even when she sat naked in her bath. Rob tried to forget the images of her creamy skin and feminine curves as he offered his arm to her now. How she had managed to make it this far, he knew not, but he knew she was trembling and in pain. Far more than just her ankle now.

Though he’d tried not to look at her back when he’d stormed into the room at the sound of her screams, he had. It was all he could do not to tear Ramsey MacKay apart with his bare hands. The welts were wide and deep.

‘Here,’ he said, placing his arms behind her with a care to those areas struck and lifting her from her feet.

She did not resist him. She did not say anything. Eva just sat in his arms, unmoving, as he carried her forward. If he was not mistaken, some of the women watching sighed as they passed. Although done for another reason, if it would smooth things over, that was good, too.

Rob stopped near the table and placed her on her feet, never letting go of her completely. He nodded to the priest who walked towards them and then glanced down at the woman at his side.

And in that moment, he realised his life was about to change in ways he probably could not even dream of. More than his decision to support Brodie. More than his work or position in the clan now that they had been successful and ended the threat to it.

More than any step he’d taken in his life up to this moment.

So why was his gut telling him to turn and walk away?

Chapter Seven

For whatever reason, the priest’s words about their marriage contract eased his concerns. Rob listened to the details of the agreement reached between the MacKay and Brodie and calmed with each bit spoken. He’d not known about her dowry or the amount Brodie was giving him until the priest said it, and the wealth he would gain surprised him.

Any sane man would leap at the chance to take Lady Eva MacKay to wife.

Any sane man...

The silence startled him, and Rob realised they waited on his words. His vow. Words that would tie him—body, soul and possessions—to the woman who stood at his side now.

Who stood trembling at his side.

Rob glanced down, now noticing the paleness of her face and the way she held her mouth closed tightly. And how she shook as she waited on him to speak. Did she harbour a hope that he would yet disavow this arrangement?

He opened his mouth and spoke the words the priest had asked for—I will.

I will, a second time.

And then, the words he’d always imagined he’d speak at some point in his life, but not now and never in this way.

‘I, Robert Alexander Mackintosh, take you, Eva MacKay, as my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us depart, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.’

Father Darach turned to Eva and waited, even as Rob did, for her response. Rob did not dare to look at her, but he felt the shudder that tore through her then and wondered if this would be the moment when she refused him. When the moment expanded to several seconds, he thought it might be.

‘I...’ she began, so low that he doubted anyone but he could hear her. ‘I...’

Eva pulled against his hold, trying to move away, though with her injured ankle and foot, she would never be able to do so. When he did glance at her, he recognised the expression in her eyes—sheer and utter panic. That turned into terror when her father took a step in their direction.

‘Courage now, lass,’ he whispered, sliding his arm back around her. ‘You surely have faced greater dangers these last weeks than anything you face from me.’

Why he’d felt the need to assure her, he knew not, but one look at her haunted eyes and he’d been unable to stop himself. Something terrified her. Something or someone. As he motioned for her father to step back, Rob suspected the latter. And it seemed more than just the simple strapping her father delivered.

It took a few more seconds before she stood up straighter and nodded at Father Darach. Another second and she began to repeat the words he offered her, giving her consent to this marriage. Rob let out the breath he’d been holding as she did so. Not many could hear her words, but her voice grew stronger with each word. Then it was her turn to say the words that would join them.