“He wanted to be rid of me without earning the wrath of my brothers,” she said. “He wanted me dead, without blood on his hands.”

“Who else was involved?” Alex asked.

“Shaggy rowed me out to the rock himself—he didn’t want to risk any loose tongues,” Catherine said, anger strengthening her voice. “While he had me trussed like a pig for roasting, he took considerable pleasure in telling me how the water would creep up until I’d have no rock to hold on to.”

Glynis thought Lady Catherine sounded sufficiently recovered to sit on her own. Catherine did not, however, remove herself from Alex’s lap.

“Shame I didn’t succeed in poisoning him,” Catherine said. “I tried twice, but Shaggy is a tough old bird.”

Glynis exchanged glances with Alex, but he showed no surprise at this remarkable confession.

“The poison did no more than make him ill for a day or two,” Catherine said. “I tell ye, it was verra disappointing.”

Alex cleared his throat. “I take it he planned to inform your brothers that ye met with an accident.”

“Aye, and he’d have a few hundred men to say he was fighting the MacIains at Mingary Castle the day I disappeared,” Catherine said, her voice hard with bitterness. “Shaggy will pay for this. My brothers will see to it.”

They were finally drawing near the far shore, where several fishermen were at the water’s edge readying their boats for the morning’s fishing.

“They should be Campbells,” Alex said. “You two stay in the boat while I talk with them.”

Glynis took one of the oars and held it against the bottom of the loch to steady the boat while Alex climbed out. As he and the fisherman spoke in murmured voices, Glynis felt the eyes of the men on her and Lady Catherine.

“Catherine, these fishermen are your clansmen,” Alex said when he returned to them. “We can rest here at their camp before starting the journey to Inveraray Castle.”

Glynis wondered how many days and miles they would have to walk to reach the Campbell fortress, and her spirits sank lower.

The fishermen seemed in awe of their chieftain’s sister and took pains to make them comfortable. After providing them with food and blankets and stoking the fire, they left the three of them to rest and took their boats out to fish.

Glynis was so tired after being awake all night on the water that she fell asleep almost before her head touched the ground. When she woke, it was near dusk, and the fishermen were back. Alex was sitting next to her, whittling a stick with his dirk. She sat up and looked around her. Lady Catherine stood several yards away surrounded by several men who had just arrived.

“Who are they?” she asked Alex.

“The fishermen felt their chieftain’s sister needed Campbell warriors to escort her home,” Alex said, with his eyes on the men. “They fetched these.”

The Campbell warriors scowled at Alex when Catherine left them to sit next to him.

“These men will see ye safely to Inveraray Castle,” Alex said. “But save your story about what Shaggy did for your brothers’ ears alone.”

Catherine slid her hand through Alex’s arm. “I want you to take me there.”

“Glynis and I must be on our way to Edinburgh in the morning,” Alex said.

Relief flooded through Glynis. He would take her to her mother’s family after all.

“Why are ye traveling with her?” Catherine glanced sideways at Glynis as if she were mud stuck on her shoes.

“I’m taking Glynis to her mother’s relations, nothing more,” he said. “We don’t want her father to hear of it, so don’t tell the men who we are.”

“Surely your trip can wait,” Catherine said, sounding her usual haughty self.

“I must meet someone in Edinburgh before the end of the month.” Alex gave Catherine a smile that would melt a witch’s heart. “Come, Catherine, ye know damned well no one on Campbell lands would dare harm a hair on your pretty head.”

Ach, the man could charm the wings off a fairy. Glynis was disgusted with them both.

“I’ll forgive ye if ye promise to visit on your return,” Catherine said, taking his arm again.

“I’ll do that,” Alex said.

“My brothers will want to reward ye for saving me.” Catherine tilted her head and looked at Alex from under her dark lashes. “And I’ll want to reward ye as well.”

*  *  *

“We’ll leave as soon as the camp is quiet,” Alex said close to Glynis’s ear.

“I thought we were leaving in the morning.”

“I’d rather not be dragged off in the night to have my throat cut,” Alex said. “These men don’t follow Catherine’s orders, and they are mistrustful of strangers passing through their lands.”

Well, that was true of all Highlanders.

“In the meantime, I’ll encourage them to be cautious.”

Alex stood and, taking his time, met the eyes of every man around the fire. Then he whipped his claymore out so fast it was a blur. Glynis felt the tension of the men as they exchanged glances and silently debated which of them would take on this bold stranger. She prayed Alex knew what he was doing.

Alex swung his claymore through the fire several times, back and forth. At first he did it with both hands, and then he shifted the heavy blade from hand to hand as he sliced it through the fire in smooth, deadly arcs.

After this display, he stood in front of Glynis and said, “No one touches her.”

Glynis swallowed. She suddenly felt very warm. When Alex sat down next to her again, she could feel the power rolling off him.

He turned and spoke to her in a low, commanding voice. “You’ll sleep with me.”

CHAPTER 12

That was not how Glynis had imagined Alex would ask her to lie with him—not that she had imagined it, of course. But if she had, it would most definitely have involved kissing her as he had against the castle wall. His mouth hungry, his hands urgent. His voice rough with desire.

I must have ye, Glynis. I don’t want anyone but you.

Glynis shook her head to clear it. By all the saints, what was she thinking? Alex was not the sort of man who wanted only one woman. All the same, when Alex lay down behind her and pulled her against him, she let herself pretend, just for a moment, that he was whispering in her ear, I want ye badly. Only you.

The arm around her held a dirk.

“I’ll wake ye when it’s time,” he said.

He thought she could sleep? Between waiting for the Campbells to slice her throat and having Alex’s body wrapped around hers, that seemed an unlikely prospect. She lay wide awake listening to Alex’s breathing as the others settled down around the campfire. Despite Catherine’s complaints, the Campbell warriors had insisted that she make her bed far from the “strangers.”

“They have two men keeping watch by the horses,” Alex whispered in her ear. “I’ll take them first and then come back for ye.”

Before Glynis could say no, he was gone without a sound. How would he subdue both guards? And even if he managed that, surely he would startle the horses and wake the other men.

What was she doing, waiting here to be murdered or worse?

She nearly shrieked when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find Alex squatting beside her. How had he returned so quickly? He put his finger to his lips and motioned for her to come with him.

The snores and snorts of the sleeping men seemed unnaturally loud, as did every twig under her feet. With each step, she expected to hear a shout behind her. But the angels must have been watching over them, for none of the Campbell men awoke. When she and Alex were thirty yards from the camp, Glynis heard a horse’s neigh. In the darkness, she made out the outline of two horses. One of them nickered and trotted toward them.

“Ah, Buttercup, there’s a good horse,” Alex said in a low voice, as he rubbed the horse’s forelock. The other horse followed and nudged Alex with its nose. “Now, don’t be jealous, Rosebud.”

“Ye know these horses?” Glynis asked.

“We just met,” Alex said. “’Tis a long journey overland from here to Edinburgh so we’re borrowing them from the Campbells.”

“But if we steal their horses, they’ll be after us for sure.”

“We should hurry,” Alex said in a calm voice, as he rubbed the second horse. “Do ye know how to ride?”

The saints preserve her. “Aye, but—”

Without waiting for her to finish, he lifted her up onto the horse, which was already saddled, and handed her the reins. “We can talk on the way.”

“Which horse am I on?”

“I named that one Rosebud,” he said, as he swung up on the other one. “Be good to her.”

“I’ve never ridden in the dark before.”

“We’ll ride slowly,” Alex said as he moved his horse into the lead. “Just give Rosebud her head, and you’ll be fine.”

“What if the Campbells chase us?” she asked.

“Their first duty is to get their chieftain’s sister safely to Inveraray, so they probably won’t,” Alex said over his shoulder. “And I scattered the other horses.”

After what seemed like a couple of hours, Alex dismounted and led their horses across a creek. Then he lifted her down from her mount.

“We’ll sleep here, where we’ll be hidden by these bushes,” he said.

“Shouldn’t we get farther away?”

“We have a good lead on the Campbells, and they won’t be able to look for their horses until daylight,” Alex said. “Besides, it’s dangerous to ride in the dark.”

Dangerous to ride in the dark? Glynis stood with her arms crossed while Alex rolled out two blankets.

“We must rest while we can,” he said, as he lay down on one of them. “We’ll need to be moving again at first light.”

Glynis lay down on the other blanket, facing him.

“Did ye sleep when the fishermen left us at their camp today?” she asked.