Highlander Unmasked (46 page)

He shook his head. “I have no use for weaponry. As you can hear, my men are well armed.”

Flora cursed, not bothering to curb her tongue.

His frown returned. “Really, my dear. You mustn’t say such things. Not when we are married.”

Another shot rang out.

She bit back the sarcastic retort that sprang to her lips. Married? They might not be alive in an hour. Did he not understand the desperation of their situation? Scotland was rife with brigands that roamed the countryside. Outlaws. Broken men without clans who weren’t known for their mercy. Flora had thought there would be some protection in staying close to Edinburgh. She was wrong.

Lord Murray was exhibiting the arrogant obtuseness characteristic of many courtiers—the confidence that rank and wealth would protect him. But a few muskets would not stop a Highland sword or bow for long. They needed something to defend themselves with.

“A sword,” she said urgently, trying to mask her impatience. “Surely you have a sword?”

“Of course. Every man at court carries one. But I did not want to be bothered with it at my side during the journey, so the driver strapped it to the box with your gown. I do still have my dagger.” He slid the blade out of the scabbard at his waist and offered it to her. From the heavily jewel-encrusted hilt, Flora could tell that it was intended for adornment and not battle. But the six-inch blade would suffice well enough.

From the awkward way he held the blade, as if it were distasteful, it was obvious he didn’t know how to use it. “I’m afraid I don’t have much experience—”

She did. “I’ll take it.” Flora slid the dagger into the pocket of her cloak right before the door swung open with a crash.

And everything happened at once.

Before she could scream or make a move to defend herself, she was plucked roughly from the safety of the carriage into the viselike hold of a man. A very large man. Who from the feel of him was as strong as an ox.

She gasped from the force of being brought up hard against the granite wall of his chest. Laid out against him, the full length of her body was plastered against hard, unyielding stone.

Dear God, no one had ever dared to hold her like this. She’d never been this aware of…anything. Her cheeks burned with indignation and from the sudden blast of heat that seemed to radiate from him. He’d wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed it up snugly under the heavy weight of her bosom, making her deeply conscious of the rise and fall of her breasts against his arm. Although she was not a small woman, her head tucked easily under his chin. But the worst part was that with her back to his chest, her bottom was pressed directly against his groin.

Instinctively, she rebelled at the closeness. At the intimacy of being molded against the hard-muscled body of a filthy villain.

Except that he didn’t smell filthy at all. He smelled of myrtle and heather, with the faintest hint of the sea.

Furious at the direction of her thoughts, she turned her outrage on her captor. “Get your hands off me!” She struggled to wrench herself free, but it was useless. His arm was as rigid as steel. Though he was only restraining her with one arm, she’d barely moved an inch.

“I’m afraid not, my sweet.”

She froze at the lilting sound of the burr in his voice. A Highlander. His voice made the hair on her arms stand straight on end. It was almost hypnotic. Deep and dark, with an indisputable edge of steel.

Her blood ran cold. The direness of their predicament had just grown markedly worse. Highlanders had the morals of the devil. Unless she could think of something, they were as good as dead.

Repressing the impulse to struggle further, Flora stilled, feigning submission, giving herself a moment to appraise the situation. The night was dark, but the full moon softly lit the wide expanse of moorland, enabling her to see just enough—or perhaps too much. Because what she saw wasn’t good. They were surrounded by about a score of powerful-looking men dressed in
breacan feiles,
the belted plaids of the Highlands, all brandishing enormous two-handed claymores. To a one, their faces were hard and uncompromising. These were fighting men, warriors.

But they did not bear the hungry, feral look of hunted men. Glancing down, she noticed the finely spun linen shirt of the man holding her. His plaid was also of fine quality—soft and smooth to the touch.

If they weren’t outlaws, just who were they and what did they want?

She didn’t intend to stay and find out. Every nerve in her body clamored to break free, to escape from danger. But her options were few.

The handful of men whom Lord Murray had brought as an escort were greatly outnumbered, and from the looks of things, they had given up without much of a fight. She saw a few muskets and hagbuts scattered at their feet, although most still held their swords.

But surrender was not in Flora’s nature.
Especially
to barbarians. And she had no doubt that these men were Highlanders. If their speech hadn’t given them away, the manner of their dress left no doubt.

“What do you want?” Flora recognized the haughty voice of her betrothed. “And get your filthy hands off her.”

Lord Murray had been pulled from the carriage behind her and was being restrained by a fearsome-looking Highlander. His size, piercing blue eyes, and shock of white blond hair left little doubt of his Viking ancestry.

The brigand gave her a moment’s pause, leaving her to wonder whether the brute holding her was equally as formidable. Perhaps she was glad she could not see him; she was frightened enough as it was. Her heart was beating so hard, she was sure he must feel it.

“Take whatever it is you want and leave us,” Lord Murray added. “We are on important business this night.”

The man behind her stiffened, and Flora realized why. She’d never noticed the tinge of condescension that threaded through William’s speech until now.

“You are hardly in any position to be issuing orders,
my lord,
” her captor said with unveiled contempt. His arm tightened possessively around her middle. “But you are free to go. Take your men with you. I have everything I want.”

The blood drained to her feet as his meaning became clear.
Me. He means me.

William would die before he allowed a barbarian to take her, and Flora couldn’t be the cause of his death. Nor would she contemplate what the villain might do to her. Her gaze darted around frantically as she tried to come up with a plan.

“You can’t be serious. Do you know who we are?” William paused. “Is that what this is about? Do you intend to ransom her?” He laughed scornfully, causing the man behind her to stiffen further. Flora wished William would be quiet before he got them all killed. “You’ll wish for a simple hanging if you take her. You will be hunted like a dog.”

“They’d have to catch me,” the brigand said flatly.

From his tone, it was obvious he thought it impossible. This was no typical brigand, Flora realized. She could tell from his voice and his facility with Scots, the tongue of the Lowlands, that he had at least some education.

A glint of silver coming from the rear of the carriage flashed in the moonlight like a shimmering beacon. There it was. Her chance. She only hoped that William’s men would be ready.

William had started issuing more threats. It was now or never. She hoped the man holding her didn’t notice the sudden spike in her heartbeat.

She prayed she remembered what to do. It had been a long time since her brothers Alex and Rory and her cousin Jamie Campbell had taught her how to defend herself.

She took a deep breath and stomped down as hard as she could with the wooden heel of her shoe on the brigand’s instep, causing him to loosen his hold just enough. In one swift movement, she slid the dagger from her cloak, spun, and thrust the blade deep into his stomach. But he’d turned slightly, and the blade sank into his side instead.

He let out a pained curse and fell to his knees, grabbing the handle of the dirk that was still in his side.

Horror crept up her throat; she’d never stabbed a man before. She hoped…

Nonsense.
The brute intended to kidnap her…and worse.

She turned around long enough to see the surprise on his face. A face that was not what she expected. A face that made her hesitate. Their eyes locked, and she felt a strange jolt.
God’s breath,
he was the most ruggedly handsome man she’d ever seen.

But he was a villain.

She turned from the wounded man and leapt toward the carriage.

“Fight!” she yelled to Lord Murray’s gaping men.

Lunging for the flash of silver she’d glimpsed, she prayed, letting out a sigh of relief when her hand found metal and she pulled Lord Murray’s sword from the box.

Her daring had spurred the men back into action. The fighting began again in earnest.

Escape.
She couldn’t let them take her. Perhaps if she could make it across the moors, just a few hundred yards to the edge of the forest. She turned to look for William and was relieved to see that the man holding him had made a move toward his injured leader—for she had no doubt that the man she’d stabbed was the leader—and then found himself engaged in a sword fight with one of William’s men. After tossing the sword to William, she pulled him behind the carriage. “We have to run,” she whispered.

He stood frozen, looking at her with the strangest expression on his face, a mixture of awe and revulsion.

She tamped down her rising irritation. He should be thanking her rather than gaping at her as if she were a Gorgon. “Look, we don’t have much time.” Not giving him an opportunity to reply, she pulled him toward the moors and started to run toward the line of trees that loomed in the distance like an oasis.

But freedom was fleeting. She hadn’t taken more than a few steps onto the heather before she was brought down from behind, landing hard against the ground with the full weight of a man on top of her. Her breath slammed against her chest.

She couldn’t move. Or breathe. Heather, dirt, and twigs pressed into her cheek, and her mouth tasted dirt. She didn’t have to look; she knew who it was just by the feel of him.

He wasn’t dead.

A
lex took Meg’s arm and whipped her around to face him, forcing her to meet his implacable gaze.

“You go too far,” he said in a low voice that carried the faintest hint of a threat. “It is my responsibility to see you safe tonight. So do as I say and stay well away from those men.”

She lifted her chin defiantly. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

His eyes flared, and he tightened his grip on her arm. “Don’t press me, Meg.”

His voice was deep and liquid and seemed to wrap around her. She knew she shouldn’t provoke him, but he brought out a mischievous side long forgotten. Lifting one brow, she asked, “Or what?”

Before the taunt had left her mouth, she was in his arms again and jerked firmly against the broad chest she’d just admired. She gasped. His eyes were hooded, his expression dark and full of promise.

“Or I will prove to you just how innocent you are, my sweet, and how very little control you have over a man and a man’s desires.”

He lowered his head. Slowly. Inch by heart-stopping inch. Giving her every opportunity to object.

She could hear the fierce pounding of her heart. His mouth was so close. If she were breathing, their breath would have mingled in the cool night air. But Alex’s mouth moved over hers, and God help her, she could not stop him.

Also by Monica McCarty

Highlander Untamed

Highlander Unmasked
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A Ballantine Books Mass Market Original

Copyright © 2007 by Monica McCarty

Excerpt from
Highlander Unchained
copyright © 2007 by Monica McCarty

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

B
ALLANTINE
and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming mass market edition of
Highlander Unchained
by Monica McCarty. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

eISBN: 978-0-345-50230-8

www.ballantinebooks.com

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