Page 6 of Surrendering to her Highland Captor
2
WHISPERS, SECRETS, AND THE BITTER BARGAIN
“What amIdoing here?” James nearly shouted back. “Ye must be daft or playing some kind of joke. Ye have both been missing for hours. Half the village is looking for ye. The other half are saying their prayers in hopes that nothing bad has happened.”
“But it has only been—” Taryn cut off her argument as soon as she saw the setting sun. “Och, nay,” she groaned.
“Och, aye. While ye two have been playing pretend, ye have sent the rest of us on a wild goose chase.”
“This is the only time she ever gets outside, James,” Laura retorted fiercely. “She wants to run away and leave us all behind because they treat her so poorly. I was just trying to give us a wee bit of fun before she has to go back.”
Taryn’s cheeks flushed pink at the way Laura revealed all of her secrets. She expected James to scoff and ask how horrible life in the castle could really be, or where Taryn was planning on running away to. Not that she was planning anything of the kind, but those would be fair questions. However, James did none of that. He simply looked over at her, studying her, as if that would be enough to discern the truth behind Laura’s claims.
“Is that why ye are practicing with my old bow? Making sure ye are ready for whatever monsters might be lurking in the trees?”
Though he was only teasing, trying to defuse the tension, Taryn felt her chin notch higher into the air with pride. James seemed to take that as her answer.
“All right then. Let’s see how ye can do. Go ahead,” he directed, “and try to land one in that tree over there.”
Her eyes followed the direction of his pointed finger, and she tried not to give any reaction. It was twice the distance she had managed so far, but she didn’t want him to know that.
She had never dared to say anything to Laura, but James had a very distinct effect on Taryn’s nerves. Every time he was around, her stomach would twist in knots, her palms would go clammy, and her words would come out a jumbled mess. She wasn’t exactly sure when this had started, but she guessed it was not long after James had grown a foot seemingly overnight. His voice had gotten deeper, richer, and thanks to all the training he did as a McGregor guard, his shoulders nearly doubled in size.
She was always astounded to see just how different siblings could look whenever she was around Laura and James at the same time. Where Laura’s hair was long, sandy, and bent in soft waves, James’ hair was a deep chestnut brown that he kept cut too short to see the curl there. His skin was rich from his days out in the sun, whereas Laura’s face was pale with a smattering of freckles that danced across the bridge of her nose. It was more likely for someone to mistake Laura for Taryn’s sister than James’ what with their matching hair and skin color. If not for the same piercing shade of green in their eyes, Taryn would hardly believe them to be related.
It was James’ rich green eyes with streaks of gold in them that stared at Taryn now, issuing a challenge. Clenching her jaw, Taryn notched an arrow in the bow and lifted it, pullingthe string back until it was taut. She ignored the burning in her shoulder and the way the string cut into the curve of her fingers. Willing her breath to steady, she locked eyes on the tree that James had pointed to and tried to block everything else out.
“Any day now.”
His remark made her jump just as she let the arrow fly. As she had feared, it landed halfway between where she stood and the tree she had been aiming at. Embarrassed, she turned and glared.
“Ye ruined my concentration. I missed the shot because of ye.”
“Nay, ye missed the shot because ye had a weak stance and were pointing the bow too low.”
Taryn clenched her jaw and shoved the bow into James’ chest, ready to stomp off back towards the village and hope to forget the entire embarrassing incident. But his hands were too quick.
“Come here,” he ordered softly. “Let me show ye.”
Debating on whether or not to listen to him, Taryn cast a searching glance at Laura. Her friend merely nodded encouragingly, blind to the crackling energy between her and James. With a sigh, Taryn relented and took back the bow.
“Stand like this,” he demonstrated with an imaginary weapon.
She tried her best to copy him, squaring off her hips and rotating her shoulders just so. It felt awkward and stiff. Beside her, Laura copied James as well, though her stance looked much more natural.
“One at a time. Ye first, Laura.”
James walked past Taryn and spent several minutes instructing his sister. He was brisk and impatient but after three tries, Laura managed to get the arrow all the way to the tree trunk.
“Look at that!” she shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.
“A wee bit more practice and ye will be an expert at this in nay time,” James promised before turning his eyes back to Taryn. “Yer turn.”
Taking the bow from Laura who then trotted off to fetch the arrows, Taryn tried to avoid James’ eyes. She instead focused on her stance once more. Stepping her feet apart, Taryn twisted with the bow and started to pull it back.
“Slow down,” he instructed. “Yer feet are nae wide enough and yer shoulders are nae in the right spot. Try to get them completely in line with yer feet and only turn yer head.”
She did as he said, but he still wasn’t pleased.
