Page 68 of Claimed By a Ruthless Scot
Duncan did not move, but she saw the recognition flash across his face. She forced herself to continue before she lost the courage.
“He promised me tae Laird Lachlan MacKenzie.”
The name seemed to darken the room. Elaina’s voice trembled as the words spilled out.
“It was an alliance, a political arrangement, as though me life were naething more than a piece on his board.”
Her fingers tightened painfully together.
“I watched me maither live that way,” she whispered. “Trapped in a marriage she never chose. Me faither never loved her. He never even pretended tae.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks now, and she made no effort to hide them.
“She taught me healing because it was the only thing she could give me. The only thing that might help me survive.”
Her breath broke.
“And when she died… there was nay one left tae protect me.”
Duncan’s expression had grown very still.
“Me faither decided I would marry Lachlan MacKenzie,” she continued through quiet sobs. “They never asked me if that was what I wanted. A man older than him, a man who conquers clans as though they were cattle.”
She laughed softly, the sound trembling. Her grey eyes finally lifted to Duncan’s. “So I ran.”
The confession seemed to leave her breathless.
“I fled the castle with naething but a cloak and the hope that if I disappeared long enough, they would give up.”
Her voice dropped to a fragile whisper. “And then I met ye.”
The firelight seemed to illuminate the very truth now standing between them.
“I only meant tae hide here fer a little while,” she admitted brokenly. “I never meant fer any of this tae happen. Tae involve ye in me problems.”
Duncan still said nothing. The silence stretched so long that fear began to coil in her chest.
“I am sorry,” she whispered.
…fer the lie, fer bringing danger tae yer home, fer letting meself care…
But instead, she said something else. “I only wanted somewhere safe tae hide.” Her voice cracked completely now. “But I never thought…” The words caught painfully in her throat. “I never thought I would care so deeply about someone.”
The truth of those words frightened her almost as much as the confession about her father. Duncan did not look away. Instead, he took her trembling hand and cupped it with both of his.
“I… admire ye.”
The quiet honesty in his voice caught her completely off guard. He shook his head faintly, as though the admission frustrated him.
“I told meself it was foolish.”
His eyes softened slightly.
“But it did nae change anything.”
Elaina’s heart began to beat faster.
“Duncan—”
