Page 11 of In the Highlander's Bed

Caught by surprise, Thomas dropped her. “Hellion,” he hissed. He never could take a blow to the face.

She landed on her feet like a cat and would have been off if she hadn’t taken a moment to pull Robbie’s kerchief from her mouth. She made a face. “That is the nastiest thing—” She spat on the ground with the grace of a guardsman, giving Gordon the opportunity to catch her again. He grabbed her arm at the wrist.

By now they were far enough away from the school so he could talk without keeping his voice down. “Stop it,” he ordered.

Her answer was to whip her head around, her flying hair a weapon. She wasn’t one to give up easily.

Gordon took her by the shoulders and gaveher a shake. “Miss Constance, you can make this difficult or easy. It’s your choice.”

“My choice is to leave,” she said defiantly, and would have pushed away, but Gordon held tight, wisely keeping an arm’s distance between himself and her knees.

“You can’t, lass,” he said. “You are a prisoner of the Clan MacKenna. You will be our guest until the Duke of Colster meets our demands.” He braced himself for her to fight harder, expecting more scratching and kicking.

Instead, her struggle ceased. “A prisoner?” She glanced at all of them in the dark. “Are you kidnapping me?” she asked as she pushed her hair back from her eyes and righted her dress.

“Aye,” Gordon answered. “And you will stay with us until your ransom is paid.”

“By whom?” she wondered aloud.

“The Duke of Colster,” Gordon answered.

“I barely know him.”

A fit of vapors he would have understood. This cool, logical response put him on guard. “His brother is your brother-in-law Lord Phillip.”

Miss Constance shook her head. “I don’t know the duke but I don’t like my brother-in-lawat all. I doubt if either of them will pay a ransom. You’d best let me go.”

“I will,” Gordon said, “afterthe ransom is paid.”

“Well, don’t ask for much, because you won’t see any money,” she said as cool as you please.

“I’ll take my chances.” The Duke of Colster had once been part of the clan. Gordon knew what sort of man Colster was. He’d pay any price for a kinsman.

A horse nickered from where Brian waited.

Miss Constance’s head turned in the direction of the sound. “Horses,” she breathed, as if discovering the Holy Grail. “They are yours?”

“Aye.” Gordon didn’t trust this new eagerness in her voice.

“We should go, then,” she said, her words a command. “My disappearance could be discovered.” She would have walked off, Robbie and Thomas at her heels, except Gordon still held her fast.

She glanced at his hand on her shoulder. “Are we leaving?” she asked impatiently. “Or are we going to stand here yammering all night?”

Yammering?Gordon had never heard of such a word. “We will leave, but whenIgive the order.” He wasn’t usually this prickly. He preferred for all of his men to show leadership. However, that didn’t mean he wanted his captives to take over control. Especially the female ones.

Unfortunately, at that moment a shout went up from the direction of the school. “I found a book,” a man cried, “and shoes and clothing!”

Miss Constance made an exasperated wound. “They’ve discovered I am missing. Mistress Hillary must have checked my bed.”

“There’s money here, too,” another man shouted.

“Oh, bother,” Constance said. “All my money was in my bundle.” She frowned at Gordon. “Are you ready to give that order to ride yet?”

Thomas and Robbie went bug-eyed. No one spoke to Gordon that way.

No one had ever dared.

And the worst was, there was nothing Gordon could do about it. They did have to leave.