Page 39 of Highlander’s Lesser Evil

Pulled away from him, she turned and stared, incredulous. Water sloshed around in the tub, and she swept the damp hair from her face. “Then what are we doing here, Theo? Why are we not at Loch Moran, defending it?”

A shadow of guilt crossed his face, and the truth hit her in a blinding light. “I am such an idiot,” she muttered as she stood and reached for a cloth. Deftly trying to keep tears from welling up in her eyes, she began to furiously dry off so she could dress and get as far away as possible from him.

He wasn’t staying. He had always meant to bring her here and leave her so he could go back to Loch Moran. “How long do you plan on being gone?” she asked tensely.

“Gemma, I needed to know that ye would be safe,” he said softly. “Seeing ye on the battlefield, at the end of a sword, did something to me. I cannae concentrate now fearing that ye will run headlong into danger again.”

“So this was your solution? Taking me away from everyone I know and leaving me here?” Jerking on her nightdress, she turned to face him accusingly. “How long?”

“I will stay here for a few days to see ye settled—”

“I am not a piece of furniture!”

“Nay, ye are my wife, and ye are to obey me!” he shouted angrily. His eyes darkened with the fury she knew swirled inside him at any given moment, the fury he was always so afraid to unleash. With her, it seemed, he had little control, but not to hurt her. Never to hurt her.

To protect her.

“Ye knew that ye couldnae stay in Loch Moran when ye married me, and now ye want to act like a petulant child because I want to keep ye safe!”

A petulant child?

Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, I knew that someday we would return. I just thought I might get notice before you moved me abruptly from my home without giving me a chance to get the things that meant the most to me.”

“They will be returned to ye!” he hissed.

There was such coldness in his eyes, and she climbed into the bed and drew the blankets around her. “And I did not think that you would abandon me!”

“I have to do my duty.”

“I don’t need you to settle me, Theo. Go back to Loch Moran. I will be fine here.”

“Ye think ye will be fine without me?”

What did the man want from her? Should she pine by the window, staring out to the fields and wondering when her love would return? Or did he want her to be the mistress and help him run his clan?

“I think you have spent your whole life guarding your heart, Theo, and until you learn to let that guard down, until you let me in, we aren’t going to find happiness.”

“So ye want my heart now?” he asked roughly, his temper seemingly dying down.

“I just want to understand the man I married.”

He didn’t say anything, and when she finally fell asleep, the bed was still empty.

16

Theo found Hamish by the guest suite’s hearth, a cup of ale in his hands, and his eyes closed. Only the rise of his eyebrows let Theo know that Hamish had heard him enter and knew that he was no threat.

“How many times have ye visited Father?” Theo asked in a gravelly voice. The fight with Gemma had taken the air from his lungs, and he was more fatigued now than he’d ever thought possible. She was furious with him and had every right to be, but she placed far too much over the value of her own life. How could she not see that he was trying to protect her? That he didn’t think he would survive her death?

“None,” Hamish said as he finally opened his eyes. “He is poison, and I have had all I can endure of him. I’ll not let him infect me and bring it home to Grace.”

Theo grunted, and Hamish studied him. “I would say that the visit to Loch Moran has taken its toll on ye, but I think yer troubles are far closer to home. Married life not treating ye well?”

Sinking into the empty chair, Theo stared at the flickering flames of the fire. The heat helped to settle his bones. “She would give up her life at the snap of a finger if it meant saving someone else. I brought her here to ensure that she wouldnae do just that, and she acts as if I have ice around my heart.”

“She mentioned something of looms?”

“Aye. She is a weaver of some of the most beautiful tapestries ye can imagine. Because the trip here was unexpected, I didnae have time to prepare a wagon for them, but I wilnae leave them there for long. Her life is more important to me than her art.”