Highlander Most Wanted Page 0,23
She stared into Bowen Montgomery’s eyes, looking for any sign of deceit or treachery. All she saw was burning sincerity—and rage. Rage for her. Not at her, but on her behalf. It baffled her. He was a complete stranger. He owed her nothing. He had every reason to despise Ian McHugh and his whore. It would be so easy to lay siege to the keep and use her in any manner he saw fit. And yet he treated her gently.
The most unlikely of champions, and the most unlikely woman to inspire a man to champion her cause. She was naught but a scarred whore, and he was so handsome that he turned heads wherever he went. He was brother to one of the mightiest lairds in the Highlands, and he wielded much wealth and power.
It was absolutely true what she’d said earlier. This was a man who could have any woman he desired in all of Scotland.
And yet he seemed determined, whether she wished it or not, to see to her needs and … protect … her.
No one since her father and brothers had protected or sheltered her. No one had protected her against Ian, and Ian hadn’t protected her from the words and actions of his own clan.
She was so overcome that she couldn’t even put to words all that she was thinking.
“And when you leave?” she asked, fear already clutching her throat. “When you leave this place and I am naught but a memory, what then will happen to me?”
“I’ll not leave you to this fate,” he said in a quiet, firm voice. “If you have not changed your mind about sending word to your kin, then you’ll either be placed with my clan and offered the protection that extends to all Montgomerys or I’ll do as you asked and see you well placed at an abbey.”
Relief was sweet and swift. She sagged, her shoulders drooping, and closed her eyes to savor the promise of sanctuary.
Such a wondrous thing. Hope. Something she’d been so long without. And yet now it bloomed, like the first blossom in spring, spreading its petals to seek the sun.
It was overpowering in its intensity, and she welcomed it, savoring it like a lost friend.
Hope was the sweetest gift. It made her look to the future, not in dread or despair but with new eyes.
“Thank you,” she choked out.
Her fingers pressed into his muscular arms, her grip tight. She feared if she let go she would awake from a dream and find none of this was real.
“There is naught to thank me for. Now come. Let us return to the keep so that we may partake of the evening meal. You must be exhausted from your worries and the walk from the keep.”
“You are an angel sent from God at last,” she whispered. “I prayed for so long for one. I thought He had forgotten me, surely.”
Bowen’s features tightened and darkened. “I come too late. I have saved you from none of your misery. Would that I had known of your plight earlier. I would have come, Genevieve. I would have saved you.”
She put her hand on his forearm, noting the paleness of her skin against his much darker flesh. “ ’Tis not true. Your kindness is a beacon on the darkest night. I had forgotten that goodness exists.”
He seemed discomfited by her praise, but she met his gaze, never once looking away, so that her sincerity could not be questioned.
Then he slid an arm around her waist and guided her toward his horse a few feet away.
“Come. You ride with me. Let us return before the others become worried.”
Genevieve went gladly, marveling that she’d ever be happy about returning to McHugh Keep, a place that had been her hell for an entire year.
And she held his promise close to her heart, hugging it with every fiber of her being.
CHAPTER 10
When Bowen rode into the courtyard with Genevieve, he was treated to several knowing looks, which annoyed him. There were smirks from the McHugh clansmen, outright expressions of disdain from the McHugh women, and even his brother and the two Armstrong brothers raised their eyebrows.
Still, Teague, ever the gentleman, came forward to assist Genevieve from Bowen’s horse so that Bowen could dismount. Genevieve was wary of Teague and immediately put distance between them. Teague frowned at her as if she gave him insult for fearing he would harm her.
Taliesan limped heavily into the courtyard, her gait far too fast for a woman with a