No one recognized me until your king. He must have suspected when he’d learned how long I’d been here.”
“There’s something that ye are not telling me, Cora. I will have the whole truth.”
“I don’t know what else you want from me. I’m begging you to let me go. I have no desire to control this clan. I have no desire to even stay in Scotland. This place is horrid. Its people are horrid, and I just want to go home!”
Alec regarded her closely. Standing, he began to pace, and the silence between them thickened. “The King knows who ye are,” he said finally. “And he wants MacKay blood in charge. ’Tis a blessing that he’s even giving me this opportunity.”
“What opportunity?” she asked suspiciously.
“If no one claims ye, the King will force ye to marry Innes, and he’ll give the MacKays over to them. He decreed it six months ago, and he has nothing more than the rumors of Innes’s cruelty to dissuade him. If ye claim that ye had no idea that ye were betrothed, and if ye marry for love beforehand, the King will not dissolve the marriage.”
“Marry for love? What are you talking about?”
“Cora Isles, ye will marry me. In the morning. And when ye face King Edward, ye will declare yer undying love to me.”
With a gasp, she stood. “I will do no such thing! You said that I could leave! I’m not marrying you! You despise me!”
“Oh, I more than despise ye,” Alec threatened when he whirled around. He stalked towards her, and she moved away until her back hit the wall. As he towered over her, she gritted her teeth. “I doonae trust ye. If ye plan to take all of this away from me, then I am pleased to thwart yer plans. If ye are not lying to me, then ye should be happy. Ye get the fruitful marriage that yer mother always wanted for ye. Ye act as though I’m the man of your dreams, and ye will marry me, and if ye doonae, I promise that ye’ll find naught but hell shackled to a man like Innes.”
“You would keep me here against my will?” she whispered.
“There is nothing that I would not do to keep this clan out of the hands of Innes Campbell. Believe me when I tell ye that an alliance with him will only spell doom for ye.”
When she still didn’t answer him, he leaned down for a bruising kiss. Gone was the gentle man who had rescued her from the prison and the charming man who had attempted to seduce the truth from her. This was a man who would let nothing stand in his way.
His entire body pressed against her, and his hands settled on her waist. “Cora,” he whispered harshly when he finally broke away. “What will it be?”
“I guess you haven’t really given me much of a choice, have you? I will marry you. Now let me go.”
“Not a chance, love,” he breathed into her ear. “I doonae trust ye to not make a run for it. Ye’ll stay with me until the priest gets here.”
“If you think…”
“Stop yer worrying,” he said as he stepped back. “If there’s even a remote chance that ye remain chaste, I won’t sully ye before our wedding night. Get yerself comfortable, my dear. It appears that we’re both going to endure a long night.”
9
Alec was awake long before the first of the day’s sunlight streamed through the window. He pushed himself off the furs on the floor and turned his head to ensure that his future bride was in his bed.
She tossed and turned through most of the night, but a few hours ago, Alec heard her finally still. Looking over, he saw her splayed out under his blankets. She practically took up the entire bed.
It was the first time he’d ever seen her hair down. The long silky strands tumbled over the pillow in messy curls and waves. Even in the prison, when her hair was knotted on top of her head and unwashed, he knew her hair would be beautiful. He longed to touch it now, but he was afraid he wouldn’t stop. All night long he had to remind himself that slaking his desire for her before their wedding night would only prove his weakness towards her. She was no longer a thief but a dangerous woman who could take away everything that belonged to him.
He would not let Connor down, and he would not