Highland Hellion (Highland Weddings #3)(34)
“Your father”—she made sure to enunciate every syllable exactly the way she’d been taught by her tutors in England—“does not have the power to frighten me.”
Rolfe knew she was lying. The look in his eyes told her she could not hide her emotions from him.
“So…go on with you.” She tried to make her tone one of disdain. “Or are you looking to gloat over what profit you have gained by bringing me here?”
“That is no’ why I am here,” he replied softly.
She shifted away from him, her belly twisting in response to how close he was. Her craving for him was undermining her ability to recall why she had to shun him.
“I meant what I said when I brought ye here, lass.” He spoke each word in a tight tone that sent a warning through her. “It was for a bit of ransom, and so ye might learn the value of thinking before ye took to acting rashly and placing men in peril.”
She nodded, in spite of her temper. It pleased him. For one small moment, there was peace between them. But she closed a door inside herself, refusing to let him see any more of her feelings. She had to do it or be flayed alive.
“But me father…” Rolfe’s tight expression crumbled for just a moment, allowing her a glimpse of his frustration. “He is laird here. I failed to think about how he’d treat an Englishwoman.”
Englishwoman…
Katherine stiffened but Rolfe cupped her shoulders, keeping her near him as he aimed a hard look into her eyes.
“I do nae share his feelings, Katherine.”
“Oh, really?” She twisted away from him, stumbling because of how much force she used. “Do not coddle me. I know your true feelings on the matter.”
His face was a mask of determination. “I’ve a mind to kiss ye again, woman.” He pulled her close enough to feel his breath on her lips. “So ye do nae forget.”
“Kiss me?” she demanded. “Why? So you can jerk away from me once more, to make certain I know you cannot stomach the fact that you lust for me?”
He sealed her against him with an arm around her waist, while his other hand captured her nape and he pulled her the last remaining inches toward him.
“So ye know I must have ye.”
She was melting, cravings rising up from inside her, but she jammed two knuckles into the soft spot where his neck and torso connected. He recoiled instantly.
“Your father is laird here.” Her anger had drained away, leaving her tone nothing more than a soft lament.
Rolfe drew himself up stiffly. “I can nae be a man of honor if I do nae agree with ye on that.”
Somehow, she’d still been clinging to hope. The look in his eyes made her release it. He turned but paused at the door.
“I should no’ have brought ye here, Katherine.”
*
“I know that look,” Adwin said when Rolfe emerged. His longtime friend was shaking his head in warning. “Ye’re plotting.”
“Ye’d rather I acted like a dog?” Rolfe asked. “Accept what me father does with me prize like a hound being tossed a table scrap? She is me prize.”
Adwin contemplated him seriously for a long moment. “This is likely no’ going to end well. Ye know that?”
Rolfe shot him a cocky grin and made sure it remained on his lips. He wasn’t going to admit how many doubts he had.
Four
“Boyd will take the chit to Morton.”
His father was making sure his voice was heard by half the men in the hall.
“And give that Douglas the opportunity to take the payment without giving us what is due?” Rolfe inquired. “Better that I go. He can raise me up in yer stead, in front of witnesses, and I’ll make very certain no’ to let him even see the wench before he seals the patents of nobility in front of men he’ll think twice about crossing.”
His father was suspicious. Rolfe watched him weigh his words along with the looks on his men’s faces.
“Morton is a Douglas, sure enough.”
“Send only yer senior captain, and ye might be waiting until the end of time for yer title,” Rolfe said.
William grunted. “Aye, and aye.” He slapped the tabletop. “Ye’ve a fine head on those shoulders, right enough. Take the English girl down there, and if that Douglas does no’ keep his end of the bargain, bring her back, and we’ll ransom her to the MacPherson.”
There were nods of agreement from those watching. Rolfe caught Adwin giving him a curious look, but he didn’t linger in the hall. He offered his father a tug on his bonnet before going to make preparations to leave.
His father enjoyed the fact that he had a good head on his shoulders? Rolfe hoped so, because he was going to test that.
*
She shouldn’t have any feelings for him except loathing.
Katherine intended to lecture herself firmly on the merits of cultivating a deep dislike of Rolfe McTavish, but all of her words seemed to slip away once she was in his company again.
He was too handsome, but it was more than his exterior that she found attractive. The man had honor in the truest sense of the word, and it took self-discipline to maintain such a thing. So she was drawn to him, both in flesh and spirit.
The fascination would only do her harm. Rolfe would obey his father. It was his only option if he planned to maintain his honor, and she would rather suffer being handed over to the Earl of Morton than watch Rolfe McTavish become less than he was.