Highlander Enchanted(22)
Clouds shrouded the moon, moving fast enough for their movement to be unnatural.
“You would speak of madness?” she countered softly, glancing towards the gems.
“Ye steal my property?” He looped a finger beneath the long length of leather around her neck and tugged the pink talisman free from her clothing.
She shivered at the touch of his skin against hers. “I did not steal it,” she replied. “I borrowed it.”
He sat back on his heels, and she sensed more than saw he was furious. His features were shadowed and dark, sinister almost, his exposed form tense. She refused to allow her eyes to caress the smooth skin covering his warrior frame but was far too aware of his nakedness, his nearness, to prevent the fever moving through her.
The lanterns darted into the sky and bloomed into clouds that spread rapidly overhead. Where the night had been clear, thunder rumbled in the distance.
Was it … was it possible he caused the thunder?
“It cannot be,” she whispered, a streak of coldness replacing the unnatural warmth inside her.
More lanterns appeared, these pink. “What are these?” she asked and reached out to touch one. Her fingers passed through it as if it were not real at all.
“Do not touch them!” Cade snatched her wrist. “Yer filthy, lying English hands shouldna be nigh them.”
She clasped her hands in her lap, trembling. “They are magic, are they not?”
“Magic doesna exist.” He rose and paced a short distance, his scarred back to her once more.
“How can you deny it? We are surrounded by it.”
“You should no’ be able t’see it.” He was still. She sensed danger even though he no longer held her to the ground.
Isabel glanced towards the path leading out of the forest, prepared to make a run for it. His quietness was worse than his direct attention.
“My family has kept these secrets for generations and one foolish, beautiful lass discovers it. Niall was right. I ne’er shoulda let ye near my home,” he said darkly. “Why do ye seek t’kill me, Lady Cade?”
“’Tis of no concern. I have failed in my vengeance and will suffer whatever punishment you de –”
“Do not test me!” he roared.
She gasped, not expecting his outburst, and braced herself for what followed whenever Richard shouted thusly.
“No more lies!” he added more calmly and knelt before her. “Do ye understand me?” He reached for her arm.
She flinched and ducked her head. A man like this could surely kill her with one blow.
His hand dropped. “I would n’er strike ye, Lady Cade.”
She did not speak.
“Ye’ve placed me in a difficult state. I canna let ye leave knowing what ye do of what I am.” He swept his arm overhead, and the lanterns vanished, along with the clouds. Pale moonlight pierced the night once more.
“You … you did that?” Her whisper was barely audible to her own ears.
He spoke words she did not understand, and the clouds returned, blocking the moon.
“My god,” she breathed. “What are you?”
“A man charged with protecting his kin who fergot hi’self when he saw yer beauty.” He reached for her again, this time ignoring her instinctive reaction and lifting her chin. “A warrior who canna understand why his magic betrays him t’an English lass who brings danger to my land.”
She glimpsed a shadow pass through his eyes. “You cannot free me, do not wish to kill me. What will you do?”
“I wanna ken why ye carry writs from two kings.”
Not expecting the response, Isabel rose, panic racing through her, and darted to the forest.
Black Cade caught her with an arm around her midsection and pulled her into his body, wrapping both his arms around her and lifting her off the ground.
Panting, frantic, she strained against the unyielding tree branches of his arms. His solid, heated frame was at her back. He felt so much more powerful than she ever had, and for a moment, she envied him the strength that earned him a reputation of a killer.
“Release me!” she ordered.
“Be still, lass,” he said. “Ye tried t’kill me. I’ll treat ye as I see fit.”
She ceased struggling.
“We can ‘ave this talk with my arms around ye or civilized, as ye prefer. Yer choice.”
“We will not discuss it at all. It is not your concern!” she retorted.
“Ye claim t’ be me wife and carry a writ from my king making it so,” he mused. “What would Lord Richard do if he saw it? If he saw them both?”
“Do not threaten me!” she responded.
“Ye are no’ in a state t’command me, Lady Cade. Doona mistake me for a man who is civilized.” As he spoke, lightning rippled across the sky overhead.
She blinked back tears, her erratic emotions overwhelming her briefly while she determined what to do. “If you read the writs, you know what they are,” she said at last.
“Yea but not why. Or how or why ye chose me of all men.”
“Because you slayed my brother,” she said hoarsely. “Because I have no intention of ever marrying any man.”
His grip loosened, and he released her. “I ‘ave kilt many men, Lady Cade,” he said, the dark edge in his tone once more. “What do I care if one of them was yer brother?”