The Viper (Highland Guard #4)(99)



“Fine,” he said angrily. “But we’ll talk in there.” He pointed to the wooden building that had stored the MacDougalls’ most prized birlinns, but which now housed the king’s.

Getting up from the skiff, he grabbed the torch he’d brought with him and stormed up the sand to the storage building. It was pitch black, cool, and damp inside, but at least it was out of the wind and bone-chilling mist. Securing the torch to the iron bracket, he crossed his arms to keep them in place and turned to face her. “Well?”

She bit her lip, and he cursed the light. Not that darkness would help. He would still have his other senses with which to contend. Her intoxicating scent surrounded him. The soft hitch of her breath pounded in his ears. Every bone, every muscle, every fiber of his body was attuned to her.

“I need your help.”

He was so shocked to hear those words that it took him a minute to process all that she was saying as she explained. But by the time she was done, any pride or happiness he might have felt in thinking that she’d turned to him because she believed in him, trusted him, cared for him, had died.

A hired sword. A man with no loyalties. That’s why she’d come to him. That’s how she saw him.

That was what he’d become. That was all he was to her.

And he hated it.

“So you’ve come to me because the king has refused your request, and you think I will go against his command?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Bella. I know you are scared for your daughter, but the king is right. It’s too dangerous.”

He could see the rise of emotion in her face—her fear and desperation—though she fought to keep it at bay. It was clear she was doing her best not to argue with him but was finding it difficult. “I came to you because you are the only man who can help me. Because you have the skill to get me in and out of the convent without being seen. I came to you because you know how important this is to me.” She looked into his eyes. “I came to you because you owe me this. You owe me my daughter.”

The dart of her arrow hit him square in the chest, stealing his breath. It was his decision that had separated her from her daughter, and she’d never forgotten it. Neither had he. Deserved or not, guilt pricked his conscience.

He forced a mocking smile to his face. “You’ve changed, Bella. You’ve learned how to fight dirty.”

She took a deep breath, as if the act pained her, and then thrust up her chin. “I learned from the best.”

Aye, she had.

“I paid my debt by getting you out of that prison.” He took a step toward her, fighting the heated emotions surging through his veins. “I was nearly imprisoned for you. Was that not enough? Do you want to see me chained to a rack?”

Bruce was right: He played a dangerous game of chance every time he stepped out of the Highlands.

The mask of control on her face crumpled and tears streamed down her cheeks. “Please, Lachlan, I know what I ask of you, but if I don’t do something, they will find out I have escaped and take it out on Joan.” He thought he was immune to desperate pleas. He was wrong. With her he’d never be immune. “I can’t just leave her there, to the mercy of men who have none. I swear you won’t hear a word of argument from me about anything—I will do everything you say. Please, Lachlan, I’m begging you. I need you.”

I need you. The words bit into him. Digging. Penetrating. Threatening to break his resolve. He’d never wanted to give something so badly as he did at that moment. He would have sold his soul to help her.

But his soul had been sold a long time ago.

If he did as she asked and accepted this rogue mission, the king would be furious. The money and the land he was due would be in jeopardy. Everything he’d fought for, everything he wanted, would be at risk.

But it wasn’t everything he wanted. That was the problem. He wanted her, and it seemed impossible to believe that she could ever want him.

He stared down into her upturned face, into the eyes looking at him with such trust and longing, and felt something inside him crack. His will breaking. “Bella, I …”

He stopped. No. He couldn’t let his desire for a woman control his decisions. “I can’t,” he finished.

Her lush, sensual mouth twisted in anger. “You mean you won’t!”

He grabbed her arm, preventing her from spinning away from him. “Nay, I mean I can’t. Not until Bruce holds his first council.”

“But that is too late.” Her voice bubbled with hysteria. “We need to leave tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest. Even riding day and night we might not make it. Why—”

He heard her sharp intake of breath and saw her eyes widen on his face as the harsh understanding dawned. “Of course. The meeting is when Robert intends to bestow your reward.” The scorn—the disgust—on her face ate like acid on his resolve. “Money. That’s all this has ever been about to you.”

He had to explain. He had to tell her why this was so important to him. Why he couldn’t risk it. He wanted to help her, damn it, but he couldn’t. Not if he was going to salvage what was left of his honor. People were counting on him. “Damn it, Bella, that’s not all it’s about. You don’t understand—”

“I understand perfectly. How much will it take, Lachlan? I’ll give you everything I have, although I’m sure it won’t match the king’s reward. With most of my husband’s lands distributed amongst Robert’s men, and my own unable to be claimed while I am in hiding, I’m afraid I’ve been forced to rely on the king’s good grace. But when my lands are restored—”

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