Page 9 of The Highlander’s Untamed Lady

“How are ye planning to keep her?” Camden appeared at his side and took the almost empty wineskin of tonic. He bounced the skin in the air and gave a laugh. “In a day or five when she finally wakes after having had so much.”

“I’m hoping the wolves can help me.” Evander wiped drops of rain from his face. “Or I have more tonic and can drug her again before she fully wakes.”

Camden looked down at Diana. Something protective in Evander reared up and left him with the sudden impulse to block her from his friend’s view. She was so defenseless where she lay, her face soft with sleep, her body limp in the unnatural slumber.

“I hope ye have a lot of tonic. I think ye’ll need it all,” Camden said. “And I hope ye dinna get torn to shreds for yer efforts.”

Evander grunted. “Aye, in that case, we should get the wolves soon before they begin to wake. I know we’ve got at least six hours for Lady Diana. I dinna know how long it will last on them.”

He shared Camden’s concerns, but more than that, he had his own fears to contend with. Even if he could get Diana to Castle Leod peacefully, how would he convince her to marry him?

Chapter Four

Getting the wolves from the cave had been easier than Evander had anticipated. They were quickly transferred to the carriage with Zeus on the floor and Hera placed on the bench beside Evander where he could watch her injured paw. Neither wolf so much as twitched during their move, nor did they wake when the Mackenzies began their rumbling, bouncing passage over the English countryside on their way to Scotland.

Zeus lay silent where he’d been settled, his pink tongue poking out from between his small front teeth. Six hours had passed, and all still slept, with the exception of Evander.

Diana’s hand hung limp over the seat, her splayed fingers near the scruff of Zeus’ back. She shifted on the narrow bench. A moan sounded in the back of her throat, husky and low, more tempting than Evander cared to admit. Her eyes blinked open and she regarded him upside down with bloodshot eyes. She rocked with the sway of the carriage.

“You poisoned me,” she said simply. “And now I’m being taken somewhere against my will. Presumably bound for Scotland. Am I correct?”

“Ye wouldna come.”

Her full lips curled in a wry smile. “I’m not the obedient type. You should take me back and find another wife.”

His right hand tingled and he rested it casually on his knee to rid it of the odd sensation. “I dinna need an obedient wife. I just need ye.”

“To bear you children?” She lazily pulled herself back in her seat so she lay on her side.

“To provide me with coin.”

Her brows lifted in surprise.

He met her gaze. “Ye want honesty. I couldna pass up the amount of coin offered for yer hand.”

She narrowed her eyes. “How romantic.” She tried to sit upright, but her movements were slow and clumsy.

Evander leaned forward to help her. She squared her shoulders, facing him with the bravado of someone intending to be hit.

He frowned and held up his hands, palm out. “I meant only to help ye sit, lass. I dinna strike women.”

“Just poison them and steal them away?” She rolled her eyes.

She sagged back into the cushion she lay upon. If Evander was going to give her the tonic again, the opportunity to do so was now. Each passing minute would make her more and more aware.

“I dinna want to drug ye the entire ride to Castle Leod,” he said honestly.

“Castle Leod?” She tried to lift herself into a sitting position once more, the stubborn lass. “From one prison to another.”

Evander leaned forward in his seat again, this time extending his hands out in silent offering. “Let me help ye.”

She stared at him for a long moment with a shadow of skepticism over her lovely face. “Very well, since you’re so inclined to do so.”

Zeus grumbled from his place on the floor. Evander glanced down and found the pink of the wolf’s tongue no longer peeking between his teeth and those golden eyes glaring up at him. “Do ye mind, Zeus?”

The wolf gave a guttural sound and settled his head on his paws in silent resignation. Evander could almost swear he saw the subtle lift of Diana’s mouth in a whisper of a smile.

He moved slowly to take her hands in his. Her fingers were warm where they’d been furled against her body in slumber. A tingle started in his right palm when it met that of her left. He ignored the sensation and assisted her into a sitting position.