Page 40 of Her Reluctant Highlander Husband

Or mayhap he simply felt guilty over what they’d done. He still loved his first wife, and he probably thought making love with Dorie was wrong. But she had never felt so right in all her days.

The tension between them continued to grow night after night until Dorie thought she might explode.

Her only solace was being able to press up against him once he fell asleep. She enjoyed touching him until he pulled away in the mornings to go train with his men.

Slipping out through the gate today, she let out a breath and raised her face to the morning sun as Rascal tore off to expend his energy. She wished she could do the same—run across the meadow and plunge into the cool stream. Maybe it would help.

She had almost worked up to giving it a try when she heard a whoosh and was knocked to the ground. She found herself staring up at the sun again, only this time her view was obscured by a grouping of feathers at the end of an arrow that was sticking out of her chest. She choked in terror as fire burned through her body and darkness descended.

She woke in flashes, unable to move but able to hear.

A shadow fell over her as she gasped in shallow breaths. “She’s done for,” a familiar voice said. Wallace. “Finish her off.”

“I thought it was supposed to look like an accident,” Desmond complained.

“We haven’t had luck with that. We’ll just tell my father they killed her. We’ll not need to worry any longer about this truce.”

“Maybe if you’d just told the laird what you’d arranged, he would have gone along with it.”

“Then I would have had to give him the money the MacKinlay paid me.”

“You could have left that part out.”

“It would have come up eventually, you lout. Now cut her throat, and let’s go.”

Oh, God.

She tensed, expecting more pain and a terrible death. Instead, the sound of growling filled her ears, turning into a buzzing sound.

Pain, intense and overwhelming, brought her abruptly back to harsh reality. She wasn’t dead, but from the sound of her own screaming it was clear that she wished for it intensely.

“Be careful with her,” a woman’s anxious voice said in a cultured accent. Mari. “We need to get her back to the house. Send for Abagail and Kenna. I’ll need their help to remove the arrow. Be still, Dorie. You’re safe now.”

“Angus, bring the dog and send for Bryce,” Cam ordered.

Dorie whimpered and reached out, hitting a wall of muscled chest. “Shhh. Be still, lass,” she was told again before the voices around her faded.

This time she wasn’t able to bring them back into focus.

Chapter Fourteen

Bryce pushed the horses to go faster and only slowed when Kenna and Abagail nearly flew out of the wagon. It wouldn’t do Dorie any good if he arrived at Cam’s house alone. He was not a healer. He needed the women with him if there was to be any chance of saving his wife.

Angus said she’d been shot with an arrow. In the chest. Such a wound sounded fatal. Even now he could be too late.

“I don’t know why she left the castle. I told her to stay inside,” he complained, allowing his anger to fend off the worry and pain.

“Did you tell her why you wished her to stay put?” Kenna asked.

“Nay. I’m her husband. I don’t need to explain myself to my wife.”

Kenna harrumphed. “Strange, I haven’t seen you act like a husband to the lass.”

“I’ve taken her to my bed.” He didn’t know why he’d blurted that out. It was a slippery defense to be sure.

“Oh! Well, then. In that case, I’m surprised she wasn’t following at your heels begging for more of your attentions.” Kenna rolled her eyes as she clenched her fingers around the seat.

Ignoring her taunts, he gritted his teeth. “She’s supposed to obey me.”