AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Will ye please say something?” she finally said, softening her voice, but he remained impassive, simply staring at her with an intensity she had never experienced before. She could not see anger or hatred in his gaze, just something she could not put a name to.
“Please let me go from here. I never wanted to be here. I need to go back to Eric,” she said. She knew she had no intention of returning to Eric, but it was a possibility that this man could be far worse than her betrothed. He looked deadly dangerous and could crush her with one hand. Keira knew she needed to look out for herself.
“Did Eric do this to ye?” he finally spoke, and his question stunned Keira. She did not know what it was about her bruises that had him so interested. She did not understand why he even cared. It was all he seemed willing to talk about ever since their first encounter.
“Does it matter?” she asked, not wishing to reply.
“Did Eric do this to ye? Aye or nae?” The apparent dominance in his voice told her that he demanded an answer and would not go without. Fear inched through her body and emerged into her eyes at his tone as she nodded.
The immediate anger on his face appeared like a flash, but he quickly concealed it behind an excellent mask that showed no emotion. Keira did not understand why he would be angry. He certainly did not know her enough to care about what had happened to her or if Eric had hurt her or not, but his expression and obvious concern told her otherwise. Who was this man, and what did he want from her?
Keira immediately backed away towards the head of the bed as she watched him stand up, fear taking hold of her entirely. She knew this man was stronger than Eric and far bigger, and if he would hit her, she would not be able to survive. She could not go through this again. He must have noticed her reaction since he immediately stopped in his tracks, concern rising to his face. He held up his hands as if to tell her that he was not going to come towards her.
Her heart continued to beat wildly in her chest, but she calmed slightly as she watched him move towards a table at the back of the bedchamber from where he picked up a tray filled with different kinds of food. He took slow, measured steps towards her with the tray in his hands and placed it on the bed through his extended hand while he himself remained five paces away.
Keira knew he was doing it all to make sure she felt safe and comfortable, and her breathing calmed down entirely. As she looked at the tray in front of her, she realized that she hadn’t eaten properly in quite some days. Eric had not cared much about her meals or what she ate, and she was often neglected by everyone in Gilmor castle, which had led to her losing a lot of weight.
“Eat,” the man said to her as he backed away entirely and sat back down on the sofa by the fireplace. Keira continued looking at him, not sure if she should eat. It was impossible for her to begin trusting him this quickly, but she could not help feeling slightly safe in his presence. As if he would protect her no matter what.
“I asked ye to eat,” he ordered, his tone just as commanding as earlier. Keira did not know what it was, but everything about him demanded obedience, and she did not like that. She could not deny him either.
“Will ye let me go, please?” she asked again, her mind thinking of ways to escape. She needed to escape.
He looked at her as if she had lost her mind, and she could not blame him. After she had told him that it was Eric who had given her these bruises, the fact that she wished to return to him would sound insane to anyone, but Keira knew she had no choice in the matter. She needed to find a reason to escape, and all she could tell him was she needed to go Eric. Keira could not tell this man her identity or who her father was. She did not know if she could trust him with this information.
Without replying, he simply stared at the food and then back at Keira as if silently asking her to eat. Not wishing to deny him, she slowly pulled the tray towards her and took a bite from a random plate. As food touched her lips, she realized how delicious it was and how long it had been since she had eaten properly.
Without thinking that he was still staring at her, she began to eat leisurely, feeling stronger with every bite. She knew she had gotten weak in the time she had spent at Gilmor Castle. She needed to regain her strength and think about leaving this place. Although for that, she first needed to know who he was and where she was.
“Will ye tell me now?” she asked, finally gaining courage.
“Tell ye what?” he asked back.
“Who are ye?”
“Laird MacPherson, but ye can call me Christian.”
CHAPTER4
Christian staredat the woman in front of him, unable to turn his gaze away from her face. It had been a whole day since she had been with him. Since he had found her amidst the burning ruins of Gilmor Castle, he noticed the bruises on her face and the terror in her eyes and had made a split-second decision to take her with him. By now, he knew everything about her. Even in the battleground when he had first seen her, he had known she was not an ordinary milkmaid or a servant. He had known she was so much more than that.
By now, he knew he was right. He already had his people find out more about her, and within time, he had found out she was Keira Wright, the youngest daughter of Laird O’Donelly and Eric’s betrothed.
Eric had often bragged about being betrothed to a woman like Keira. Someone who was extremely beautiful and well-read. Someone who was lively and feisty and had every quality in her that any man could desire. Although, what Christian could not understand was the fact that a man who was as big a coward as Eric was would hit a woman. The mere thought made his blood boil. Even with the bruises on her face, he could see she was beautiful.
The MacPherson clan, which was decidedly isolated from every other clan, had also heard about the immense beauty of the sisters, Astrid and Keira. Astrid had already been married to Laird MacKie, who Christian knew to be an honest, powerful, and excellent man but, he knew Eric was none of those things. Eric was a coward and apparently had been cruel to Keira, and yet she had constantly been asking him to send her back to him. He truly could not understand.
“Why do ye wish to return to him?” he finally questioned, his curiosity getting the better of him. No woman deserved to be treated the way Eric had been treating Keira. The fear he had seen in her eyes yesterday and even today made him angrier than he had ever been before. He knew he could kill Eric for this, but first, he needed to make sure Keira trusted him, something that seemed like an impossible task.
“He is my betrothed,” she finally replied, gulping down a piece of bread.
“He is a cruel man and the coward who did that to ye,” Christian replied, knowing he sounded angry, but he could no longer conceal it. She was still beautiful underneath the bruises on her face. She did not deserve this treatment. No woman did.
“Are ye…” she stuttered, as if unable to say what she wished to say, “are ye going to hurt me too?”
His heart broke at her question, and he felt the urge to stab Eric right across the face or give him similar bruises to what he had given Keira.
"Keira, I will never touch ye. Ye do nae have to fear me,” he replied softly, still maintaining his position on the sofa. He knew if he even so much as tried to go closer, she would back away, and he could not see that happen. He could not see her suffer and be afraid of him when he had no ill intentions.
