Page 14 of Her Forbidden Highlander Husband

Evelyn looked at him in a way that drew him closer. He knew well enough she wouldn’t welcome his kiss, but it almost seemed like she wanted… something. He needed only to lean closer, but before he could risk making another mistake, movement stole his attention. He thought Gwennie had woken. But it wasn’t Gwennie.

Three men had stepped into their camp. The intruders smiled in a way that sent ice down his spine. They weren’t friends, and they were moving closer to the sleeping girl. Liam moved to protect his family; the small wooden seal snapped under his boot.

…

In the end, Evelyn had been utterly useless. She’d stood there as stiff and unmoving as one of Gwennie’s wooden bunnies.

The men who’d entered their camp carried the faces of her attackers. In reality, they may have looked completely different, but Evelyn couldn’t see past memories and the fear that had taken control of her body.

They spoke, words slurring together. Their intent to take the horses. The larger one looked her over with a gleam she was familiar with from her time in captivity. His leer suggested they might want to take her as well. The man took a step forward, his hand resting casually on the pommel of his stained and rusty sword.

Liam moved on the men like a wolf descending on its prey. His long body leaped over Gwennie to place himself between her and the threat. He was but one man against three larger. A battle cry tore from his throat, and his sword flashed bright in the sun.

A new memory came to her of the night she’d been blessed with her freedom. The night Cameron MacKinlay unleashed his wrath on the five men who’d touched his wife, Marian. The same men who had touched Evelyn.

Like that night, the fight was over quickly.

Evelyn was startled back to reality by her daughter’s cries. Gwennie was somehow safe in her arms, placed there by Liam who stood blocking the bodies of the men who would have done them harm.

He was speaking to her. His words came from far away, echoing in her mind that was still frozen.

“Ev? Evelyn?” He pulled her up to stand on shaking legs and moved her away from him. “Sit here, don’t move.” He left them and went down over the bank of the stream as she sank to the ground in a shaking puddle.

It’d been the same when she’d been with her captors. She’d retreated into herself where it was still safe and blocked out everything around her, except she couldn’t do that now. She had someone else who needed her.

She came back to herself in a rush. “Gwennie?” She pulled the girl away to check her over and gasped at the sight of blood on her gown. Pushing up the sleeves to look closer, she found nothing marred her daughter’s skin. When the sleeves fell back into place, she noticed the stains formed two large handprints, and matched the stains on her own sleeves where Liam had moved them to safety.

Was he hurt?

Jumping to her feet, she pulled Gwennie into her arms and rushed to the stream to see him naked and scrubbing the blood from his skin. The red washed away from his pale hair and didn’t return. It wasn’t his blood. He was safe.

She turned away to give him his privacy. When he returned to them, his clothes and hair were wet, but clean from blood.

He reached for her and she flinched.

“I know you must be afraid of what you saw me do. But I beg ye to let me hold you for just a moment so I can feel you both alive in my arms. Please don’t let your fear fester and ruin what little trust I’ve managed to earn.”

She understood but was unable to invite him to them. He moved slower and, when Gwennie turned to face him, he offered a smile, the same easy smile that was her memory of Liam all these years. He was safe. He was kind.

He’d killed three men in a raging assault and washed their blood from his body without a thought, but she also knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He wanted a real marriage in the physical sense, and she knew she could never offer that, but even still, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her or Gwennie.

She stayed in place as he took the final steps to embrace them both in his shaking arms. “You’re safe. I’ll not ever let anyone hurt ye. Never. Do you understand? I’d die to protect you both.”

They were the pretty words of a warrior. A man trained to act first without emotion when called on to protect his clan, but she believed him.

She let him take Gwennie into his arms and kiss her head. “You dropped your bunnies, but I’ll get them for you straightaway. Just as soon as my hands stop shaking.” He squeezed Evelyn’s hand. “I think Mama’s hands are more settled than mine. Will ye do me a favor?” he whispered to Gwennie loud enough for Evelyn to hear. “Give your mama kisses until she smiles? Don’t stop.”

He handed Gwennie back and her daughter set about kissing her repeatedly until she was indeed smiling despite herself. Her forehead and cheeks, even her eyes and chin, Gwennie continued her assault until they were both laughing.

Liam strode away and collected the scattered bunnies Gwennie had dropped. He picked up the pieces of the seal and tossed them into the fire. When he returned to them, he brushed her cheek with now-steady hands.

“We’re all right. I’ll bring the horses and our things. I don’t want you too close to them. I’m afraid there’s no saving our meal, so we’ll have to make do until we reach home. I’m sorry.”

He’d saved her and her daughter, and perfectly handled the chaos afterward and he was apologizing because their meal had been burned.

She reached out with the arm not holding her child and squeezed his hand in thanks.

“No apologies are needed. Thank you for your bravery.”