Marion gazed at them in disbelief, then asked, “Can I take one of the horses?”
“Don’t push yer luck, hen,” Liam advised. “The horses are our payment for a month of slavery. Ye tell yer da that if we ever see him again, we will leave his daughter as an orphan, as we are. It will give me great pleasure tae lop his heid off. If ye start now, ye can get back home before dark. Now get goin’ before I change my mind!”
The young woman turned and fled. Had she but known it, her life had never been in any danger. She had only been used as something to bargain with. It was only much later that she realized how lucky she had been.
* * *
That had been two years before, and Liam still experienced nightmares almost every night. He had no compunctions about using violence, however, especially after that experience. He knew that Finn had a gentleness inside him that he, Liam, did not possess. Every woman reminded Finn of the mother he had loved and lost, but he was not Finn.
Although Liam respected his brother, he would do what had to be done to achieve his ends. No one had ever been gentle to him except Finn, and he would never do anything to hurt his brother, but everyone else was fair game, and that meant everyone.
Now, as he looked at Finn pouring ale and filling up a wooden plate for Greta, a surge of anger passed through him.
“What is he goin’ tae do wi’ her?” Davie, one of the other men, asked irritably. “I tell ye, Liam, there is one thing that lassie is good for—warmin’ yer bed!”
Liam slapped Davie hard on the arm. “Don’t let Finn hear ye sayin’ that!” he said angrily. “He will likely skewer ye on his claymore. He has some notion about usin’ her tae help us charm our way intae places, but I cannae see that luggin’ her along wi’ us everywhere like so much extra baggage is goin’ tae do us much good.” He poured himself more ale, sighed, then thumped the ground with his fist in frustration.
Just then, Liam came back, looking grim.
“Is she asleep or just pretendin’?” Greg asked him.
“She is nae asleep yet,” Finn replied. “An’ don’t ye lot get any ideas about goin’ anywhere near her durin’ the night. I will be sleepin’ near her tae keep her safe.” He swept a warning glance around the rest of the men.
“I was thinkin’ about what ye said,” Liam remarked. “That lassie knows too much about us. She is nae only goin’ tae hinder us, she is goin’ tae betray us. It would be best if ye just killed her, Finn.”
Finn stared at the other man, then said in a low, menacing voice: “Lay a finger on her, an’ I will slice ye in two, brother or not.” He looked up at the rest of the gang, who were staring at them. “Remember that I am the reason that ye can live the way ye do, an’ ye are not starvin’ an’ beggin’. If anybody wants tae argue about that wi’ me, then get your swords ready—or better still, your fists—or ye can leave. I wilnae stop ye.” He looked around them, but no one said a word. “Fine. Go tae sleep. We have a lot tae do taemorrow, an’ we have five fewer men tae do it.”
Liam shook his head and sighed. Finn had lost his mind, and all over a woman.
8
In spite of the stony ground and the damp grass under her body, Greta had somehow managed to fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Her head was pillowed on her hands, and she was lying on her burnt thigh, which throbbed with pain, but none of that mattered. Nothing would have kept her awake that night, even the noisy crowd of men sitting around the campfire.
At first she had been afraid of them, then she saw the awe and respect in which Finn was held by the other bandits, and she felt much safer. In fact, he made her feel protected by his very presence, even though she could not say why.
Suddenly she felt a hand landing on her shoulder and shaking her, and she sat up with a squeal of fright. An enormous man was kneeling in front of her, silhouetted against the firelight, and it took her a moment to realize who it was.
“Lassie, it is me, Finn. I brought ye somethin’ tae eat.” He paused as she sat up properly to look at him, then he held out a wooden plate with a piece of juicy, freshly-caught rabbit on it, a thick slice of bread, and a wedge of cheese.
At the sight of the food, her stomach gave an almighty rumble since she was absolutely ravenous. It was the hardest thing she had ever had to do to push the plate away, but she was determined to take nothing from the man who had quite literally kidnapped her. She had avoided thinking about the word until now since it sounded so dire and awful, and she could not quite believe that such a dreadful crime had been visited upon her, but it had. She might as well face up to it.
“I want nothin’ from ye,” she said angrily. “Ye kidnapped me an’ destroyed my home an’ my village. For a’ I know, ye may have poisoned this food. I want nothin’. Take it away, an’ let me get tae sleep.”
“Very well,” he conceded. “Not even ale?” He held up a cup.
Greta shook her head. “Nothin’,” she repeated firmly.
“Well, then, ye don’t mind if I eat it instead?” he asked. “It is too good tae waste.” Then he began to tuck into the juicy, delicious meat and tear chunks out of the bread and cheese.
Greta kept her face as still as a marble statue, even though her mouth was watering and her stomach was still growling.
Finn had noticed the noise, but he was not going to acknowledge it. Truth be told, he admired her stubbornness and her refusal to bow to the wishes of her captors. In fact, his admiration of her was growing with every minute he spent in her company. As well as that, he was fighting down the growing attraction he felt for her. There was nothing he would have liked more than to kiss her passionately and make her his. His shaft began to stiffen at the thought.
“Do ye have any brothers and sisters?” Finn asked suddenly.
“Why do ye want tae know?” Her tone was deeply suspicious.
“Because I would like tae know a bit more about ye,” he replied, “an’ in return, I will tell ye about myself.”