Gifts of Desire (14 page)

             
Ella
’s thoughts raced to catch up. 
Nephew. 
This man was
Ceann
’s uncle?  He hadn’t mentioned an uncle
living so close
by
, but then
she’d known him only
a few short
days, and
he hardly spoke to her if he could help it.

             
“Answer me!”
he
said sharply, rising from his chair.

             
She tilted her chin up
bravely
, refusing to be intimidated, though inside she trembled.  She
could feel
the evil
of this man
, cold and hard, pressing against her skin.
“Neither.  I am only his guest”, she said
as
insolently
as she could manage while
afraid for her life
.

             
He narrowed his eyes at her
dangerously
, clearly not satisfied with her answer.
 
“Morag!” he
bellowed
, not taking his eyes from
Ella
.
 
A woman hurried forward from the group of
waiting servants
behind them, her eyes never leaving the floor.
  So different from the
cheerful
servant
s
at Tulloch, Ella thought.
  These people looked as cowed and nervous as any she’d ever seen.

             
“Yes, milord?”

             
“Show our guest to her chamber
and let her
…
freshen up. 
Perhaps she needs some time to consider the dire circumstances that come with her lies. 
See that she joins me later for supper.”
 
The maid bobbed her head and motioned to
Ella
to follow her as she headed for the stone stairs at the side of the hall.  As she began to climb, she heard the voice of her captor calling for her to be guarded at all times. 
Guest
he says
!  Not likely.

             
She was
shown to a room that she had to admit was much nicer than most prisoners were
probably
allotted.  There were rugs on the floor, and a bed with a thick mattress and velvet bed curtains.  A few tapestries adorned the
walls. 
It was
not unlike her room at Tulloch, though considerably smaller.
 
And instead of a feeling of loneliness and waiting, this room gave her a feeling of
oppression and
dread. 
A maid came in with a
basin and a steaming ewer of water, which she placed on a table along with a cake of soap and a linen cloth. 
She was then left alone
.
 
Déjà vu
,
all over again.
How much she wanted to be back at Tulloch right now!

             
As soon as she heard the latch click, s
he
drew a shaky breath and
immediately started searching the room. 
Either for a makeshift weapon,
or a way out, she didn’t care.
  Her hands shook as she sifted through a trunk of linens.
   Finding no potential weapons,
Ella
went to the chamber’s single window.  She peered out cautiously, and was disappointed to see the room was at least
thirty
feet up,
perhaps
closer to
forty
.  Stil
l, if she were to tie all o
f those
linens together
…  It was her only
option
so far
, and she would damned well do it if it meant getting away from here
in one piece
.

             
Having exhausted her search,
she
spent the next hour pacing the room
, trying to think. 
The water on the table grew cold, but the thought of washing her hands and face when
she might be fighting for her life directly afterward seemed terribly laughable. 
Why on earth would
Ceann
’s uncle
kidnap
her?
 
And have
men
killed to do so? 
She knew the Highlands could be a brutal place, but such an act seemed
too
personal. 
Was there a family feud of some sort?  He seemed to believe she was
Ceann
’s woman, in one way or another.  Aye, it must be a feud. 
He must think he had stole
n
her away from
Ceann
;
a
n act
of
petty revenge.  It was
the only thing that made sense, wasn’t it?
 
She wondered if
Ceann
had arrived home yet and found her missing
.
 
Please, please come for me!
 
Sur
e
ly his honor would demand he take back what was stolen from him.  But, then again, she wasn’t really his woman.  Maybe
Ceann
would have the last laugh when his uncle realized he had taken a lass that meant nothing to
him
.
Only, she began to realize, she desperately
wanted
to mean something to him.  If only…
no, Ella.  Don’
t even start.  That
man will surely break your heart
if you let yourself fall for him
.
  And right now you have your own life to save.

             
When finally a knock sounded at the door and a maid entered, she
jumped
.  Then her heart began to pound nervously. 
She swallowed, gathering her courage again. 
Now she would perhaps find out exactly why she was here. 

             
She was led
back
to
the
hall
where she had entered
,
but now she took the time to look at her surroundings.  The room was
replete with fine carpets strewn on
the floor, and rich furnishings.  The table was set with silver, and the food looked rich and well-prepared.
  Her gaze went to the dais, where the head table
had been set up
.  Seated there was the man,
Ceann
’s uncle
,
who held her captive.
He smiled at her and gestured to the seat beside him, but his smile was
anything but
warm.

             
“Come, sit dow
n. 
You
must be hungry after
you
r
journey my dear.”
 

             
She narrowed her eyes at him, but walked to the proffered seat, head
still
held high
in protest
.
  She sat down and eyed the food on the trencher before her.  A lavish meal, to be sure, but what guarantee that it wasn’t poisoned?  She turned instead to glare at the man beside her. 

             
“I demand to
know
by what right
you
hold me here.”

             
“I
don’t
concern my
self with rights, lass. 
You
’r
e
here because I ordered it.”

             
She gave him an icy
glare
, then said in
an
over
ly
-sweet
voice
, “
Will
you
at least give me
you
r
name, so that I
know
how to address you?”

             
“I’m sure that
you
already
know
who I am wench, but if you ins
ist on pretending otherwise,
you
may call me Lord Ross.”  He nodded toward the man seated at his other side.  “My son, Hugh.”

             
She looked over at Hugh, but knew immediately she would have no help from him.  He was a younger version of his father, complete with the cold eyes and grim mouth.  Turning back to Ross and g
ritti
ng her teeth, she tried again. 
“Then please tell me
, Lord Ross,
why
I find myself here,
against my will
.
”

             
He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes.
 
Cold
.
 
The man was so cold
.
  “There were rumors…”
  He paused, tapping his chin as if in thought.

             
“What rumors?”
she snapped. 
She was quickly becoming annoyed with his game.

             
“My nephew is a very wealthy and
very
powerful man, there are many who would seek to have such things for themselves.
”

             
“And
you
th
ink I’m one of them?  And so
you
had me
kidnapped
? 
You
r
n
ephew is a
man
full grown;
don’t
you
think he can judge such things for himself
?” 
 

             
His eyes raked over her body,
narrowing in appreciation,
making her want to cringe
in disgust
. 

             
“Ah, but we all know how beauty
and lust
can blin
d a man to all else.  I wouldn’t
take the c
hance with our clan’s holdings.
Y
ou
see,
I promised his father
before he died that
I would
always
look out for the boy.”

             
“I have no interest in lands or wealth.”

             
“Of course
you
do, what lady wouldn’t
want to
snare
such a prize?  What woman w
ouldn’t
want her sons to inherit such wealth
and power
?”

             
Ella
glared
at him
again
.  She was beginning to understand the motive for her kidnapping, and it was
distressingly
obvious. 
It wasn’t a family feud after all, but greed
, plain and simple
. 
If
Ceann
should die without producing
a male heir,
his uncle
was probably next in line to
inherit
everything, or his
cousin
was
.
  But Hugh and
Ceann
looked to be
of a similar age;
and
if he were
eager to get his hands on
Ceann
’s
land and wealth,
it was doubtful that this uncle would let
Ceann
live much longer.  I
f he were to marry and have a
legitimate
son before whatever plan they w
ere hatching was complete…
that must be why she was here, Ross thought there was something between them.  She wondered how many hapless women had caught
Ceann
’s eye and ended up here in the hands of his
scheming uncle
.  She rallied her temper, suddenly outraged for
Ceann
, who
even with his constant growling
and lack of good manners
,
was looking more and more like a saint compared to the man who sat next to her.

             
“I think
you
misunderstand, sir.  I am a temporary guest at Castle
Tulloch
.  I have n
o
designs on its l
air
d.  It was
purely
by chance that I was there at all.”