Free Finding My Highlander by Aleigha Siron Page B

force she flew like a leaf and landed hard on her rump. The children were huddled beside her like frightened, weeping kittens burrowing against the wall.
    Jumping off the ground with a need to vent her terror and frustration, she ran at him flailing balled fists against his chest. “You stupid–boorish–brutal–bastard” with each word she hit him again and screamed in his face. Everyone and everything else faded away. Just the two of them remained, facing off in heat and fury.
    * * *
    Kendrick gripped her upper arms, expecting her to quiet. Instead, she moved into him and once again tried to flip her leg behind his. Needing to get her under control before he lost all semblance of rational thought, he lifted her off the ground, her arms pinned to her sides. She kicked at his groin and missed her mark, landing a booted foot on his unyielding thigh. Despite her struggles, she was no match for his strength. He easily spun her around as if she were only a stick. He tightly wrapped his forearm under her breast, and he pulled her roughly to his chest. He yelled at Rabbie to bring a rope and gag. Andra struggled fiercely, and managed to release one hand, which she used to claw and scratch at his arms. She continued kicking against his legs, landing a few blows that would undoubtedly leave bruises. When she started to shriek, he placed one hand over her nose and mouth. After a few tense moments, her movements slowed and she passed out.
    Rabbie came toward Kendrick, his hands palm up in front of him as if calming a wild horse. “What possesses you, cousin? Hand me the lass.”
    Kendrick’s breathing came rough and hoarse through his throat as he stared at his friend. His jaw ached with tension; his mouth clamped tight enough to break teeth.
    What was wrong with him? He never lost control, not even in the heat of battle with men raging in full combat. Kendrick did not permit himself to experience fear, not for himself, his men, not even the people in his care. He had schooled long and hard to bury that emotion behind the skill and experience gained in many battles.
    He had allowed fear to grip him twice before, once in his first battle. It had cost the lives of a few good men and friends. The second time happened shortly after he had assumed the role of laird. His father’s illness prevented him from continuing in that role and he seemed ready to relinquish the responsibilities to his eldest son.
    Kendrick always knew he would eventually bear that mantle. Unfortunately, many calamities befell him in those early years as laird. The clan suffered significant financial losses from the Darien Scheme, which sought to establish a Scottish colony in Panama. Kendrick had been the one to suggest they invest their reserves in that scheme, even before he’d become laird. There had been poor crop returns for several years, causing food shortages throughout the land. In addition, within a few months of becoming laird, Kendrick’s young wife and son died following the bairn’s birth. After that event, overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy, he seemed to lose his mind for a period.
    For weeks at a time, he had rambled through the hills, drinking to excess, and wenching when the opportunity presented itself. No matter how far he roamed, he never found the oblivion he sought, or a release from his sense of failure. Reivers attacked the borders of his lands, stealing cattle the clan could ill afford to lose. Men were injured or lost, perhaps due to the lack of his direction and leadership.
    His father had tried to manage in his absence, but his health deteriorated even further, and Lorne had not yet returned from university. He had been of little use to himself, much less to his clan and kin. Finally, Rabbie and Struan found him in the hills and engaged him in fierce hand-to-hand beatings. He withstood the worst of their lashings, and they refused to leave him alone. Either he would return to his home, clan, and responsibilities, or they