Free The Sinner by Margaret Mallory

running to Shaggy with this tale now, none of the MacDonalds would escape tonight. Alex ran his hand through his hair. He could tie her up and leave her in the storeroom. But he didn’t like the idea of leaving her helpless, not knowing how long she might lie here—or who might find her.
    “If ye tell Shaggy, he’ll kill me,” Alex said, attempting to reason with her.
    “It wouldn’t be my fault,” she said. “A man should pay for his sins.”
    Hadn’t Teàrlag said something like that to him?
    “Ye wouldn’t be that heartless,” he said, though Glynis was looking as if she damned well would. “And I’m telling ye, I didn’t sin with Catherine.”
    Not this time, anyway.
    “I’ll do what I must,” Glynis said with that stubborn look in her eyes. “There are hundreds of men here. My father won’t know it was you I left with, if that’s your concern.”
    With her father attacking Mingary, he wouldn’t even know she was missing for days. Still, it was too foolish.
    “The truth has a way of coming out.” Alex folded his arms across his chest. “Have ye thought of what your father will do if he finds out I’m the one who stole ye away? Angry as he would be, he’d demand a wedding.”
    For the first time, Glynis looked uncertain. It grated on him that the possibility of being forced to wed him was the only part of her ridiculous plan that gave her pause.
    “I’ll have to take the risk,” she said in a hard voice. “Now, do I go bang on Shaggy’s bedchamber door, or will ye take me?”

CHAPTER 10
     
    L et’s go,” Alex said.
    Glynis sucked in her breath as he pulled her tight against his side. Her feet barely touched the ground as they passed the kitchens and started up the stairs.
    What was she doing, putting herself into the hands of a man she barely knew? What made her trust this too-handsome warrior from a different clan? He owed her no allegiance. And he was angry that she’d coerced him into taking her. He could abandon her in the wilderness.
    This was the most outrageous thing she had ever done, except perhaps stabbing her husband. But sticking Magnus was something that just happened—she hadn’t planned it.
    The cool night air hit her face as they left the keep, but Alex’s heat radiated through her. He had a warrior’s body, powerful and graceful, and he held her with a sureness that sent her heart hammering.
    Would Alex expect to be more than her escort?
    That might be a reasonable assumption for a man to make—especially if he was the sort of man who was accustomed to having women offer themselves to him. If half of what she’d heard about Alex Bàn MacDonald was true, he was that sort of man.
    “If anyone sees us,” Alex said in a low voice, “we want them to believe we’re a pair of lovers sneaking off for a tryst.”
    Alex only meant to pretend they would. Glynis was, of course, relieved that Alex had not mistaken her intentions.
    “’Tis fortunate I have a companion with so much useful experience,” she whispered.
    “Keep your head down,” Alex said. “We don’t want anyone to recognize ye.”
    “I suppose it won’t matter if they recognize you,” she said. “In fact, it might seem suspicious if a night went by without someone seeing ye sneak off with a lass.”
    “Shhh.”
    They were walking along the castle wall, in sight of the gate now. Glynis’s heart raced. Would the guards stop them? Would they demand to know who she was and call her father? Alex slowed his steps. When he leaned down, the warmth of his breath in her ear sent a tingle all the way to her toes.
    “Play along with me,” he whispered.
    She nearly yelped when he slid his hand under her cloak and along her ribcage. It was far too close to her breast.
    She grabbed his wrist and hissed, “I cannot breathe with your hand there.”
    He chuckled deep in his throat, but he didn’t remove his hand. Instead, he nuzzled her neck. “Have ye changed your mind?” he said against her skin.