The Highlander by Elaine Coffman

with the leather thong, and the wind had loosened a few strands giving him a look of raw masculinity. She noticed he wore his sword and that his pistols were in the saddlebow, and she wondered if he had taken these things fishing. Or, had he gone to the great house and found her missing, and brought them along to search for her?
    The corners of her mouth lifted into a smile, which soon faded when she saw he did not smile back, but regarded her impassively. He pulled the horse to a stop beside her, folded his arms over the pommel and leaned toward her. "I thought I told you to stay inside, lass." "You did, but..."
    He threw his leg over the saddle and was off his horse in an instant. He grabbed her by both arms, and gave her a good shake.
    "When I give a command I expect it to be obeyed."
    "Obeyed?" she repeated, totally shocked at his choice of words. "I did not realize you were the emperor."
    "I am king of this lodge, and king of Mon-leigh Castle, and chief of the Graham clan, and anything I say in regard to any of those is to be obeyed."
    "I am not one of your possessions."
    "If I remember right, you don't know what or who you are. I do not expect you to understand everything I say to you, nor will I tolerate you questioning the decisions I make. Your role is to be submissive, nothing more. My word is law. Our clan has lived by that code for centuries. There is no other way. You will do well to remember that."
    "I am not a member of your clan," she said, thinking this was not going at all the way she had hoped.
    "As long as you are in my care, you are part of my household."
    "Then it must be time for me to leave. I am feeling better. It is time I took care of myself."
    "You will go when I give you leave to go, and not before."
    "You can't hold me here against my will. I may not know who I am, but that does not make me a prisoner."
    "Oh, but you are. You are my prisoner, and I will keep you here for your own good and personal safety until we unravel this mystery of who you are, where you have come from and how to contact your family. Now, stop being sullen. I am being more than fair by giving you this warning. Had you been a member of the clan, you would have been beaten."
    She sucked in a breath. "You will never lay a hand on me."
    "Disobey me again and you will see the way of it, lass."
    "I suppose it is my fault for not realizing that the only way you can hold a woman is by keeping her against her will." She jerked her arms free and was about to turn around with as much drama as she could muster, and leave him talking to himself.
    She never made it that far, for he grabbed her by the arms and prevented her from taking even one small step. He watched her through narrowed eyes for a moment, as if disbelieving what he heard her say.
    She was aware that she truly was his prisoner, in every sense of the word, for he had all the advantages, and she had none, save the pitiful fact that she was a woman—something she thought he would honor, only when it suited him.
    "One other thing," he began. "When I want to keep a lass, I don't have to make her my prisoner. Warming my bed is much more binding than leaving a lass locked in her room, yearning for the unattainable."
    Yearning for the... She had never been humiliated like this, and she toyed with the idea of slapping him, and would have, but she was not too certain that he would not slap her back so, instead of that, she said, "You are vile."
    "Nay, lass, not vile...truthful."
    She opened her mouth and then closed it, having decided it was in her best interest not to anger him further. It was much more effective, in her estimation, to remain sullen and quiet.
    "You must realize you are no longer in France, and that in Scotland things are done differently. When I tell you something, I expect it to be obeyed. You might not like it, and you might not understand it, but you will do as I say. If you start to second-guess me, or go against my directives, it could be the death of either