Gifts of Desire (7 page)

             
Fiona nodded towards the door. 
“The laird’s within, he
’s expecting
you.”
 
The maid
bobbed and then
hurried away, le
aving her on her own standing in front of the laird
’
s study.
  Several curious on-lookers watched her from the hall, waiting to see her go to her meeting with the laird.
 

Chapter 3

             
Ella
took a moment to compose herself
, self-consciously
smoothing
the front of
her skirt
.  Her heart was beating faster just knowing who was waiting for her on the other s
ide of the thick oak door. 
Him
. 
S
he raised
her hand and
knocked
. 

             
“Enter!” came the brusque reply
.

             
She
lifted the
heavy
iron latch
and slipped into the room, shutting
the door
firmly behind her.  He turned from where he stood at the window, and her heart lurched in her chest
to see him
there.  God, but he was a beautiful man!
  
Just looking at him made her breath hitch in her chest. 
Tall,
broad-chested
, and w
ell muscled, yet graceful
with it.
 
His hair hung loose in waves of chestnut brown, reaching just past his shoulders. 
He looked
fierce, and
every bit the proud and powerful laird. 
And yet,
there was a palpable
air
of anger and sadness
around
him like a
dark
cloud
, giving her the
absurd
notion
that she should take him into her arms and comfort him. 
Don’t be ridiculous, Ella
, s
he chided herself. 
H
e
would
certainly
not welcome
your
comfort
.
  Especially not with the way he was looking at her as if she plotted to steal his gold and take his castle.  She cringed inwardly.  In truth, she did not know
yet whether
she wo
uld be forced to steal from him, gold or otherwise.
A treasure you will want…
  She did not care much about gold or jewels.  What, then? 
This whole adventure thing could end up being more than she bargained for.  She had a sudden feeling it already was.
 
 

             
The laird
crossed his arms
across
his chest and nodded to a chair
near the fire
.  “Be seated”, he commanded
imperiously
, as if they hadn’t just spent last night crowded intimately
together in a tiny tent
.
  She
lifted
an eyebrow at him in silent challenge
to his tone
, but sat down
in the ornate wooden chair he offered
.
  He
moved slowly
across the room
, with a lion-like grace, until he stood over her.  H
is size alone
was
intimidating, and combined with a fierce sc
owl, he looked quite dangerous.
He was close enough that she could feel the heat of his body,
and catch the warm masculine scent of his skin.  Her heart beat
faster in her chest.
Her hands trembled in her lap, and she pressed them against her thighs.  She was not afraid,
no
.  Why then, did they tremble?
 
He
made them tremble.
 

             
He narrowed his eyes at her
with
unyielding
intent
. 
“
You
will tell me why,
exactly
, I found
you
wande
ring alone in the forest
.
  On
my
lands
.
”
 
He
stared
down at her
, waiting for her reply.
Looking up at a solid wall
of muscle and brawn
would be enough to make most people confess everything.  But l
uckily, she was not most people, and s
he had more at stake here than
he knew.
  S
he found herself wishing sh
e coul
d just tell him the truth, but even if she could, h
e would at the very least think her
mad, at the very worst lock her
up, and she had to be free
in order to search the castle. 
He growled low in his throat.

             
“I’m waiting lass, and my patience is growing thin.” 
She sighed
to herself
and
reluctantly
looked up at him.

             
“
We’ve already been through this. 
I can’t
tell
you
, at least not yet
.” 
For God’s sake
, why hadn’t they told her what
she should say when she got here?
 
Her journey had been so sudden
, with no time to prepare, barely even enough time for goodbyes. 
She had thought vaguely on the way here that she
might
enter the castle in the guise of a maid, but it was far too late for that…

             
“
Because
you
don’t
trust me.  Aye, and
you
shouldn’t
”.  He turned suddenly and
paced
angrily across the room before turning to look at her again.
  “Who sent
you
here
?
  Tell me now
…
and perhaps I will send
you
back
to them
unharmed.
”

             
Perhaps
.  But she already knew he would never harm her.
 
And yet, s
he didn’t want him look
ing
at her with anger and suspicion
in his eyes
; she wanted something else altogether. 
He doesn’t know me.  He doesn’t know
… 
Ella
stood
up
and fisted her hands at her sides.
“I was no
t
sent by your enemies,
whoever they are,
and I have no
wish to topple your defenses,
impressive
as they may be.
  I am not
a s
py!
”  She glared at him.  “You, by the way, are being very rude.”

             
“Am I now?”
  He
looked almost bemused as he
took a step closer to her. 
Tension
and heat all at once
crackled thick in the air. 
“I am laird here, and it is my responsibility to defend and protect my people, against every threat, large or small, and I will do so to my last breath.
  Even if that means being rude to a
n
uncooperative, willful
lass!
”

             
Ella
knew he meant those words.  Her gaze took i
n
the pride with which he held himself, the hard glint in his eyes. 
This was the first time she had stood so close to him, and she suddenly felt very small.  The top of her head did not even reach his shoulders.  And h
e was
so very
male
.  Aye, he would defend
and protect what was his
. 
She wondered what it would be like…
to be the one a man like this
fought to defend.  Or to be the focus of all that passion he held under such tight rein. 
She could see it, this close, in his eyes.  A restless anger. 
The spark of something… 
B
ut
no
she couldn’t think about that, not when there was so much at st
ake.
 
S
he was not here to become intrigued by the
laird, she reminded herself.
 
She
shook off the strange feeling
that fate was tugging at her sleeve,
and
instead
gave him
a
smile
.
“And you think that I,
a mere lass
, am a threat
to
the mighty
Tulloch
?
  I am flattered.
”

             
He scowled at her, his
only
expression
thus far
.
  “
Don’t
play games with me.  You
know
as well as I that it is not usual to find a lass, especially a
n apparently
well born
las
s
, wandering on her own, with no
decent explanation as to why. 
And
you
were on my lands,
no
far distance
from
my castle.  Aye, I would be
foolish
if I
did
n’t
doubt
you
r
word, or
you
r
motives.
”

             
Well, h
e had her there. 
By all rights
she would never have been in that
forest alone. 
Why did she not
take the time to thi
nk up a
better
story before now?
P
erhaps
because her erstwhile escorts had
so swiftly
dumped her in
Ceann
’s path before disappearing and leaving her to her fate as if she was so much unwanted baggage.  If she ever got out of here and they dared show their faces to her again…
But that was neither here nor there.  She was here in
Tulloch
Castle and it made no difference what the laird thought o
f her
, did it?
  Perhaps it was good that he was so suspicious, it seemed to make him all the more determined to hold her here.  And here is where she needed to be.
 

             
Ceann
had truly hoped the lass would have a good explanation for how she was found, or at least a believable one. 
She unsettled him in a way he didn’t understand, and didn’t want to understand.  He didn’t like the way his heart sped up when she was near, or the way he suddenly had the
almost uncontrollable
urge to take her in his arms and kiss her when
ever
she looked up at him
with her sweet innocent face
. 
He really didn’t need the trouble she was sure
to bring, and he didn’t
want
any complications in a life he had long ago accepted
as his
.
  If she had kin that would vouch for her, he could send for the
m to come and retrieve her.  No one
here
at Tulloch had heard of her, but he had already sent out messengers to all of his trusted allies, and aye, a few not-so-trusted ones as well
.
  One or more of them would have heard of her; the highlands were not such a big place as all that. 
And if she were a runaway bride
, someone would surely be searching for her by now. 
He would have to wait only a fortnight
or less
to learn her identity.  Until then, he would watch her closely, and
he had to admit,
watch
ing her would not be a hardship.
  Keeping his hands from her would be.