The Accidental Highland Hero (10 page)

For a moment, he stared at her in surprise then he couldn’t help smiling. “Ah, that is the only difficulty.” He had to remind himself she might still be wed, or that men might have courted her, but that she couldn’t remember. Still, the notion he might be the first filled him with a sense of intrigue.

Her innocence was refreshing—since ladies oft made their interest in him known, although for many he had no intention of dallying with the likes of them—but she did not push herself on him like the others did. She neither batted her eyelashes nor gave him winsome smiles designed to solicit his interest. That was what intrigued him most about her, he thought.

“Mayhap I can help your memories return.” He motioned to the variety of flowers blooming in the garden. “Which, if any of these, is your favorite?”

She pulled away from him, knelt beside creeping ladies tresses, and touched the creamy white petals. Her golden red hair swept the flowers, and she looked as pretty as any of the varieties blooming there. “The sweet scent of the blossoms and the way the flowers look like ladies’ braided hair is why I like these the best.” She waved at purple heather planted nearby. “And the flowers of the heather also.” Looking up, she smiled like the sun sparkled on a clear blue loch, refreshing and inviting. “I think I like all flowers, my laird.”

He couldn’t help but smile back, which made him realize it had been many months since he had felt so lighthearted. “Call me James, lass.”

She rose to her feet and clutched her hands. “I fear our plan will cause trouble with your Catriona. I have already told your mother this, but she would not listen.”

He shrugged and tried to sound as nonchalant as he could. “Then I shall seek another lady’s hand in marriage.” But it was his most fervent desire Catriona would quit this foolishness and agree to marry him.

Reaching out to Eilis, he pulled her hands apart. Her eyes widened, but she did not step back. He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers, not sure why. Mayhap to see her reaction, to judge whether their ruse with Catriona would succeed.

‘Twas the most chaste of kisses, although even so, he feared her refusal or quick rebuke. Neither occurred, and when he pulled away from her velvet mouth, she leaned forward as if expecting more.

‘Twas not at all what he anticipated, and his lips curved up.

Was she more well-versed in dalliances than he had at first presumed?  Yet, there was something innocent and naïve about her reaction. Mayhap a ruse as well?  He had known women to act one way and feel another.

Did she truly fear for her life if he should learn she was a Dunbarton?

Taking a deep, settling breath, he put space between them. She didn’t look shyly away but studied him with widened eyes. Even with such an unpresuming kiss, she had started a slow burn deep inside him. He reminded himself ‘twas only the fact he had left the lassies alone for a fortnight, readying himself to take a wife to the marriage bed that sparked his desire for the lass.

His lips curved up at the sight of her, the silky strands of hair fluttering against her cheek, her skin flushed like a blushing bride, and her eyes darkened. Whatever clan she was from, she was remarkably attractive.

He reached up and touched her hair, remembering the way it looked splayed upon the pillow in the chamber adjoining his. She tilted her chin up, her eyes challenging him to go further, yet her hands clung together again in a death grip. She didn’t reach out in an attempt to force his hand, to get him to partake in more. No, this one was innocent all right.

He should have left off where he had begun until he knew which clan the lass belonged to, but what harm would it do to kiss her once more?

Cupping her face, he leaned down and kissed her again, only meaning to press his mouth against hers more firmly, naught more. But when her fingers tentatively touched his waist, the notion concerning which clan she belonged to and the fact she was probably an untried maiden were tossed asunder. Instantly, he deepened the kiss, wishing to plunder the lady from the sea, his treasure, his find. He expected her to swoon, or step back, or slap his face, but she parted her lips and gave a soft mew.

‘Twas his undoing as his trewes tightened uncomfortably. And again, he had the incredible feeling he knew her. He moved his hands to her shoulders in case she became faint while he pressed his advantage.

‘Twas he who was shocked when she gave into his probing tongue and mated tentatively with his. Her lashes brushed her cheeks, hiding her eyes while her fingers clung to his waist. Aye, she was ready to swoon, the beat of her heart rapid and wine-sweetened breath shallow.

If she had been one of his usual conquests, a lass who wished a quick romp and no attachments, they would have been naked and buried in the fragrant flowers already. Seemed strange to be with a lass, plying her with kisses, wanting to take his actions further, but knowing he could not, even if she wished it so.

She did not know who she was, whether she was betrothed or widowed, or in love with another man, who her family’s clan was, naught much at all. He would not take advantage of the lass.

Separating from the kiss that left him agonizing for much more, he again stepped away from her, his own breathing just as ragged.

Her cheeks flushed anew, and after looking at him with a mixture of fascination and surprise, she finally had the good grace to look demurely away. ‘Twas more than disturbing to feel so hot and bothered for a lass he had no intention of bedding. Catriona’s arrival and getting this charade over with would not be accomplished soon enough.

He took the lady’s arm and walked her farther along the garden path, waiting for her to say something, expecting small talk but having only silence.

“What think you, lass?” he finally asked to break up the insufferable silence stretching between them.

“You are well versed in kissing lassies.”

This bit of witticism brought a smile to his lips. Her cheeks again blossomed with color. Was she thinking he had gone farther with the others?  She would think right. With an eager lass, he would have made sure they were somewhere private before the kissing began. ‘Twas only natural what would follow.

“May I ask you a personal question?”  Her voice was very small, mayhap a little reluctant.

He couldn’t wait to hear her query. “Aye, ask away.”

“Do you kiss Catriona the same way?”  Her gaze snagged his.

What could he say to that?  Catriona had buried her first husband at the age of six and ten. She had not given up men for the last four years of her life, pretending to be the sweet, grieving widow languishing for her dead husband. ‘Twas an arranged marriage, and she had even lured James to her bed on occasion when her old husband had been away.

That’s why James presumed Catriona would do sufficiently as his wife. She was well-versed in pleasuring a man. Taking an eager woman to bed was much more satisfying than bedding a lassie who was not, he assumed.

“I see by the smile on your face ‘tis so,” Eilis said.

Emotions fluttered across her face, but he couldn’t tell what they were exactly—condemnation, fascination, envy?

She didn’t know him and wished to escape from her captivity here. Why would she feel anything about his relations with Catriona at all?  He had never understood the female mind. Even with Catriona he thought as good in bed together as they were and because of being the chief of his clan, she would jump at the chance to be his betrothed.

‘Twas his duty, though to consider other Highlander’s daughters. No, more than duty. ‘Twas necessary to keep the clans from taking offense should he have not considered other leaders’ daughters. Now he had done so, and Catriona was the one to receive the prize. She should have been more than pleased.

“I…I do not think I have ever been kissed before.”

James brought her to an abrupt halt. “Your memories are returning?”

She touched the tip of a slender finger to her full lip and stroked it like he wished to do with his tongue. “I think I would have remembered.”

“Did my kiss give you pleasure then?”  He had no need to know the answer to his question. He wasn’t sure why he even asked. Mayhap because he might have been her first and wished to know if he met with her expectations or exceeded them. And why it should have mattered was another point he didn’t wish to consider too closely.

Footsteps approached, and they both turned to see one of his men hurry into the garden. Ian bowed quickly. “I beg your pardon, my laird, for, ahem, interrupting you, but Niall wished me to bring this to you at once.”

“Aye, what is the matter, Ian?”

“My laird, the lady of Castle Craven sends a missive.”

His heart pounding, James ripped open the parchment and took a relieved breath. “Catriona is coming this way in just two day’s time. Splendid.” He took Eilis’s small hand in his. “We have much work to do, lass, if we are to pull this off. But first, we must decide on a clan name for you. The situation would be odd not to have one in mind when Catriona comes to call. But we can think on the matter later. ‘Tis time to break our fast. You shall sit by me and tell me all the foods that you favor.”

Two days
. In so much time, he hoped the lass and he could learn enough about each other to play the game.
Two days
. The time left would have to suffice then Catriona would no doubt give up her procrastination and accept his hand in marriage.

Ian waved another missive. “And this came also, my laird. The missive is from Eanruig.”

James read the message, his blood boiling. More sheep had been stolen near the MacNeill border. Blood littered the heather, and the plants trampled mightily as if a mighty battle had been waged. None of the MacNeill living nearby had seen or heard anything because they had been attending a wedding feast in one of the villages too far away. And none of the clansmen were missing. Eanruig surmised it would not have been the sheep’s blood because the raiders liked to keep the meat on the hoof until they needed it.

The situation was more than strange. Particularly since no bodies were left behind. Although if the Dunbartons had lost a man or two, they would have taken their wounded or dead with them. Still, who had fought them if none of his own people had died, been injured, were missing, or owned up to fighting the Dunbartons?

Intending to discover more about the situation, he kissed Eilis’s hand and led her back to her chamber. He had meant to stay with her longer and learn more about her, but Dunbarton was wreaking havoc on his lands once more, and James would stand for none of it. The time had come to discover what had happened at the Macneill lands bordering Dunbarton’s again.

****

Like before, James and his men could find no sign of anyone along his boundary with Dunbarton’s. Although he questioned his people again, they all offered the same story. None were in the area when the thieving occurred. Unsure as to what to think of the situation, James and the party returned to Craigly Castle to partake of the supper.

By the time James and Eilis sat at the high table overlooking the rest of the tables set up in long rows stretching outward from the dais that eve, the sconces were lighted, and the smell of tallow filled the hall.

Lady Akira gave Eilis a gracious smile and took her seat next to her while James sat on the other side of her. “We have good news, aye?  That Catriona will soon be here?” Lady Akira asked.

Eilis didn’t think it was good news, rather, that she could not pull this off. And what was more, she kept feeling it was the second time she’d had to live such a lie. But as much as she tried to recall the circumstances of her past life, she came up empty.

“My son says we must come up with a clan name to make your own.”

“MacNeill,” Eilis said quickly. She thought she had heard the MacNeill were an affable lot, though she remembered hearing they were thought of as being prideful. She didn’t think her clan had ever had any trouble with them.

“MacNeill,” she repeated, hoping God wouldn’t strike her down for lying. Mayhap MacNeill was her clan name after all. She just could not remember.