The Highlander's Bride Trouble (6 page)

There were only a few lanterns left alight in the hallway to fend off the night. The
gate was down, and most of the inhabitants had taken the Church’s warning to shut
themselves in to avoid the demons that ruled the night.

“Yer mistress is a brat.”

Nareen stiffened, stepping sideways, because she just couldn’t squelch the urge to
put space between herself and Saer MacLeod.

“I do nae deny it.”

Saer was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and one foot lifted
and set against the wall behind him. He looked remarkably at ease, but one look into
his dark eyes and she realized just how sharp his focus was.

“Did someone forget to show ye to a chamber for the night, Laird MacLeod?”

He flashed a grin. “Are ye offering to see to the duty? I might just rethink me opinion
of sleeping inside stone walls if it means following ye above stairs.”

His tone was teasing, but her throat contracted, like a noose was knotted around it.
“I am nae. If ye do nae care for stone walls, why are ye here?”

Saer studied her for a long moment, his lips settling into a firm line. “Ye do nae
need to hide here, Nareen. I will escort ye to yer brother if ye wish.”

It was a kind offer, one she might have considered if she trusted herself to be near
him.

“I thank ye for the offer, but I am well enough on me own.”

“I admire ye for being resourceful, but ye need not serve in this house. They do nae
respect ye for yer diligence.”

It was true, and she wasn’t comfortable hearing it spoken aloud. “I am nae hiding.
I have simply nae decided on where it is I wish to go from here.”

He flashed a roguish grin. “Is that a fact?”

She nodded but realized too late she was letting her guard down by engaging him in
conversation. With amazing ease, he had abandoned his position against the wall and
blocked her path.

“I have a suggestion for ye, sweet Nareen.”

She had to tip her head back to lock gazes with him. A shiver raced down her spine
as she caught the flicker of determination in his eyes.

“I’ve heard yer idea of where I should go, and I will nae be returning to Donarch
Tower and me brother’s rule.”

“Yer brother thought he was sending ye some place safe,” Saer counseled her gravely.

There was an edge to his tone that shamed her. “I know,” she whispered, the words
harder to say than she’d anticipated, the sting of being banished still too fresh,
but she knew she would have to forgive her brother. Kael had meant well. Ruth was
the guilty one. “As I said, I have nae yet decided on where I wish to go, only that
it will nae be back to me father’s house.”

“Ye should hear me suggestion, since ye are considering making a decision.”

He moved even closer, indecently close. She shivered. Acute sensation was flooding
her, numbing her wits.

“Honor demanded I offer to take ye to yer brother.”

She could feel the heat from his body. She stepped away, only to collide with the
wall.

“I’ll confess that I’d prefer to have ye to meself, lass,” he whispered.

She detested the idea. She told herself she did. But she quivered, sensation coursing
through her insides and leaving her curiously elated. Just as she had been that morning.

“This morning in the chapel, ye made it clear what sort of offer ye have for me.”
She struggled to maintain her composure. “I’ve no interest in the urges of men. That
is why I am here, and it is why I will nae agree to leave with ye. Ye shall nae be
claiming I challenged ye, so ye have a reason yer hand at tossing me skirts once we
are away and there are only yer men surrounding us.”

She was being overly bold with a man who was her better, but she lifted her chin in
the face of his scowl. “Do nae be so insulted. Yer men are loyal to ye. I’d be a fool
no’ to think on that fact. Ye deserve such words for the arrogant way ye took what
ye wanted this morning. The Ross will think me a slut now. I wonder what ye would
have thought of any man treating yer own sister that way.”

His eyes narrowed, and he frowned.

“Yer tongue is sharp.” He surprised her by speaking in an even tone. “Yet it is yer
strength that draws me to ye, even when it is delivered in the form of blunt, but
true, words. I was thinking only of proving ye would enjoy me touch, since I’ve wanted
to taste ye since I saw ye at court, but it was insensitive of me to do so in public.”

His words stunned her. She’d never expected such tenderness from him, much less an
apology. He was a laird, set above her by God. Even the priest would tell her that.

But she didn’t need to know he’d followed her from court. Something stirred inside
her at such an idea. Some feeling she wasn’t comfortable with, a feeling that might
quickly turn into needing. Because she liked it, and she couldn’t allow herself to
like Saer MacLeod.

But his admission also made her feel desirable. Court was full of beautiful women,
the fairest in Scotland, and she was not blind to how she compared. Her features were
not too harsh, but she was no rare beauty.

“Find someone else ye crave.” She lifted her chin. “’Tis disgust ye stir in me.”

He’d hooked his hands into the wide belt holding his kilt around his lean waist. “Aye,
that’s true enough, and it makes me want to beat yer cousin to death for allowing
ye to be preyed upon. There is a fire in ye, one that should nae be tempered with
fear.”

“I am well enough,” she said and slid along the wall to escape. “Me opinion of ye
has naught to do with me cousin. It is simply the way I feel.”

He stepped forward, caging her with his body in one, lightning-fast motion. “Do nae
lie to me. I felt ye tremble.”

“I am nae—”

He lowered his head, until his lips hovered over hers. She wanted to reject him, but
a soft gasp escaped her, betraying her rising excitement. Her fingers clenched in
a vain attempt to grip the wall and keep herself from leaning toward him.

The urge was there, curling through her insides like a living force.

“I also felt ye gripping me hair,” he whispered. “Why are ye trying to hold on to
the wall behind ye? Is it to keep yer hands off me?”

There was a wicked suggestion in his tone that stoked the embers of the flames he’d
brought to life inside her in the chapel. She sucked in a horrified breath, her eyes
widening. She looked away, but he cupped her chin, returning her gaze to his. A shudder
shook her, and his lips curved.

“That is a reaction, lass, but nae one of disgust.” His voice was edged with too much
confidence. “It is the reaction of a woman to a man.”

He admired her. The realization set a bright glow off inside her, but it also stirred
a warning. She needed to reject him, find some way to wound his pride so he would
never look her way again.

For a moment, she was torn. Uncertain of what path was truly best. She searched his
eyes, seeking more hints of his true nature, but only time would deliver those facts.
Time and trust. If she trusted wrongly, she would suffer.

But then her belly rumbled.

His expression tightened as he bit back the desire to kiss her.

“Ye have nae eaten.” He stepped back, offering her the space to precede him to the
kitchens. “That damned brat let ye stand through supper without leave to fill yer
belly.”

“Ye do nae know that.” It wasn’t an outright lie, but she still cringed at how dishonest
she was being. If he didn’t matter to her, she had no reason to fear his knowing anything
about her. Yet she was almost desperate to hide every detail about herself. But the
words slipped past her lips before she realized how telling they were. “Ye cannae
know what I am about during all the hours of the day.”

His lips twitched with satisfaction. “I am here for ye, lass. Me attention is on ye
and naught else. I know where ye have been this day and that yer mistress did nae
give ye leave throughout supper. But I certainly expected she had supper for ye above
stairs. Ye followed her up there several hours past.”

There was a memory, a recollection of a time when she was not alone and someone else
cared if she went without. She’d be a liar if she claimed she hadn’t missed such a
feeling.

But she’d be a fool to bask in the glow of anything Saer made her feel. He’d made
his intentions plain, so she’d have to make her choice even plainer.

“I am off to the kitchens now and do nae need an escort.” He was too large, both in
stature and intensity. She felt overwhelmed and needed to push him away so she might
catch her breath.

“Since ye have brought it to me attention that I’ve cast doubt on yer character, ye
do,” he countered.

She shook her head, every fiber of her being denying him. Saer made a low sound that
was a cross between a growl and a snarl before scooping her off her feet.

She gasped, stunned by his audacity. “Put me down!”

“Raise yer voice a bit louder, lass. It will nae bother me a bit to have us caught
in a compromising position.”

“I believe ye would.” For there would be only one solution, to wed or face being shamed
in the pillory.

She slapped his chest because she had to keep her voice low, but all the beast did
was chuckle. He stole down the corridor, carrying her with an ease that was unnatural.

No man should have such strength.

No woman should enjoy it so much.

But she did.

He shouldered his way through the doors that led into the yard and then into the kitchens.
The hearths were still glowing red, but the flames had died down. New wood wouldn’t
be added until the morning. It was stacked up nearby, but to use it during a summer
night would be wasteful, as it was warm, and there was still plenty of light. Saer
deposited her on a stool and looked far too pleased with his actions.

“Are ye trying to impress me with yer tender concern for me empty belly?” She sprang
off the stool as though it were a spike. “Or do ye want to make sure I know ye may
force me to yer will?”

She didn’t care for how it made her feel, the idea that he might be darkening her
name on purpose. Men used women as they pleased. It was a lesson she’d learned by
witnessing what her cousin Ruth did with her charges. But part of the lesson had come
from watching Ruth’s customers pay so eagerly for what they wanted with no concern
for those being sold.

“I plan to make sure yer belly stops rumbling. I know that pain.”

He was busy looking through the bowls left on the long worktable in the center of
the kitchen. They were all covered with cloths to protect the food from dust. There
was always food left out for the retainers watching the castle wall. When they finished
their duty, they would come to sup.

“If all I wanted was a rough tumble, Nareen, I’d have had it last night before ye
even saw me face.” He sent her a hard look. “I wouldn’t have taken ye to yer brother,
but carried ye into a church and declared the truth. If forcing ye to be me wife was
what I wished, it would be done.”

His words were blunt. But true.

He looked back at her. “I’m telling ye so there is no misunderstanding between us.
I admire strength, for I know how painful it is to build. Many fold rather than grow
stronger.” His eyes flashed with admiration. “Ye did nae fold. Breaking ye is nae
what I crave.”

As far as compliments went, it was far different than what she had been raised to
desire from a man. Yet it pleased her in a way no comparison to a summer rose might
have.

She sat down, her anger deflating. He slid a plate onto the table in front of her.
Just the sight of the food drew a low rumble from her empty belly. Her last meal had
been so long ago, her mouth began to water, and her fingers shook as she reached for
the food.

Saer missed none of it, but she saw a look of bitter experience emerging past the
controlled expression he so often hid behind.

“There were times me mother could nae provide for me. She had been turned out by me
father because he had a wife who cared naught for a reminder that another woman had
given him a son when she had naught but a tiny daughter. The land he banished her
to was difficult to cultivate. I was chasing rabbits for our supper as far back as
I can recall. I have hard thoughts for me father when I remember just how grateful
me mother was when I brought one home. But now that I am grown, I wonder if he did
it to make sure I would grow up strong, since he would not be able to see to it himself.”

“That is a hard way to grow up.”

She tore a piece of bread in half. She could smell its nutty aroma, in spite of the
fact that it was cold. Her fingers shook as she stuffed some into her mouth. To her
starved body, the taste was intense.

“That brat has no grasp of how many hours she makes ye go without food. Just as me
laird father did nae know how many times I went to bed hungry before I grew strong
enough to catch those rabbits. But maybe he wanted me to know what those born beneath
me position felt like, so I would nae be like Abigail.”

He filled a goblet with fresh milk from the night milking and sat it near her.

Once she was able to control the urge to keep shoving food into her mouth, she asked,
“Yet yer father must have paid for yer sword training. Such training is nae given
for naught.”

“He did. Yet it was made plain to me that every day might be me last if his legitimate
wife produced a living son.” Satisfaction glowed in his eyes. “I trained longer and
harder than any other lad. I could best them all by the time I was growing me first
beard. Of course, me master pit me only against those older than me to make sure I
did nae grow arrogant.”

“I am nae sure that worked.” She spoke with soft amusement.

He shrugged. “Yet I earned what I am.”

“True.” For a moment, it was easy conversing with him, a sense of common understanding
growing between them. He had often been spoken of at court, for no one knew much about
him, and against the odds, he was laird of the MacLeods.