“I’m willing to fight,” she said.
Aye, that she was.
Stiffening her spine, she rose to her feet and went to find Braden and his strumpet.
Because if there was any truth to Sin’s words, then she might actually have a chance at the man of her dreams. And if that was true, then she wouldn’t stop until she had him at the altar.
Chapter 12
“Och, now, what a big, bonny man, you are,” Tara purred as she took the platters and cups from Braden and set them inside the back door of her cottage.
Braden smiled at her as she closed the door and stepped out beneath the small overhang that protected the back door from the rain. It was a tight space, but it easily accommodated both of them.
The light from the cottage’s window lit the area just enough that they could see each other.
A flash of lightning highlighted her face and the dark hunger in her blue eyes.
Aye, he’d be tasting a bit of heaven in a few minutes, and he couldn’t wait to put an end to his celibacy.
Braden braced his arm above Tara’s head, against the doorframe, and let his gaze roam her voluptuous body. She had one of those figures that could drive a man to distraction. Large, lush breasts where a man could bury his face and hands, among other things, and a tiny, inviting waist. Her hips flared gently, and by the way she was rubbing herself against him, he could tell she knew quite a few tricks to please a man.
And then the unimaginable happened as she glided her hand over his chest.
His body did nothing.
Nay, it couldn’t be!
Instantly his smile faded.
Tara pressed her breasts against his chest and ran her arms about his neck. She breathed in his ear, stirring his wet hair, before she took his earlobe between her teeth and ran her tongue along the edge of it.
Normally, such actions would have his head reeling, and he’d be feverishly relieving her of her clothes.
But tonight…
Well, he couldn’t say it wasn’t pleasurable, because it was. Yet somehow, it wasn’t satisfying to him. Worse, his body only stirred a bit. It was far from the fiery loins he’d been having the last few days.
And in that instant he knew why.
He wanted Maggie.
Dear saints in heaven! It was all he could do not to curse aloud as Tara ran her nails down his spine. And nothing happened. No chills, no…
Well, his body did perk up a bit as she rubbed her hand against his groin. Still, it wasn’t the same reaction he’d had even last night when Maggie had teasingly displayed her more conservative, fully clothed cleavage at him.
Determined to prove himself wrong, Braden took Tara’s chin in his hand, tilted her head back, and kissed her deeply.
She met his kiss fully and with the practiced ease of a woman who was well versed in the art of lovemaking. She could ride a man well, there was no doubt about it.
But still his body and mind remained painfully disinterested.
What he really wanted was the bold, innocent kiss of a redheaded hellion. This woman in his arms was nothing more than a poor substitute, and his body knew it.
Damn it straight to hell!
How could he want Maggie so? She made him insane. She was stubborn, opinionated and the last thing she wanted to do was please a man.
And yet…
I am a fool! A stupid, cursed fool who should have his head ripped from his shoulders.
Suddenly his and Tara’s embrace seemed tawdry and vile. Despicable. And if Maggie should ever learn of it, it would crush her.
“I can’t do this,” he said, pulling back from Tara.
Nay, he couldn’t, not while the true object of his desire was waiting in the stable with his brother.
“Me da is already in bed,” Tara said. “He’ll never know.” She reached for the laces of his shirt.
Braden caught her hands in his and took a step back. “You’re a beautiful lass,” he said. “But I’m afraid my mind is somewhere else tonight.”
Tara licked her lips suggestively. “I could make you forget all about that one who holds your thoughts.”
How he wished that were so.
“Good night, Tara,” he said, releasing her and heading back to the stable. And with every step he took through the pouring rain, he cursed himself and Maggie.
What was he going to do?
Dear God, did he already love her?
Nay, his mind bellowed. He couldn’t love her. He refused to allow himself to love a woman. Love made a man weak. It made him blind and foolish.
What if she one day asked him to forsake his blood as his mother had done his father? Or Isobail had done with Kieran and Ewan?
It was lust, he decided. He’d merely had a taste of Maggie and liked it.
Worse was the fact that he knew he couldn’t even bed her to get her out of his system. He would never take that from her.
Throwing his head back, he wished the bloody lightning would strike him dead where he stood. Because there was no way out for him, and no peace to be had.
Rain pelted Maggie’s body, virtually blinding her, and soaking her clothes as she left the stable and started across the yard toward the house.
She was sure to find Braden there with one of the lasses. And she had a pretty good idea which one of them would be wrapped about him.
Her teeth clenched to stave off the pain, she rounded the edge of the stable.
A loud bleating caught her attention.
Squinting through the rain, she saw two shapes tussling nearby. It appeared to be two farm animals, no doubt doing something she shouldn’t interrupt.
Maggie started to ignore them until a flash of lightning showed her the outline of a man’s body.
Stunned, she froze, unable to believe her eyes.
Until another flash of lightning flared and she again saw the man pulling at the tiny beast.
Maggie smiled. She’d know that well-muscled form anywhere. Even when it was wringing wet and tugging at some poor, hapless animal.
Maggie rushed toward them to see a small sheep caught in the fence. Braden was kneeling in the mud, trying to free the little beastie.
Relief poured through her at the sight. He wasn’t in another woman’s arms! She felt like crying out in happiness. He had only stopped to free the animal.
She ran to his side.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked as she stopped beside him.
Unwilling to admit her suspicions, she changed the subject. “Can I do anything to help?”
“Aye, get back inside before you catch your death.”
It was all she could do not to kiss him. At that moment, he was more beautiful to her than he had ever been before, and she felt terrible that she had so misjudged him. “Let me see if I can help.” She knelt down and held on to the sheep.
“Keep her still,” Braden said as he stood up, then leaned over the railing to free the animal’s hind leg.
The sheep jerked and bleated again.
Lifting up a piece of wood that had fallen, Braden finally freed it.
The sheep took off running across the yard and vanished into the night.
“We need to get you inside,” Braden said, taking her by the hand and running with her back into the stable.
Oh, how she wanted to shout! He was such a good, sweet man.
Sin had been right. Braden was her perfect hero.
Braden opened the door for her and the two of them entered the musky building.
“You’re chilled to the bone,” Braden snapped at her as she shivered just inside the doorway. “What were you thinking when you went out there?”
She responded by sneezing.
“Bless you,” he said, retrieving a plaid and wrapping her up in it. He urged her toward the only empty stall, in the back by the four horses. “Now go get out of those clothes before you become ill.”
Smiling up at him, Maggie nodded, then went behind the gate where she could have a bit of priv
acy. She heard Braden walking, but didn’t look up to see where he was.
“Why didn’t you stop her?” Braden demanded of Sin.
Maggie frowned at the rage she heard coming from Braden. It was so unlike him to be angry over anything, especially something as minute as a simple dousing.
“I didn’t think anything of it,” Sin said, his tone level and calm.
“Well, you should have.”
“Ease off, little brother. I don’t” care for your tone.” This time, she heard the note of warning in Sin’s voice.
Braden growled at Sin.
Quickly she removed her wet plaid, binding and saffron shirt, then wrapped the dry plaid around her. She stood on her tiptoes to ask one of the men to bring her a new shirt, but the words died on her lips as she caught sight of Braden’s back.
His naked back.
Her mouth went dry as her eyes feasted on the bare, tawny skin that gleamed in the candlelight. She’d known all her life that Braden was well formed, but never had she guessed exactly how fine a body he had.
A wealth of bronze flesh was stretched tight over muscles so toned that the sight made her burn.
Oblivious to her attention, he continued talking to Sin as he dropped his plaid and bared the whole length of his backside to her.
Her head light, she feared for a moment she might faint. He was gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous! And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his firm, golden buttocks that begged for a woman’s caress.
She placed her hand on the stall to steady herself. White-hot desire shot through her as she imagined running her hand down his spine and feeling those tight muscles rippling beneath her palms. Touching those toned legs that were shadowed by short dark hairs.
Her breasts tightened as heat and longing swept through her.
Turn around, she begged silently, craving a look at the whole of him.
If his front looked half as good as his rear…
Braden turned his head and caught her staring at him. Maggie gasped in panic as his gaze held hers enthralled.
Instead of being embarrassed by his state of undress, Braden gave her a slow, wicked smile.
Maggie’s face burst into flames and she quickly ducked back behind the stall. Oh, dear heaven, he had caught her!
She covered her face with her hands and wished she could vanish into the very floor.
Oh, good Lord, oh, good Lord!
“Did you need something?” Braden’s taunting voice haunted her.
“I need a shirt,” she called out, wishing that’s what she’d done the first time. Why, oh, why had she stuck her head over the stall?
A few seconds later, Braden brought her one.
The roguish grin on his face horrified her. “Is there anything else you be needing?” he asked her.
Averting her gaze, Maggie shook her head. She would never be able to look him in the face again. “’Tis all I require.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Quite.”
“If you’re sure, then…I mean, I could—”
“I’m fine,” she snapped, cutting him off. Then she made the mistake of looking up again.
The light, teasing look in his eyes took her breath away. The scoundrel was toying with her.
“You scurrilous knave,” she said, but in spite of her best efforts, her own smile broke through.
“Scurrilous?” he asked playfully.
And as he ran his gaze over her body, she became all too keenly aware of the fact that she wore nothing save a thin red and black plaid draped over her shoulders. Good heavens, she was practically naked and he was right in front of her!
Flustered, she shifted. “Might I have a moment to dress?” she asked.
He cocked a brow at her. “I don’t know about that. I rather enjoy the sight of you there.”
She held the shirt up to cover her bare shoulder.
He laughed at her feeble attempt to cover herself. “Get dressed,” he said, then turned his back to her.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Maggie quickly dressed, then left the stall.
Without a word or glance, Sin walked past her and climbed up to the stable’s loft.
“What’s he doing?” she asked Braden as she rejoined him.
“I’m leaving the two of you alone,” Sin’s muffled voice answered from above.
Braden tilted his head up to stare at the wooden beams above their heads. “Like it would matter, since we know you can hear everything we say?”
“Aye, well, I’m a pervert, not a voyeur.”
Braden laughed. However, Maggie wasn’t overly amused by Sin’s blasé words.
She hung her wet plaid and shirt up on the stall door where the cows were.
Braden moved to stand behind her, so close that she could feel him. She turned to find him holding another plaid. His eyes dark and beguiling, he used it to dry her hair.
Maggie couldn’t move as she felt his strong hands rub the cloth against her head in a sensual rhythm that stole her breath. Chills spread through her as she remembered the sight of his naked back.
At that moment, she wanted to kiss him. More so than ever before.
Until he spoke. “Now tell me why you were outside.”
Her eyes flew open as his hands ceased drying her hair.
Unwilling to let him know she had suspected him of such knavery, she averted her gaze to the floor. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” he repeated in disbelief. “What, you just felt like taking a stroll during a torrential downpour?”
He dipped his head until he caught her gaze. “You went to spy on me, didn’t you?”
How did he know?
Och, but the man picked a fine time to start being intuitive!
“What makes you think that?” she asked evasively.
“Instinct.” A strange emotion darkened his eyes. One she couldn’t fathom, but it looked surprisingly like guilt. “Did you think to find me with Tara?”
Her cheeks grew warm. She felt so foolish that she had ever doubted him. But she could see she wasn’t going to get away without telling him exactly why she had gone outside in the rain.
Sighing, she nodded. “Well, you did intimate earlier today that you were interested in her.”
“How? By talking to her?”
“Nay, by flirting with her.”
He looked aghast. “Flirting?”
“Aye,” she said defensively. After all, she had made the assumption based on his actions. “The way you look at a woman like she’s the only thing in the world to you, like you see no other.”
“Really?” he asked, his voice caught between pride and disbelief.
“Aye.”
“You think this is something I always do?”
Maggie stiffened. “I know it is. Why do you think women are so mad for you?”
“My dashing good looks, of course.”
Oh, the man was arrogant, and she couldn’t believe she was catering to that ego of his. She should stop, and yet, for some reason, she couldn’t. “Your brothers all have that, and yet they have never been as pursued as you.”
“I always assumed it was because I was charming while they are all sour.”
“What you call charming is flirting. And it is irresistible.”
He laughed so hard, he choked.
“What?” Maggie asked, wondering what had struck him as so amusing.
He sobered to a degree. “I’m thinking you’ve always managed to resist it.”
“That’s because you’ve never used it with me. To you, I might as well be a stump.”
He truly looked stricken by her words. A deep frown furrowed his brows. “I beg your pardon?”
“It’s true,” she said, her throat tight as she spilled out her observations to him. “You look at other women like you can already feel them in your arms, but when it comes to me, you look right past me. ’Tis an awful habit that has always hurt my feelings.”
“Is that why you b
it me when you were eleven?”
Shut up, Maggie.
But she didn’t listen. Before she could stop herself or think better of it, the truth came spilling out. “Aye. All I ever wanted was for you to see me.”
She saw him pause and reflect on her words. When he looked back at her, his gaze was probing. Disturbing. “Perhaps I have misjudged you, but I wonder if you’re not as guilty of that as I am.”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever really looked at me and seen me? Or have you been as the others and all you’ve ever really seen are my looks? Because I guarantee it wasn’t my personality you were ogling a minute ago, but rather my posterior.”
Maggie opened her mouth in shock, then closed it hurriedly. Indignation ripped through her. How dare he accuse her of something so crass? She wasn’t one of those shallow maids, to have her head turned by simple handsomeness. “That’s absurd!”
“Is it? If you know me so well, then tell me my favorite color.”
“Green,” she answered without hesitation. “Dark green. The same color as your mother’s eyes. The same dark green you have in most of the plaids you choose to wear.”
By the look on his face, she could tell her answer took him completely by surprise. He couldn’t believe she knew that about him.
But that wasn’t all she knew. And before she could stop herself, she rattled off more things she knew about him. “Your favorite foods are roasted venison with stewed cabbage and elderberry tarts. You drink dark ale around other men, but in truth, you prefer mulled wine. When you’re at home, you always have a cup of warm milk sprinkled with cinnamon before you go to bed. Your favorite tale is Dierdre of the Sorrows, and though you’d never admit it and you try to look disinterested when they play, you like to hear bards sing.”
He looked completely baffled by her admission. “How do you know all that?”
“Because, I’ve loved you all my life.”
Chapter 13
Braden didn’t know which of them was more stunned by her confession. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Maggie looked terrified.
He felt terrified.
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