“Did ye try to kiss her again?”
Colin shot Evan a quelling look. “Nae.” Oh, but the lie dripped easily from his lips.
“Why did ye anger her, then?”
“I did no’ anger her. Ye did.”
“Me?” Sinclair appeared surprised. “What’d I do?”
“Apparently, ye told her ye didn’t want her around anymore.”
“What do ye mean, I do no’ want her? I never said that.”
“Ye said something to that effect, because that’s what she believes. She wants to go with me when I leave.”
Evan stared at him for a moment before bellowing, “The hell ye say!”
Evan rubbed his forehead as he mumbled to himself. Colin got the idea that Maggie caused Evan to rub his head and mumble a lot. He felt a glimmer of sympathy for her betrothed. Hugh Fraser had better be a patient man.
“She’s angry about the betrothal,” Evan mumbled.
“She said something to that effect.”
“Fraser is well off. She will no’ want for anything.”
But will this Fraser allow her to be the woman she is?
Do no’ get involved, you ijit.
Evan slammed his fist on the table, making it vibrate under Colin’s elbow. “Damn it, MacLean. She canno be living here the rest of her life. She needs to make a life for herself, and Fraser is…”
“Fraser is what?”
Evan sighed. “Fraser is sympathetic to the English, and I need that right now.”
Colin leaned back, his blood turning cold. “So ye’ll sell yer sister off to an English sympathizer?”
“Nae. It’s no’ like that.”
“It surely sounds like that to me.” Colin wasn’t liking this at all. Not one bit. Maggie married to someone who supported the English cause? Maggie, who had fought at Culloden, married to an English sympathizer? This was not going to end well at all.
“We all know marriages are no’ for love but for political connections, and this is a political connection I need. I fought at Culloden. My men fought at Culloden. Hell, my sister fought at Culloden. The English are rounding up anyone they suspect. If Maggie weds Fraser, then I have a layer of safety for me and my people.”
“That’s no’ how any of this works. Ye do no’ marry yer sister off to the enemy.”
“He’s a decent man. He’ll treat her right.”
“And when he finds out she fought at Culloden?”
Evan looked away. “I have to do this, MacLean.”
“There are plenty of Jacobites—” Colin looked around to make sure no one was listening; the hall was empty except for them. Even so, he lowered his voice. “There are plenty of Jacobite chiefs prospering.”
“Are there? Are ye certain of that? They’re being rounded up, killed, tortured. I do no’ want that for my clan.”
“Then ye should have thought of that before ye went and fought.”
Evan’s jaw worked and anger flashed in his eyes, but Colin stared him down. Right now he had no sympathy for the man. Either you were a Jacobite or you weren’t. You didn’t walk one line and then the other when it suited your purposes. Hell, that was what Campbell did, and no one wanted to be like Campbell.
“I have to do what’s best for the Sinclairs and the future of the Sinclairs,” Evan said, but he wouldn’t meet Colin’s gaze.
“Aye.” Colin stood. “Ye do what ye think is best.”
—
Colin released his frustrations in the lists. Fighting was the one thing he’d enjoyed learning from his father. It had been a while since he’d tested his strength against another. In fact, the last time he’d done so was Culloden. He was weak and his instincts weren’t as sharp as they’d once been. He needed to work on that.
He didn’t allow himself to think about his conversation with Evan Sinclair. Instead, he let his emotions control his movements. His anger flowed through his arms, driving his opponent backward. He didn’t think he’d ever been as furious as he was at the moment. Words could not describe his fury, so he let his actions do it for him.
Eventually, he had to stop because he was still weak and his body couldn’t do more, even though his mind didn’t want him to quit. He was afraid he would walk out of the lists in search of Evan Sinclair, and that was a very bad idea.
Wiping the sweat from his face, he caught a glimpse of a young lad holding his own against Gilroy. Except it wasn’t a lad. Colin would never mistake Maggie for a lad again and wondered how he’d done so in the first place.
Because she was excellent at fooling people.
But not him. Not anymore.
He watched with a handful of others leaning against the fence. She was good. Really good. She seemed to anticipate Gilroy’s every move and was one step ahead of him. That could be because she’d fought against Gilroy most of her life—or so Colin assumed.
But he could see that she had excellent talent that had been trained to razor-sharpness. She was agile, jumping out of the way at the last moment, foiling her opponent’s plan and frustrating him in the process. A frustrated opponent made mistakes. Fatal mistakes.
And all the while she fought with a grin, while her moves were so graceful that she appeared to be dancing rather than fighting. She used her lithe body as a weapon, teasing and torturing her opponent, getting close enough that he sensed victory, then gliding away with a tinkle of laughter that floated on the breeze.
Damn, but she was good. To his surprise, Colin found himself half aroused just watching her.
Panting, dripping in sweat, Gilroy finally touched his sword to the ground, and Maggie stopped bouncing around him to raise her arm in victory. She came in quickly and gave Gilroy a fierce hug before walking off the field.
She stopped in front of Colin and looked up at him with one eye closed against the sun behind him. Sweat was dripping down her face, soaking the hair around her temples. Her shirt was sticking to her in places that were mildly inappropriate. Though Colin kept his gaze firmly on hers, he was aware of her breasts.
Good God, he was well aware of her breasts.
“Well?” she demanded, causing Colin to smile.
“Well what?”
She rolled her eyes. “What did ye think?”
“I think ye’re passably good.”
She snorted. “Just passably?”
“Maybe a little more than that.”
She lightly pushed her finger into his chest but he felt the pressure all the way to his groin. “I’m more than passably good.”
He raised a brow. “That kind of attitude can get ye killed.”
She shrugged. “I can hold my own.”
She swiped a rag that was hanging on the fence post and wiped her face with it, smearing the sweat and dirt. Most men smelled like a pigsty after practicing so hard, but Maggie smelled…different, like the outdoors and flowers, and that instantly took him from half to fully aroused.
Then he remembered what Evan had said and he was furious all over again. How could Evan do that to her? How could he sell her off to the enemy? Though it was wrong, what could he do? He wasn’t a Sinclair. He was a nobody. A stranger passing through. And he should continue passing through like he had planned. But the thought of leaving Maggie here at the mercy of her brother was abhorrent to him.
“I saw ye practicing,” she said.
He wanted to wince, because that was not his best performance. Not even close.
“Ye were passable.” She winked and smiled and wandered off. Colin couldn’t help that his gaze slid down to her swaying backside encased in those tight breeches and outlining the perfectness of her hips.
He didn’t even care that she’d been right about him being passably good.
Chapter 12
Later that day Colin saw Gilroy speaking to Evan. Gilroy seemed perturbed, and Colin caught only a few sentences of their conversation but enough to understand what was being said. He wandered over, even though his mind was screaming at him to mind his own business.
&n
bsp; “What did the surgeon say?” Evan asked.
“He’s laid up good,” Gilroy said. “Canno’ walk for weeks. No’ until it heals.”
“Pardon me,” Colin said, sidling up. Both men looked at him suspiciously. “I could no’ help overhearing. Ye have a man who broke his leg?”
Gilroy grunted. “Fell down the bloody steps and broke his bloody leg.”
“My men are otherwise occupied, and I find myself short-handed.” Evan looked at Colin steadily, and Colin didn’t have to ask what “otherwise occupied” meant. Evan had been at the clan chief meeting when Alasdair Graham had asked that all present donate the power of a few men. With the number of men fleeing the country because they were being hunted by the English added to the number of men lost in battle, this was a tough task for most clan chiefs. Evan was feeling the pinch as well, apparently. Colin wanted to ask how he would keep up with the patrols when his sister was married to an English sympathizer, but he bit his tongue because that would not serve his current purpose.
“I’ll take the man’s watch,” Colin said, knowing he was making the worst decision of his life but also understanding that he wasn’t going to leave Maggie alone to deal with her brother and Fraser. Not until he determined that she would be safe.
Hours later, he was leaning over the parapet and looking into the night sky. He didn’t mind taking the night watch. It was peaceful and reminded him of the times his father had forced him on night duty as punishment. He hadn’t minded it then, either, but he was damned if he told his da that.
There hadn’t been many punishments that Colin minded except for the switch to his backside. That had stung, but it was over quickly, and knowing it wouldn’t last forever had gotten him through it. He’d had the same mind-set when he’d been flogged by the English. Maybe, in a way, his father had been preparing him for that.
Growing up, he’d been a trial to his parents, then later to his brothers, and now to the English. How ironic that the bad boy, the one everyone predicted wouldn’t amount to any good, was the only one left. Maybe it was his devil-may-care attitude that had helped him survive. More than likely, it was dumb luck.
He would gladly trade places with one of his brothers. The clan surely would be better off with the likes of Fergus or Dougal rather than him, a wastrel who turned his back on his people.
A scuff of a boot on the stone had him swinging around, his hand reaching for his broadsword. His mind registered the light touch of a small boot, and before she emerged from the shadows, Colin’s body knew it was Maggie. It was strange, his reaction to her. She drove him insane with her cheeky smiles and sharp-edged tongue, but he was also drawn to her ability to be the person she wanted to be despite the opposition from everyone around her.
“Heavy thoughts?” She put her elbows on the wall and looked out into the blackness with him. He grunted. The silence of the night wrapped around them. It was a comforting silence, one that neither of them felt the need to fill. That was another thing about Maggie. She didn’t chatter like a magpie just to fill a perfectly good silence.
“Have ye thought about my proposal?” she asked.
For a wild moment Colin mistook her use of the word “proposal.” He almost choked before he realized she was referring to her mad idea of traveling with him.
“Nae.” Another lie. He would admit only to himself that he’d thought about taking her with him. It would solve her problem of marrying Fraser but would give him endless problems, from Sinclair to Fraser to the English. He didn’t need that in his life right now. And yet he couldn’t walk away.
Damn, but he was in a bind.
She sighed and folded her arms on the edge of the parapet.
He and Maggie were more alike than he’d realized. She was searching for her place in life, somewhere she would be accepted for who she was. And he was running from his place in life.
The moonlight bounced off her midnight hair, turning strands of it a fiery blue. Her dark eyes absorbed any light around them, drawing him into their depths.
His gaze dropped to her mouth just as her tongue flicked out to wet her bottom lip. He had to stop himself from groaning out loud. He was going to kiss her. He couldn’t deny himself this opportunity, and while he knew that Evan would surely murder him for it, he didn’t much care at the moment. His attraction to Maggie was that intense. Whenever he was this close to her, he lost all sense of reason. He simply didn’t care about the consequences when she was within kissing range.
He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. She sighed as if she’d been waiting for this kiss for the whole of her life. She turned her body to his, and before he knew what he was about, his hands were spanning her small waist, bringing her closer to him.
She was tiny but strong. He could feel her muscles move beneath her skin. She was lithe and supple, built for speed and agility. There wasn’t a bit of excess to her, and yet she was also soft and pliant. He itched to lift her saffron shirt and touch her warm skin beneath.
She made a soft sound that reminded him of a newborn kitten, and it spiked his desire to the point that his body was aflame with the need of her. She was flush against him, and he could feel the rise and fall of her chest when she breathed and the small, round nipples pressing into his chest.
Good Lord, but he wanted her so powerfully that he was willing to throw all caution to the wind and take her up against the parapet wall. But he wouldn’t do that. Some sense of propriety prevailed. He held back, enjoying this kiss far more than he’d enjoyed any other kiss so far.
She wrapped her small arms around his waist and locked her hands at his back as if she would never let him go.
Behind him, someone cleared his throat. Colin tore his mouth from Maggie’s and reached behind him to unlock her hands. She was staring up at him in bewilderment, swaying toward him, until he put one hand on her shoulder to brace her. She blinked languidly as if just waking from a dream.
Colin stepped away to face her brother.
There was fire in Evan’s eyes, and his hand was on his sword. “I ought to kill ye right here,” he growled.
Maggie quickly stepped in front of Colin. Though he appreciated the sentiment, he didn’t need a woman to protect him. He gently moved her out of the way, but she wasn’t as inclined to yield as he had hoped. He was forced to step in front of her and push her behind him.
“Ye’re kissing my sister. Again,” Evan said.
“Maybe I kissed him,” she said, stepping around Colin and causing him to groan.
“Go to yer room,” Evan said without looking at her.
“I’m no’ a child for ye to order about.”
Evan’s eyes narrowed into deadly slits. “Then stop acting like a child.”
Maggie raised her chin. “That was hardly acting like a child.”
“Maggie,” Colin warned.
She took a deep breath as if to corral her emotions. “Fine,” she said. “But ye’ll no’ take yer ire out on MacLean. It takes two to kiss.”
She marched off. Sinclair watched her go, his expression as hard and craggy as the Highland mountains.
As soon as Maggie disappeared down the steps, Sinclair struck, pushing Colin against the parapet. With his hand at Colin’s neck, he bent him backward over the wall. Colin could feel the cool air at his back and swirling around his head. He blocked his mind to the fact that there was nothing between him and ground except a lot of air.
“What in the hell were ye thinking, MacLean?”
It was impossible to speak with Sinclair’s hand clenched on his throat. Colin seriously wondered if he was going to plummet to his death.
Eventually, Sinclair yanked Colin up and stood him on his feet. “Explain yerself,” Sinclair growled.
“I kissed yer sister.” What else could he say? Sinclair saw them. There wasn’t any denying it.
“I should have let ye fall to yer death.”
“Why didn’ ye?”
Sinclair shook his head. “Because Maggie was rig
ht, it takes two to kiss, and she’s not blameless in this. I do no’ know what to do with her, MacLean. She canno’ keep living like this. She needs stability. A real future.”
“Ye do no’ see it, do ye, Sinclair? She’s a beautifully unique woman. Ye canno’ change any of that.”
“No man wants a woman who can curse and fight better than him.”
I do.
Colin nearly reared back at the voice in his head. He didn’t want Maggie. Well, he did want Maggie, but he couldn’t have Maggie. She had no place in his life right now.
“It’s coming on to morning,” he said, shaking away his thoughts. “I’m going to sleep.”
“MacLean,” Evan called when Colin was at the steps. He turned around. “I thank ye for helping me with the watch. But do no’ kiss my sister again. That’ll be the final warning ye get from me.”
Colin gave him a negligent salute and walked away, but as much as he wanted to leave his disturbing and confusing thoughts regarding Maggie up on the parapet, they came with him.
Chapter 13
Maggie sat at an empty table in the great hall. She was irritable. Part of her irritation stemmed from the fact that she hadn’t been able to see Colin for two days. It had been two days since they last spoke. Two days since they’d kissed.
She’d been hoping to corner MacLean again, to steal a few more kisses, because he kissed so damn well and she enjoyed it so damn much. But he was avoiding her, and that made her more sad than angry. She hadn’t realized until yesterday how much she liked having him around and how much she sought his company, not just for kisses—although that was a side benefit—but because she liked talking to him. He was the only one who could match wits with her. Who wasn’t intimidated or put off by the type of woman she was.
She slumped forward and rested her chin in her palm. Innis slid onto the bench across from her. It showed Maggie’s frame of mind that she was actually grateful for Innis’s company.
“What are yer plans for today?” Innis asked.
Maggie shrugged. “The lists, riding.”
Innis’s freckled nose wrinkled. “That does no’ sound appealing at all.”
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