‘So, if we had wagered on this match as we did on the others, I would say you forfeited by meddling,’ he said. Duncan and Rurik quickly agreed, claiming a victory for the men.
‘I think I am glad that we have some time before the younger ones will be ready to wed,’ Margriet said. ‘I cannot believe that our Isobel is married.’
‘And our Ciara,’ Marian said. ‘I think they will be announcing another bairn soon.’ Duncan looked very pleased by that news.
‘Now that Lilidh and Aidan are both happily married,’ Jocelyn said, ‘I think I could even admit defeat in this match.’
Connor looked at his closest friends and their wives and then at the woman he loved more than life itself. Raising his cup, he smiled. ‘To the happy couple!’ They all called out the words in reply and drank from their cups.
As he watched his friends leave the table to seek their beds and the forfeits due them from this last marriage wager, he turned to Jocelyn and kissed her. When they were the only ones remaining in the hall, as was their custom, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to their bedchamber.
After he showed his mate the depth and breadth of his love for her and she slept in his arms, he offered up a prayer that his son would find in Catriona what he had found in Jocelyn.
If he did, Connor knew that all would be well and good in the Clan MacLerie.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed reading this special Highlanders collection,
you’ll love the latest story from USA TODAY bestselling author Terri Brisbin,
STOLEN BY THE HIGHLANDER!
Available now!
Excerpt
‘It was you!’ she said, turning her body to face him as he approached.
‘Aye, my lady,’ he said softly, easing his way across the distance between them. The one thing he needed to prevent her from doing was screaming and bringing the guards in on them. ‘Did you see me then at the clearing?’
Keep her talking. Move ever closer. He thought those words over and over as he did both. Another step and pause.
‘I saw you from the window,’ she said, her gaze skittering over to it and back to him. ‘But, the clearing was empty.’
‘I am here now,’ he said, holding out his hand to her. ‘Give me the dagger, Arabella. I will not harm you.’
She stared at him then, with bleak and empty eyes that filled with tears. ‘Is that how you killed Malcolm then? Tricked him into giving up his dagger and used yours on him?’
God! He wanted to deny it, but could not. He still remembered nothing of her brother’s death. Rob scuffed along the wooden floor and whispered a word to hurry him along.
‘Give me the dagger, lass,’ he ordered softly.
She raised her hand as though preparing to defend herself but it gave him the chance he needed. With a quick stride, he was in front of her, grasping the hand that held the weapon and twisting it down until she dropped it. Arabella gasped and opened her mouth to scream. It took but a second to cover it and nod to Rob.
Brodie wrapped the length of cord around her wrists after Rob gagged her with a piece of cloth. He wanted to laugh as his friend apologised, but this was too grave a time for any humour. Within minutes, she’d been secured—hands, mouth, legs.
‘We are taking you from here, Arabella,’ he said, as Rob threw a tapestry pilfered from another wall on the floor before them. ‘Fight not and you will not be hurt.’
He might as well have thrown water on an angry cat, for she bucked and twisted, trying to free herself. With quick, efficient movements, he and Rob placed her on the tapestry and rolled her inside of it. They carefully lifted the tapestry and the lady and carried her from the chamber, closing the door tightly behind them. Her father would not seek her out until just before the ceremony.
Brodie and Rob walked quickly and took the second stairway, the one used by servants now busy with wedding preparations, to the lowest floor of the keep. Once there, it took little time to find the secret doorway which opened into a long-forgotten tunnel. He’d played here as a boy and his uncle had planned to close it, but never had. Brodie doubted that anyone remembered this hidden path out of the keep that led to one of the storage sheds near the stables.
The plan had worked exactly as he’d hoped—his men were in their positions and executed their parts precisely. Even better, those living or working within the walls or the keep were seeing to all of the arrangements for the day’s celebration. With most of them so occupied, no one took note of two men carrying a rolled rug away. Soon, with the tapestry laid across his lap, Brodie rode the lass’s horse out through the gates and into the hills.
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ISBN: 9780857993908
TITLE: THE HIGHLANDER’S STOLEN TOUCH/AT THE HIGHLANDER’S MERCY/THE HIGHLANDER’S DANGEROUS TEMPTATION/YIELD TO THE HIGHLANDER
First Australian Publication 2015
Copyright © 2015 Terri Brisbin
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Ltd, Level 4, 132 Arthur Street, North Sydney, N.S.W., Australia 2060.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Terri Brisbin Highlander Bundle Page 86
