Highlander's Challenge (31 page)

Maighread lunged toward her, the blade high in the air. Unable to block the oncoming blow, she knew she was going to die.

A deep bellowing roar reverberated around them.
Colin.
She heard his heavy feet pounding against the stone as Maighread brought her arm down. He appeared between 299

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

them as the haze cleared, and she watched the insane woman, unable to stop her forward lunge, impale herself on Colin's sword.

"You—are—mine," Maighread breathed then slipped to the floor, her lifeless eyes staring up at the overcast sky.

"Amelia." Colin dropped his claymore and pulled her tight to his chest. Jerking back, he cupped her face in his hands and peered into her eyes. "Did she harm you?" She shook her head. "No. I just have a bump on the back of my head," she said, fingering her scalp. Ian burst from the stairway and abruptly stopped. He looked at the still form lying at their feet, his jaw clenched and his hands fisted at his sides.

Crouching down beside Maighread, he closed her eyes.

"Sleep, little one."

Tuck felt a sharp pang of remorse. Ian's joking about Maighread turning him down had been his way of hiding the pain. Apparently, he wasn't the womanizing rogue he let everyone believe him to be. He'd truly cared for her. Ian rose and turned to them. "I am glad to see you unharmed, dear heart."

She nodded, standing in Colin's arms. "I'm sorry." She didn't know what else to say in the face of so much pain.

"I shall take her to her chamber," he said, then lifted Maighread's lifeless body into his arms.

As he disappeared into the stairwell, Tuck whispered, "He was in love with her."

300

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

"Nay, mavourneen," Colin said, squeezing her tightly to his side. "But he did care a great deal for the lass. Why I shall ne'er understand." He guided her down the stairs. Douglas and Elspeth arrived in Maighread's room shortly after them.

"William said he thought he'd spied her among the crowd, but I didna wish tae believe him," Douglas said. Colin lifted his gaze from the shrouded body. "Nor I, but I took care tae have the larder and foodstuffs closely guarded."

"Ach, the poor lamb," Elspeth cried, quickly covering her mouth before burying her face against his father's chest.

"I'm sorry tae spoil your wedding day, Da." Although he didn't wish for Maighread's death, knew she would've been punished severely for her treachery, he could not spare any remorse in her passing. She'd wanted to end the one life he held most dear.

"'Tis not your fault, lad. She brought her end upon herself." Douglas turned and guided a sobbing Elspeth away.

"Come. I wish tae be far away from this sadness," Colin said.

Tuck let him lead her to her room. He bore so many things on his broad shoulders, but now with the weight of Maighread's death, he seemed close to breaking. He stopped at her door and ushered her inside.

She turned before he could leave. "Your father's right, you're not to blame."

His jaw clenched. "Aye, but it doesna make it any easier." 301

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

"No. It never does." She held his gaze for what seemed like ages, hoping, wishing, praying he would take her in his arms and take away the horrid chill of death enveloping her.

"I thought—" He swallowed hard. "I thought I was tae late."

"I'm pretty hard to get rid of," she said. He hesitated for a heartbeat, then stepped across the threshold and took full possession of her mouth. She returned his kiss hungrily, his breath filling her with life, with hope. Laving her neck with kisses, he said, "Ach, mavourneen, I've a need tae touch you, tae feel your creamy skin against mine. Tae feel alive."

"Then why don't you?" she breathed, her legs turning to jelly.

Never had she ever thought a man could turn her into such a malleable mound of quivering female. She felt like fine plastique being molded and shaped into a powerful explosive. And when she went off, she wanted him to go with her. He kicked the door closed and fumbled with the bolt without removing his lips from her skin. Easing to the bed, he changed his assault lower, his lips brushing across the tops of her breasts, barely visible above her bodice. She moaned as his tongue slid into her cleavage. Maybe pushup-bras, antique or otherwise, were a good thing after all. A very good thing.

He undid her laces as she removed his kilt. Once they were both undressed, they stood for several seconds letting their gazes roam over one another.

"I'll ne'er get enough of the sight of you," he whispered. 302

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

She let out a long breath of pure satisfaction. "I think I can safely say the same."

Smiling, he hoisted her up and tossed her on the bed. Their laughter turned to heated murmurs as they came together in a raw act of possession, celebrating life at its most intimate level.

A time later they lay silently in one another's arms once their hearts had slowed. Colin tucked his love against his side, her soft curls tickling his cheek, her long fingers sifting through his chest hair, occasionally raking her nails against his skin. It felt incredible, and he was unable to contain his moan of satisfaction.

"What does mavourneen mean?" she asked. With a grin she couldn't see, he said, "It means nettlesome shrew."

Her head popped up from his shoulder, her beautiful green eyes narrowed, her luscious mouth drawn tight. "You know what I can do to you." The corner of her mouth crept up into a teasing grin.

He chuckled at her false ferocity. "Is that a promise?"

"Looking for adventure, are we?" By the saints, he loved this woman. He tapped the tip of the nose. "'Twill always be so with you, but tae answer your question in truth, it means my darling."

"Oh," she said, turning a deep shade of red. It would take some time to tear down the lies her father and others in her past had filled her with, but he welcomed the challenge. "Now, I have a question for you. What is this—

Sasquatch?"

303

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

She bit her lip with a crooked smile. "You won't like it." He peered at her sternly, then flipped her onto her back and pinned her with his body.

"Oh, all right," she said with a sigh. "It's a humanlike animal, supposedly larger than a man and covered with shaggy hair or fur. It's a legend, really." His jaw fell slightly lax. Did she think him a beast? God in heaven, had he hurt her? What a fool he'd been! He'd taken her virginity no more than a day ago and roughly too.

"Ach, mavourneen," he said, cupping her face. "I beg you tae forgive me. I ne'er meant tae hurt you."

"What are you talking about? You haven't hurt me."

"'Tis a beast, you described. And 'tis what I've been tae make love tae you again so soon. I'm sorry, lass." He lowered his head, resting his brow against her shoulder. Her fingers slipped into his hair. "I'm fine, and I wouldn't have traded a moment of it for the world."

"Then you dinnae hurt?" he asked, lifting his head. She shifted, just so, beneath him. "What do you think?" He let out a hiss as his rigid shaft brushed against her moist heat.

"Think of Sasquatch as an endearment," she murmured, nipping at his chin. "You're big—and strong—and legendary." Her long luscious legs rubbed against his. "But I dinnae have fur," he muttered, rapidly losing the ability to speak.

"No, you don't." She ran her tongue along his throat. He clamped his eyes closed and swallowed hard.

"But you hadn't shaved for a good while the first time I saw you," she said. "And you're the biggest man I've ever 304

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

known." She tasted the edge of his lips then rubbed her mouth against his with the lightest of touches. Much more of her torture and he would be lost. "Think you can win my good favor with your kisses?"

"Oh, my arsenal is a lot bigger than that." She squiggled lower, embracing the tip of him between her supple folds, then pulled back.

He growled low and long. "You intend tae drive me mad, woman."

"Somehow I have the feeling..." she shifted again, pulling him in further before drawing back once more. "...that we'll both go crazy."

His lips met hers hard as he thrust forward, not allowing her room to retreat. He wrapped his fingers between hers above her head as she surrendered to him. It was the sweetest gift she could ever give him, his warrior woman, and he gave of himself in return, completely and with all that he was.

305

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

"What think you, Colin?" his father asked, pulling his attention back to the important conversation at hand.

"'Tis a sound plan. Upon our return to Arreyder, we'll place men about the isle to keep watch. The Campbells willna set foot upon Mull without our knowing." The MacKenzie nodded in agreement, much calmer than he'd been at the beginning of their meeting. He'd cast threats and accusations back and forth with his father for some time before finally acknowledging they had a far more deadly enemy.

The peace between the clans had lasted for generations, but that didn't mean his father and the old laird liked one another. On the contrary, they'd been, at best, tolerant of one another over the years, but each had the good sense not to let their personal dislike affect the clans and the safety of their people.

The meeting ended, and they turned their mounts toward home. Although the Campbells and their devilish cunning were at the forefront of Colin's mind, another problem plagued his thoughts. A certain woman would likely try and skin him alive when he returned to the castle. He'd spied her listening closely to the discussions between he and his father regarding the meeting of the clan lairds over the past few days, and insisted she be included. She argued that her knowledge of strategy and war would be of help, that her fighting skills alone would be of great use in case the 306

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

Campbells ambushed them. None of which did he even begin to consider.

He could not allow her to place herself in danger. She, however, hadn't taken his decision to heart. Knowing her as he did, he suspected she might take it in her female head to follow them. So, he locked her in her room before she'd awakened that morning.

Hence, he had a problem. How was he to deal with a furious female who could put him on his belly faster than he could blink? A sigh slipped from his lips. That was the smallest of his troubles, however. The image of Amelia lying peacefully in her bed after they'd made love appeared before his mind's eye. More than anything, he wanted to stay with her, but could not. There were plans to be made, things he needed to see to.

He sniffed at the blatant lie. He was running from her like a man afraid of his own shadow. Although he'd made love to her, several times, succumbed to the intense desires that plagued him for weeks, he had yet to tell her of his love. Fear was not a stranger to him, but in this instance he felt more the fool.

She'd responded to his touch, offered her body to him in every way, but what of her heart? He grimaced at his sorry state. She'd reduced him to a sympathetic dolt. He'd never be the hard man he was before. If she were to reject his offer of love, he would be of no use to his clan. There would be nothing left of him but a shell of a man with a shattered heart.

307

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

The woman was everything he could ever want or need. She challenged him at every turn, and he enjoyed those challenges beyond pleasure. He would not let his fear of her breaking his heart rule him any longer. He would tell her of his feelings after he faced her wrath.

Lifting his gaze to the keep in the distance, he murmured a prayer for strength, nearly choking on the words.

"Daft, she is," he said, then kicked his horse into a fierce gallop.

* * * *

"Lock me in my room. Ha! We'll just see about that," Tuck murmured, locating another meager toehold in the wall. She'd pounded on the door, screaming her lungs out for hours, but no one answered her. The beast had threatened them all with a flogging.

Damn the man! He knew she was capable, he knew she could fight and strategize with the best of them, but the stubborn ox refused to listen. Couldn't he understand she needed to be there with him to watch his back?

"If anything happens to that big ape—" No, she refused to think that way. Nothing was going to happen to him. "Not on my watch."

Cursing beneath her breath as her bleeding fingers struggled to keep a firm hold between the stones, she stretched out her foot, reaching for the next toehold. Why couldn't that stupid vine have reached her window? It would've made the climb a snap, but noooo. She had to have the only room a cockroach would have trouble getting into. 308

Highlander's Challenge

by Jo Barrett

She snarled low and long. "When I get my hands on you, Colin MacLean you're going to wish—" She squeaked as a thick arm wrapped around her waist and plucked her from the wall.

"Damn you! Have you no sense?" Colin bellowed as he plopped her down in front of him on his horse, his heart slamming against his ribs.

"I was almost at the bottom," she snapped. "If I hadn't been so busy thinking up new ways to kill you, I would've realized how close I was and jumped down." She squiggled in his arms. "Now, let me go, you—you blasted Scot!"

"So you can find another way tae get yourself killed?"

"I have a lot of rock climbing experience. I wouldn't have been killed. And I wouldn't have been scaling the damn keep, if you hadn't locked me in my room!" He narrowed his eyes at her. "If you ever do such a daft thing again I'll paddle your backside."

"You and what army?"

"You'll do as I say, like it or no!"

"Well I don't like it and I'll do as I please. When are you going to get that into your thick head?" Colin climbed down from his horse with his arm firmly around her waist. "You'll do as I tell you, woman, and I'll not have any of your sass."