Prince of Love (2 page)

One such curl lay alongside her high cheek bone, brushing the corner of her mouth.
 
She absentmindedly shoved it aside as she let out another laugh.
 
Her head suddenly turned toward him as she listened to something one of her companions said.
 
Sorin was struck by her beauty.
 
The only thing that marred her complexion was a small mole at the corner of her lips on the right side.

Brows a slightly darker gold curved delicately over her blue eyes that tilted ever so slightly upward at the corners, giving her a regal air.
 
She had small ears, long, tapered fingers, and a stubborn lift to her chin.

He was instantly charmed, entranced.

Captivated.

 
When the dog finished and she finally moved off, he followed, noting the older woman with her as well as the man who looked at her as if she were a treat at the end of a meal.
 

It never occurred to Sorin that his mate might be married or spoken for. His father always said their mates would be waiting for them. Sorin didn’t know what he would do if she were married, but there was no use worrying over it now, not until he knew it for fact.
 

As he followed the small group through Invergarry, his gaze moved around him, watching for any signs of the Tnarg. The only one he had ever seen had been in a book in his father’s library. It had scared him so as a child that he hadn’t been able to sleep for days.
 

Even as a warrior, the thought of crossing paths with the creature gave him pause. The Tnargs’ only mission was to prevent him from returning to Drahcir with his mate. So far, the Sinclairs had won that battle. How many more times would victory fall on their side before the Tnargs won?
 

Sorin’s hand moved to rest on the hilt of the sword strapped to his hip. He prayed he didn’t see the beast, but Keiran wouldn’t have come looking for him if the threat wasn’t real.
 
He and his brothers had been trained as any Highlander would.
 
They knew how to fight – and how to win.

His gaze saw a flash of yellow turn down another street, and he hurried to catch up. When the man with his mate stopped and bought her a bouquet of flowers, Sorin had the urge to punch him.
 

Instead, he moved closer to the group. As they began to move off he noticed a drunk stumbling into their path. Sorin lengthened his strides to warn them, but the drunk ran into his beauty before he had a chance.
 

Fortunately, Sorin caught her as she fell backward. He looked down into her blue eyes and smiled. Her heart-shaped face was even lovelier up close.
 
He wanted to tug on one of her curls and hear her laugh again.
 

“Are you all right?” he asked.
 

Her lips parted as her pulse beat erratically at her throat and her hands gripped his arms tightly. “You caught me.”
 

Sorin’s grin widened.
 
He’d wanted her attention, and fate had given him what he wanted. “It’s fortunate for you that I did, lest you muddy your pretty gown.”
 

“Release her, sir.” The man’s voice was hard, irate.
 

Sorin glanced at the man who had accompanied his beauty.
 
He returned his attention to his mate and slowly righted her.
 
He wasn’t yet ready to release her.
 
She’d felt good, right in his arms.
 

“I owe you my thanks,” his beauty said.
 

Sorin reluctantly dropped his arms and bowed his head. “None needed, my lady. Though you can repay me with your name.”
 

Her lips pulled up slightly at the corners in a smile that made his balls tighten. “Katrina.”
 

“
Lady
Katrina,” the brute added as he moved up beside her.
 

Sorin ignored the man. “It’s been a pleasure, Lady Katrina. I’ll be more than happy to rescue you again should you need it.”
 

She laughed, the sound music to his ears.
 

“I’ll see to her,” the brute said.
 

“Oh, Patrick, please,” Katrina said. “He’s merely being polite.”
 

“As your intended, it is my job to look after you.”
 

Sorin’s hands clenched at his side.
 
Just as he’d thought.
 
His mate was already given to another man.
 
It would mean he had to work even harder to woo her.
 

“I haven’t accepted your offer,” Katrina said, her lips tight with suppressed anger.
 

Sorin let one side of his mouth lift in a smile as he looked at Patrick.
 
So his mate didn’t want Patrick.
 
Good.
 
Maybe that would keep him from punching the arrogant fool.

Patrick glared at Sorin before he turned back to Katrina. “You will. Why put it off?”
 

Sorin watched the exchange with interest. He was about to step in when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Someone, or some
thing
, had been watching him.
 

“And your name, sir?”
 

Sorin jerked his head back to Katrina to find her staring at him expectedly. “Sorin Sinclair, at your service,” he said with a wink.
 
He left off the “prince” part.
 
For the moment.

“I am here visiting my aunt. You’re invited to dinner tomorrow night if you are available.
 
It’s the least I can do after you’ve so gallantly saved me from muddying my gown.”
 

“I’d be honored. Who is your aunt?” Sorin was overjoyed in his luck at getting to spend more time with Katrina without having to force an accidental meeting.
 

“Lady Beatrice MacDuff.”
 

“Until tomorrow evening,” Sorin said.
 

“Until then,” she said and allowed Patrick to turn her away.
 

Sorin watched as she walked away, the gentle sway of her hips fascinating. He couldn’t wait to plunge inside of her as her hips thrust to meet his.
 

When she glanced over her shoulder, a smile on her lips, Sorin knew he had definitely caught her attention.
 

Chapter Two

Katrina went to her chamber as soon as they reached her aunt’s house.
 
She couldn’t handle another minute in Patrick’s company. It had been a mistake to allow him to accompany her, but she had been in a good mood when he asked and hadn’t wanted to get into that same old argument.
 

Patrick was nothing if not persistent.
 
Yet once they encountered the dashingly handsome Sorin Sinclair, Patrick had pushed her to the breaking point in asking for an answer to his offer. It was times like these that she wished her father were with her.
 

All she had wanted to do was think about Sorin and how he’d seemingly come out of nowhere to grab her as she’d fell.
 
His brown eyes were dark, fathomless and held a hint of daring she’d never seen before.
 
His dark blond hair was long and held back in a queue.
 
All in all, he was dashing, handsome, and all-too appealing.

The more Patrick pestered her for an answer instead of allowing her to mull through her time with Sorin, the more irate she became.
 
By the time they had reached her aunt’s house, Katrina had had enough. She turned Patrick down as gently as she could, but there was no denying the anger in his gray eyes. He had stormed off, and she knew she would never see him again. She wasn’t upset at the prospect.
 

She was relieved.
 

Katrina put a hand to her forehead and sighed as she leaned back against her door. As awful as it was, she had put off giving Patrick her answer because she hadn’t wanted to hurt him. He had been kind, always eager to help her since she’d come to Invergarry. It was really too bad she didn’t like him enough to consider him for a husband.
 

A smile threatened as her mind once more turned to Sorin. She closed her eyes and sighed as she thought of his blond hair darkened with streaks of brunette and his eyes of the deepest brown. His skin was bronzed from the sun and a shadow of whiskers darkened his jaw, making him look untamed and lethal. His nose was slightly bent, as if it had been broken. His mouth was wide, his lips thin, and his smile simply devastating.
 

As soon as he’d caught her, she’d grabbed onto his arms and felt the strength in his muscles through his tunic and jerkin. Just thinking of touching him again sent a thrill racing through her.
 
The thick sinew had flexed beneath her palms, making her heart race and the world begin to fall away.

He’d caught her gaze and held it, refusing to let go.
 
It was as if he’d wanted to say something, but held back.
 
And even when he’d righted her, she hadn’t wanted to let go of him.
 
For the first time in a very long time, Sorin had made her feel secure.
 
Within his arms she didn’t feel the crush of the future upon her or the arguments from her family to choose a husband and get settled.

His touch made it all go away, leaving just the two of them.
 

Her eyes slowly opened and she bit her lip as she sighed.
 
Sorin was handsome and gallant.
 
A man she could see herself spending more time with.
 
Suddenly, she was anxious about the next night. What would she wear? Would he come? Would he smile at her again, showing that dimple in his left cheek?
 

She hadn't felt such anticipation in a very long time, and it was glorious.
 

* * * *

Sorin stood looking at the modest building Katrina had entered. It was her aunt’s home, the very place he would arrive for dinner tomorrow night. He had been more than a little surprised to find her and Patrick discussing something on the front steps, something that Patrick obviously didn’t agree with. Was it him?
 

Sorin hoped it was. Patrick made no attempt to hide the fact he didn’t like him, not that Sorin cared. He was here for one thing – Katrina.
 

Waiting until the next night would be impossible. He’d have to think of some way to get near her tomorrow. Time was of the essence, and he had none to waste. If he could, he’d climb up to her chamber right now.
 

Instead, he kept to his position until sunset. Then he walked the dark alleys. The shadows hid everything, but what Sorin looked for would be easy to detect, even in the darkness. Many nights he had read of the Tnargs, especially when his brothers left to search for their mates. Grand tales of how the Tnargs would lie in wait as the Sinclairs returned to Drahcir with their mates. The Tnargs would attack mercilessly. Many of the Sinclairs were wounded viciously as they, and their mates, had managed to get inside the gates.
 
Several had died once inside the gates, but by that time the curse had been fulfilled.

It seemed the more years that went by, the more the beasts were closer to achieving its goal.
 
It left Sorin with a feeling of dread he couldn’t push aside.
 
Impending doom seemed to hover just over his head.

He refused to be the one to end his family and his people because he wasn’t vigilant enough.
 
The books hadn’t taught him how to fight, but the journals of his ancestors speaking of the Tnargs had given hints in how to hunt one.

He sniffed the air. The stench of stale urine, garbage, and unclean bodies soaked the night, but there was another smell that drew his attention.
 

The Tnarg was here.
 

Chapter Three

It was the sound of her laughter that woke Sorin from his doze. His body recognized his mate and roared to life, the hunger for her overruling everything. Soon, he’d claim her and take her to Drahcir where he planned to spend the days buried in her sweet warmth. His balls tightened just thinking of sinking into Katrina, but he tamped down his desire and rose to find his mate. He had spent most of the night searching for the Tnarg, but he’d never found the creature.
 

It had remained just out of reach.
 
Knowing it was in the town unsettled him, put him on edge.
 
Because he knew it would come for Katrina.

Why the mates and not any of the Sinclairs?
 
It didn’t make any sense.
 
If a Sinclair died, then the curse wasn’t fulfilled.
 
Why attack an innocent woman?
 
Sorin was missing something, he knew he was.