Free To Catch a Highlander by Karen Hawkins Page B

touched
him
. One of them had to be in control, and she was determined that it be she.
    He didn't move, but she sensed a change in him. He was intent, focused on her as never before, his green eyes burning brightly. "I would never touch you unless you desired it."
    Sophia's fingers trembled. Could she do this? Did she dare?
    She felt a strange exhilaration, almost a hunger. He was playing right into her hands. "I agree, then." The words feathered over her lips, a breath and yet more. "The diamonds were my mother's."
    "And of exceptional quality, I might add. I was quite pleased with them."
    She nodded and shuffled the cards once more. Oddly, she felt no fear, only a wild desire to see what might come of this madness. If she wished to win back the house, she had to become bolder, had to prove to him that she was his equal in daring, as well as everything else.
    She straightened her shoulders, the gesture lifting her bosom and drawing his attention. "Shall I deal, MacLean? Or will you?"
    He chuckled, the sound low and seductive. "You are an intriguing woman, Sophia Beatrice MacFarlane."
    "But not a lady, as you so eagerly pointed out," she said with a sniff.
    "There are many definitions of the word
lady
."
    "Yet I doubt any of them apply to me."
    Dougal raised his brows. There was something exquisitely provoking at the way she said that, looking like every man's image of an angel, all blond beauty and angelically sweet smile. Yet in her eyes lurked an entrancing gleam of deviltry.
    His body leapt at the sight, not just in response but in recognition. He was so bored with London 's amusements, women, wagers and cards and brandy. Bored with following a mindless cow path of propriety, that stifled the air and attempted to rob him of his sensual nature.
    More than anyone else he knew, he luxuriated in the niceties of life. He enjoyed the sultry fragrance of an unlit cigar, the warm tincture of good brandy as it slid over his tongue, the silky slide of satin sheets, the crisp outline of a woman's naked figure reclining against his pillows, the seductive clink of ice in a waiting glass…
    When he'd first arrived in London , he'd experienced such a wealth of sensory stimulations he'd thought they'd never pall.
    Yet less than a year later, he knew his error: newness wasn't enough—he needed originality, as well. With Sophia, he might have found both.
    She was breathtakingly beautiful to behold, her hair soft as silk, her voice rich and melodious, her skin exotically scented with rose and jasmine, her body lushly formed.
    She was the perfect woman in all ways but one: she was doing her damnedest to fleece him out of MacFarlane House.
    Thank God he'd discovered her devious plans; he wasn't certain he'd have escaped whole, otherwise. She drew him in as effortlessly as a candle draws a moth, just by being. Had he ridden in unaware, he could have been duped. The thought stung a bit more than he'd have liked.
    She laid the cards on the table before him, her eyes aglow in the candlelight, a faint tremble in her voice. "Well, MacLean?" she asked, her voice teasing, daring, and excited all in the same breath. "Do you dare?"
    ----
Chapter Six

     
    So there he was, the laird of Clan MacLean, facin' the dreaded White Witch. She'd already placed her curse upon him, but he hadn't given up yet, thinkin' he could sweet-talk her into takin' back the curse. What he didn't take into account was that he might talk sweet, but she tasted sweet. And that's another power altogether
.
    Old Woman Nora from Loch Lomond to her three wee granddaughters one cold evening
     
    Sophia's entire body tingled, her gaze drawn to MacLean's lips. She placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin against the back of one of her hands. "Do you have my mother's diamonds with you?"
    "I do." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet pouch, untied the string, and tipped it over. A river of diamonds and gold spilled onto the table.
    Sophia reached for her mother's