Free Gifts of Desire by Kella McKinnon Page A

world seemed to swirl and close in around him until her nearness was the only thing he was aware of.  He could feel his heart pounding against the wall of his chest, and in that moment he suddenly could not think of one reason why he shouldn’t kiss her.  He stared down at her up-turned face , captivated .  She returned his gaze, her blue eyes rimmed in dark lashes, her pink mouth looking so ft and lush.  His lips drifted inexorably towards hers.  He saw her eyes widen in surprise, then drift shut as her bre ath hitched and her lips parted a little more.  Just one taste of her.. . s urely it was his right as her captor … as laird .  Lower, lower; he could not stop himself.  His lips brushed lightly over hers, and the jolt of heat and fire that flared though his body at the soft touch took his breath. He knew his mistake in an instant; he would never be the same.   It would never be enough … the wanting of her would surely kill him.
                  The thudding sound of running on the stairs brought him abruptly back to himself.  He dropped his hands from where they gripped her arms, not even knowing how they had gotten there, and stepped back, just in time to see Gregor peer through the open door.  Catching sight of Ceann , he rush ed into the room, all out of breath and clearly agitated.  
                  “ Laird , there you are!   I’ve been looking everywhere. ”  He stopped short when he noticed Ella .   “Oh, am I… i nterrupting?”
                  “No .”  Ceann snapped.  “What is it Gregor?”
                  “Men spotted at the border , south of here, armed ” .
                  “Who are they?”   Ceann asked , trying not to sound as flustered as he felt.
                  “I can't say, they show ed no colors, and we were just out on a regular patrol, so we didn ’t have enough men with us to get close enough to find out. ”
                  “ Most likely MacDonalds again.  They’re growing bolder by the day with this outlandish quest to conquer all of the highlands.  They are naught but a thorn in our side!  Let’s go, then.”  Ceann followed Gregor out of the room without a backward glance , rushing to th e stables , stopping only to don the rest of his weapons .   H is men-at- arms were already there , eager and ready to fight .   He hastily gave orders to a couple of men who were to stay behind and guard Ella ; he didn’t want her taking the opportunity to run off .  The men grumbled under their breath a bit at missing the possibility of a battle, but obeyed their laird without question.
                  In a matter of minutes , Ceann rode out on Fallon , the rest of the men following.  Armed men at the border of his land was never a good sign.  Hopefully it was just a band of cattle raiders that could be dealt with swiftly , and not a larger attack .  He was oddly in no mood for a full-fledged battle, not when his mind was occupied by what he considered hi s biggest problem at the moment, the one that seemed to consume his every thought.   Ethan would laugh at him, he knew, and tell him how lucky he was to have such a beautiful problem.  Most other men would probably already have bedded her by now and dea lt with any consequences later.  But not Ceann .  He had sworn years ago not to be led about by lust, n or by any woman.  No , if he could not have all that he really wanted, he would not torment himself with glimpses of what could be.  He would rather accept his fate now and throw himself into the things he knew he could do well, like fight and protect his people.   And so the fact that he had nearly kissed Ella in the library this very morn rattled him to the core.  He had thought his forced indifference to women was one of the things he was good at.  He had certainly managed well enough for the past three years.  Why now, suddenly, was it all he could