Free Lily (The Highland Clan Book 3) by Keira Montclair Page A

so.
    “What other day? You mean chasing after my niece as if you were addled? Nay, ‘tis because you protect my clan, and you need to be strong. No more.” Logan found a spot and pulled his tunic off, leaving himself in just his plaid to fight. He unsheathed his sword and stared at Kyle with a gleam in his eye. “Are you ready, lad? Show me what skills you have.”
    Kyle took a deep breath as he unsheathed his sword and removed his tunic. He wiped the sweat from his brow and took his stance opposite Logan Ramsay, waiting for him to start.
    Logan parried with him for half an hour before he stopped, holding his hand up to Kyle in a motion for him to do the same. “Not bad, lad, but you do not have the drive in you yet. Tell me how you would attack someone you caught kissing my niece.”
    Kyle halted, wiping his face with his plaid. “I’m not allowed around your niece, if you recall. So that will never happen.”
    Logan chuckled, as did Torrian. “Word around the clan is that Lily is open to aught who wants her. I heard a group of three lads discussing her near the stable last eve, and I tell you they are ready to go after her now that you’re no longer interested in her.”
    “What?” Kyle’s body tensed at the thought of another lad with Lily. He ground his teeth to keep from saying what he wished to say.
    “Everyone suspected your heart was lost to her for the last couple of years. I believe even Lily knew in her own way. ‘Twas the way you looked at her. No one would approach her.”
    Caught off-guard by this revelation, Kyle glanced at Torrian in bafflement. They’d all known?
    Torrian nodded. “Aye, I suspected. Nay, I was sure, which is why you took me by surprise when you turned my sire down.”
    Kyle stared at both of them. “And who are the lads you heard discussing her?”
    “I’ll not tell you,” Logan said, “but I believe Lily will definitely be interested in one of them.”
    “You agree, Torrian?” Kyle peered at his friend.
    “Aye, she’ll go for one of them. She’s hurting at present. You broke her heart.”
    The image of Lily kissing another lad crossed his vision, and a fury set in him he’d never felt before.
    Logan said to Torrian, “Did the lad not say he wanted to do more than kiss Lily? What did he say again?”
    Kyle swung his sword with both of his arms, hefting it into the sky with a deep guttural cry, and went at Logan with all his might.
    Logan laughed. “Now you’re ready, lad.”
    When it dawned on Kyle that Logan had planned this ruse to build his ire, he became even angrier. They parried, steel hitting steel, sending an occasional spark shooting into the air. Kyle went at Logan with all his might, gritting his teeth as he thought about another lad kissing his Lily. His dark hair was now plastered to his head from his sweat, and he decided to end the game. Logan Ramsay had been a great swordsman in his day, but he didn’t have the strength he used to possess.
    Kyle’s aggression increased because he was sure he’d beat the man. If he did, Lily and Torrian would both see what a great warrior he’d become. How he wished his sire could see him, too. He swung his sword in a wide arc to knock the weapon out of Logan’s hands.
    Except Logan did a quick, last-minute maneuver Kyle hadn’t expected. A loud thwack hit Kyle’s hands on the hilt of his sword, and his weapon went flying through the air before landing with a thud at Torrian’s feet. With another blow, Logan knocked him flat on his arse.
    “Lad, you must listen to me,” the older man said, standing over him with his sword pointed at his belly. “When you love a lass, she’ll only dig at your soul until you admit it and make her yours.”
    Kyle gasped for air, stunned to have lost to a man he’d been sure he could beat. “Nay, thinking on her, marrying her will make me weak. Can you not see that? You’ve just proven it.” He waited for Logan to stand back and admit he was right. If he had not been