Free Highland Wolf by Hannah Howell Page A

caught Annora staring at him. He could still taste her on his mouth, feel her soft curves in his arms, and hear her soft sighs in his ears. His dreams had been filled with the sort of images that left him hard with need when he woke. When Meggie looked at her, Annora gave him a hasty smile and a little wave before hurrying his child away.
    For a moment James actually considered accepting the smiling offers that had been made by several of the maids. His body was starving for a woman, but he realized it wanted only one woman. In one way, that was a good thing, for dallying with a maid could all too easily prove a serious mistake, exposing him for the fraud he was. On the other hand, he was not sure he liked the fact that Annora MacKay held his body in thrall.
    “She would be a good choice when ye are laird again,” Big Marta said quietly.
    Refusing to blush over being caught staring longingly after Annora MacKay, James snorted and walked back into his workroom. “She is a MacKay.”
    The noise Big Marta made clearly revealed the scorn with which she viewed that answer. “Only because her mother was. The lass hasnae been treated weel by her kin. She certainly hasnae been treated weel by this part of the family. She doesnae trust MacKay and hasnae from the start. And ye didnae think ye were the only one asking questions about the mon, did ye?”
    Thinking of how he had caught Annora sneaking into MacKay’s ledger room, so obviously intent upon spying on the man’s writings, James just frowned. “Who else is? Aside from me and mayhap Annora MacKay?”
    “Weel, your kinsmen tried but they couldnae get close enough.”
    “Aye, and I made it clear that this was my trouble and they shouldnae risk their lives, at least until I had some way to prove that MacKay had committed the crime I was accused of.”
    “Didnae stop them. But they couldnae get close. I dinnae ken how but MacKay could almost sniff them out. After a few times when your kinsmen barely escaped with their lives, I think they finally decided to sit back as ye had asked them to. I doubt they have done naught, though.”
    “I doubt that, too. Unfortunately, the truth is hidden here. I am certain of it”
    Big Marta nodded. “That it is, laddie. That it is. But, mayhap, it isnae hidden as weel as that bastard thinks it is. ’Tis muckle hard to keep something secret for long in a keep, isnae it? There is always someone who saw or heard something and one day they admit it.”
    “Have ye heard something?”
    “Whispers, laddie. Just whispers for now. I am keeping this old ear to the ground and will let ye ken when I hear more than a wee rumor or an I think .”
    James sighed and nodded. He watched the woman disappear back into the kitchen and resisted the urge to drag her back and demand to hear what rumors she had heard, even every little suspicion. That was foolish and he knew it. He would not win his freedom with rumors and suspicions. Moving too quickly could also silence those who were doing the whispering and they might well lead to something he could use.
    As he returned to his work he thought about Egan’s pursuit of Annora. It rousedsomething very primitive inside him, some chest-thumping thing that kept grunting mine . He would have to be careful there for several reasons. Egan could cause him to be thrown out of Dunncraig if he thought Annora had an interest in him, or worse. And Annora was such an innocent, he could hurt her feelings if he went from hot to cold and back again once too often.
    He cursed and shook his head. No matter how much he told himself that it was bad to feel so attracted to Annora, the attraction did not fade. He had the sinking feeling that he had met his mate. There was a strong belief amongst his foster family the Murrays that everyone had a mate, and thus far, in the matches he had seen, there seemed to be some truth to that feeling. He had not had it with Mary, something that still stirred a deep feeling of guilt, but that