Free Highland Magic by K. E. Saxon Page B

re-injuring the thing, had that
smart-tongued lass not provoked his temper so thoroughly with her
gibes and insults to his manhood that he’d actually forgotten the
state of his shoulder and given her lovely derrière the much
needed ‘ whack ’ it deserved.
    He’d not spoken with his stepfather yet, but
he knew that Bao would need to be sent word of his foster sister’s
arrival forthwith. Why on earth was she here? That question had
continued to plague him since he’d first recalled that ‘twas her
lovely black-lashed, violet cat-eyes that he’d awakened to this
morn past. And her gentle hands that had cooled his fevered brow.
And her wide mouth, with those fleshy pink lips, that had felt like
warm silk stroking and encasing him as it took him to heaven.... He
forcibly turned his mind from that arousing memory, but his
thoughts remained on the complicated puzzle of her.
    Lord, but she was such a tangled mix of
vixen, virgin, and vexation. The treble V’s. He had no doubt that
she should be branded thus, to warn any unsuspecting man before he
attempted to woo her and got castrated by the sharp edge of her
tongue. Her tongue.... Callum shook the image clear.
    Blood of Christ! He’d gone for so many moons
without the touch of a feminine hand, and had managed quite well to
keep his mind clear of such thoughts as he slowly, diligently,
rebuilt his favorable repute amongst his clansmen. But now, after
that incredible interlude, he couldn’t seem to stay focused on the
task at hand: to get the lass to her foster brother’s keep as
quickly as possible. Because his mind—his body—screamed for more of
her. More of her mouth on him, but also, this time, more of his
mouth, his hands, on her.
    God, what would she taste like? Her skin was
soft, he’d noticed that already. And there was a faint smell of
roses in her cropped hair. The pleasant scent had drifted to him as
he’d hauled her over his shoulder back at the cave. Aye, the flower
of her womanhood no doubt had the heady scent of roses
and... woman ....
    “Blood. Of. Christ! No more!” Callum yelled,
lifting his good arm and scrubbing his hand across his eyes and
face.
    * * *
    Branwenn’s eyelids drooped and her chin
dropped to her chest. “ What? ” she cried out, instantly
waking when she nearly teetered forward and fell flat on her
face.
    “Lass, ‘tis time and past for you to take a
rest. We are not such a staunch lot that we would have you
sacrifice your health to keep the appearance of piety,” the young
priest said.
    “But, Father, I must finish my prayers
first.”
    With a gentle smile and a dip of his head, he
moved away from the altar where she knelt.
    “ Oh, Lord, just one more thing. Please do
not allow my aunt and her husband to tell any of my brothers that I
am alive, Lord. ‘Tis not truly such a terrible lie, Lord, is it?
Not if it could save their lives?” No response. Well, she
wasn’t exactly expecting one, but still. It would have been nice to
know for sure that He was on her side in this matter. With a long
sigh, she stood up and did a quick genuflection before scurrying
from the MacGregor chapel.
    She took her time going back into the keep,
for her thoughts had not settled, as she’d hoped they would, by
doing a bit of praying for forgiveness for her less-than-ladylike
behavior this day. And she wasn’t speaking of her arguments with
that auburn-haired, too-handsome to look upon for long, devil-man,
either—‘twas the other thing that happened between them that now
weighed so heavily on her conscience.
    For, she’d not gone to the chapel originally
to request aid from the Lord Almighty with her dilemma regarding
her family. Nay, she’d gone there, contrite and filled with horror
that she’d been so...so...well, so brazen with
Callum—feelings that only recently took hold of her when she’d been
obliged to sit beside the man at table and he’d remained so quiet,
so indifferent toward her, that she had begun to suspect he was