Highlander's Beautiful Liar A Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance Historical Novel - Adamina Young Page 0,70

have a watchdog escorting me through every season. I intend to put a stop to that right now. I have defended myself before, and I will do so again.”

He stepped closer, and suddenly, everything inside of her melted, and she flushed as desire sparked inside of her. Desire that she didn’t even know existed until that night she stumbled on him after another exhausting and stifling ball. Out in the gardens, she’d escaped to get some air, and there he was, yet again.

Oh, she’d been furious to see him. Without a word, she’d walked right up to him and planted a kiss on his mouth.

Innocent. Naive. She didn’t know the fire she’d been playing with until he’d hauled her up against his hard body and turned that kiss into something more, something wicked, and it had followed her for two years, but he’d never done it again.

“What are ye really here for, my little English lass?” he asked in a husky voice.

Teasingly, she slid her hands up his chest until she could feel his own erratic heartbeat.

And then she shoved, hard, and he stumbled away.

“I am here, Stephen Sinclair, to get away from the prancing idiots of London and snag myself a highlander husband. If you know of any who might be interested, please let me know. Have a good night.”

Then, she slipped into her chambers and closed the door firmly in his face.

A highlander husband.

Stephen gritted his teeth and rode like the demons were chasing him. It was the third night in a row that he had taken the night shift for the perimeter patrols, and he knew that Alec was questioning his reasons, but he could not sit across from Lana Thistle at the table and watch her flirt with the men. He could not look at the window at night and not wonder if he was going to have to tie himself to the bed to keep from going to hers. He could not see her in the early morning, the sun glistening on her lovely blonde hair, and not wish viciously that he could kiss her again.

So he stayed as far away from her as he could. If Cora had any sense in her head, she would send her sister straight back to England to her comfortable life where everyone adored her.

At the end of his shift, he rode his stallion until they were both exhausted, so he did not give in to his desire to haunt the halls of the keep in hopes of catching a glimpse of her. To his surprise, when he reached the stables, he found Cora and Alec preparing their own mounts. It was just a few hours after dawn, far too early for them to be out.

“Everything all right?”

“Stephen, just the man we were looking for!” Cora’s face lit up with delight as she mounted her horse. “Alec and I are going to take a few hours for ourselves. Mary is watching the children, but I know Lana had her heart set on a ride this morning. She wants to explore the ruins of the old keep. Would you escort her? I don’t think she knows the way.”

“Me?” Damnation. “Is there someone else?”

“Cora, Stephen has been out all night,” Alec reminded her. “We’ll ask Kane.”

Cora nodded. “That’s a wonderful idea.”

The hell it was. If Lana was determined to seduce her way to a highland husband, it was not going to be Kane MacKay. “I’m not tired,” he said shortly. “I’ll take her.”

His laird shot him a dubious look. “Are ye sure?” Stephen nodded shortly, and Alec shrugged. “All right, I was going to give ye the night off anyhow. We will be done by noon.”

“Or not,” Cora said with a sly giggle.

It was hard not to see what was going on here. Alec and Cora, with a toddler at their heels during the day, an infant crying in the night, and a clan to maintain, didn’t find much alone time anymore. Obviously, they planned to make up for lost time that morning.

Dismounting, he rubbed his stallion down, fed him, and left to go find Lana.

Knocking on her door, he was stunned when she opened it hastily with a relieved smile on her face.

She was half-dressed.

“Lana,” he said stupidly as he eagerly drank her in. She had shimmied into her dress, a lovely dark green, and had worked her arms into the sleeves, but the shoulders sagged over her arms, and she clutched the bodice at her chest. One tug, and