Gifts of Desire (8 page)

             
  When she
had co
me into the room, bathed and in a clean gown of pale blue, with her hair brushed out all golden and shimmering, he knew
for certain what he had suspected from the first
.  A
woman
this beautiful was a prize that men would fight
for…
aye,
even die for.  She would never have been left on her own, unless
, of course,
she was mea
nt to lure him into a
trap
.
  She was a very valuable sacrifice for someone to make, which meant the reward they hoped to gain was even greater.
 
He would not be falling into any
traps;
he was far t
o
o cunning for that
.  Still, he could not just send her back out into the forest either. 
If there was even the slightest chance t
hat she was innocent
, perhaps having been set upon by thieves or even kidnapped…
aye perhaps she was taken for her beauty and torcher
and managed to escape, and was
afraid to trus
t anyone with her true identity lest her captors catch up with her…
 
Stealing brides was a common e
nough practice in the highlands; b
ut now he was just being fanciful. 
Nevertheless
, he could not
by his honor
send her back
out
on her own where she would surely be ra
ped or killed by the first less-than-
honorable man who found her. 
Some women were willing
pla
ye
r
s in the games of men, and others were innocent pawns
, forced by
sometimes
brutal means to comply
.  He could not be sure which
Ella
was
, and so he would not see harm come to her while she was in his
care
.
  Perhaps in time she could be convinced to give up her accomplices. 
 

             
Ella
watched as the laird considered her.  He was so adept at shielding
his thoughts, that she could barely
read them
on his face
.  It would take one much more skilled than she in that art.  It seemed like time slowed almost to a stop as she waited for him to decide her immediate fate.  She could only hope he would not s
end her away.  She couldn’t go home to her people in shame
, not after all they had done for her.
  And how would she get home, anyway?  She furrowed her brow
, her heart suddenly thumping in her ears
.  No one had mentioned how she would get back!  Was that not a rather important detail?

             
  Ceann
turned and moved to stand by the fire. 
In the dim light of early evening, the glow from the fire highlighted his
high
cheekbones and strong
chin. 
He seemed to fill the whole room with his presence. 
She drew a little breath when he finally spoke.
  Though his words were firm, his voice sounded like
dark
velvet to her ears.

             
“I can’t
allow you to leave, lass, without knowing who
you
are.  Since
you
won’t
tell me, I’m forced to keep
you
here until
you
do.  Or until I find out on my own,” he added ominously.

             
She thought she saw a flicker of surprise when she merely nodded her consent.  “
I told you,
I understand.  I have nowhere else to go at the moment, anyway.”
  She smiled
serenely
, and enjoyed the perplexed look that flashed across his face before he could stop it.  Aye, s
he could have quite a bit of fun confusing and beguiling this man. 
She loved to tease
; had nearly driven Malcolm and his friends mad with her childhood antics. 
And he
seemed t
o need a bit of fun in his life; h
e was awfully dour for one so young and so handsome.
  He should be reveling in all of the good things life had to offer.
 
And why did he not take a wife?
  That question intrigued her more than she wanted to admit, for it was certainly no concern of hers.  Was he a man who preferred to have a different woman in his bed every night?  She
didn’t think so
.  No, it
felt
to her
more that he was protecting himself, shielding himself.  Perhaps a woman had hurt him in the past?  Stolen his heart and made him bitter for it?

             
She didn’t realize she was standing there, lost in her
own
thoughts and speculations, until she happened to look up and saw him watching her
with an intensity that made shivers run over her skin
.  And her blood
suddenly run hot in her veins
.
 
Oh God.
  I think I’m already lost.

             
He broke the spell by
looking away and
moving to open the door for her
.  “It grows late.  I’ll see
you
back to
you
r
room so
you
can rest.  We
will
continue this discussion on the morrow.”

             
She nodded.  “
As you wish.”
 
As she started
again
up the winding staircase
,
feeling her way because it had grown dark,
she
was aware of
him
following
her, his every step matching her own.
In front of her was the dusky smell of stone, behind her the spicy scent of man,
and her own breath sounded loud in her ears. 
At the second floor landing there was a faint light from the window at the end of the passage.  It lent an eerie glow to the narrow space, and again she had the sense of something incomplete and empty. 
Lonely
,
so lonely
.
  She shivered with it. 
It made her want to turn to the man behind her and
cling to him, just to know she was not alone. 
Pausing
in front of the chamber she had been given,
she
opened the door.  She felt his hand
lock
on
to
her arm, and turned, her skin heating under his grip.

             
“
Ella
,” he said in a low voice, “
You
’ll not try anything, or
you
will
pay
for it,
wee
lass or no
.”

             
For an instant she again felt guilty that she was here for less-than-honest reasons, but she quickly steeled herself, reaching
up
to touch
his cheek.
Her hand moving of its own accord.
He flinched
from
her touch
as if she had
burned
him
, and she dropped her hand
.
“Thank
you
, I’ll keep that in mind.  Good night, Laird.”  And she closed the door.

             
Ceann
stood there in the hall for a long moment, staring at the closed door.  How was it that she
still
didn’t seem to be afraid of him?  Everyone else trembled when he used
that
voice.
And why did he have to stop himself from pulling her into his arms every
damn time
she touched him
?
  Nothing about her made sense.  The sooner he could be rid of her, the better off he’d
surely
be.

             
Shaking off the unsettling feeling that the lass
was more than she seemed, h
e went
down
to the great h
all, where he joined Ethan for a
drink by the fire,
as was their usual custom when
home
at Tulloch.
 
There they discussed the business of the day, and planned for the
ones to come
. 
He had known Ethan almost all of his life, and he was
his
closest f
riend, no
, more like a brother, and his right-hand man.
  They
had
certainly argued
and fought
as
brothers over the years
.
Each had the scars to prove it, inter-mingled with the deeper scars of
many
battle
s, fought side by side
.
Ethan was perhaps the only living soul who knew all of his secrets, and all of his demons.  It was a good thing he also trusted him with his life.

             
“Och
,
Ceann
, I wasn’t
sure
you
’d be joining me this evening.”  He reached over to the small table
set before the hearth
and poured out some whiskey
into a second cup
.

             
Ceann
eyed his f
riend warily.  “And why wouldn’t
I be joining
you
this evening?”

             
“Well, there’s a beautiful lass
held
at your mercy
upstairs
, I thought maybe…”

  
“
You
thought wrong. 
You
know
I wouldn’t
take advantage of a lass in my care, beautiful or no.”

             
Ethan sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes.  “Aye,
you
wouldn’t
.  I
know
it.
  You are no fun.
”  His look turned teasing.
“It wouldn’t
hurt
you to have a bit more fun.  A man needs release
from time to time
, perhaps the lass is even willing.
”
  He paused.  “If you don’t
want her, maybe I’ll give it a try, if
you
don’t
mind.”

             
“I mind”,
Ceann
snapped.  “You keep
you
r
hands off
her;
there are plenty of other women around to satisfy your
never-ending
lust.”

             
Ethan
raised an eyebrow,
seemingly
unaffected by his friend’s dark
and prickly
mood. 
But, truth be known, he would give most anything to see Ceann happy again. 
He
sat back in his chair and
stared a moment,
plotting his next move,
before he
narrowed
his eyes
.

             
“
You
want her
”
, he said knowingly.

             
“I
don’t
want her!
Ethan I just…”

             
“
You
do want her.  I
don’t
blame
you
a bit.  I’ve never seen a more comely lass, and with a bod
y to satisfy a man’s every
dream
.
 
A
nd
she has spirit.  She stands up to
you
like
you
’r
e
naught more than a wee bairn.
  Aye, when most other women would be scared off with your bad temper and fierce glares.
  I think
you
’ve finally met your match,
Ceann
MacKenzie
.
”

             
“Ethan!  That is enough!  If
you
can’t
hold
you
r
tongue, I’ll send
you
out to sleep in the stables
with the rest of the dogs
.”