Seducing the Highlander (4 page)

He watched as she shoved the last tapestry into the second leather bag and cinched it closed. The two
large
stuffed bags on the bed meant that
he
had lost their bet and not she. He should have known that just as he had been plotting a way for her to lose . . . Laurel had been doing the same.

A thought struck him. If Laurel wanted him to be agreeable, then that was exactly what she was going to get. “I think it is a
great
idea that Meriel come with us.”

Laurel came to an abrupt stop. With one hand still in the second bag, she looked up. “You do?”

“Aye. After what you and Raelynd did last night, Craig could use some distance from her.”

“You think
Craig
could use some distance from Meriel.”

“Aye. I think he needs some time to think about what happened and determine if it meant anything.”

“
Meant
anything? Of course it meant something!”

Conor came around and pulled Laurel’s back against his chest to give her a big hug. “I know
you
think they love each other.”

Laurel tried unsuccessfully to shrug him off. “They
do
love each other. Craig just refuses to admit his feelings.”

Conor let out a long, audible breath. “Then, Laurel, my love, distance is not going to change his mind.”

Laurel spun around in his arms to face him. Her brows wrinkled upon seeing that he was earnest. “How can you not want your brother to be happy?”

Conor reached around her and snatched the heavier of the two bags. “He
is
happy. They both were until last night when you and Raelynd meddled in their lives.”

“I was not meddling.”

“Then what do you call it?”

“What I did was called . . . assisting. At least I thought I was,” Laurel said, the last words barely audible. Then suddenly her demeanor changed. “Is Hamish returning with us?”

“Why?” Conor asked skeptically, his left arm still encircling her. “I think he was considering staying a couple more days to help Craig.”

“Then my question is, can he?”

Conor laughed at her eager expression. If he recognized the obvious ploy, then so would Craig. “You think you can make my brother jealous? Laurel, if anything, Craig will suspect he’s being manipulated and become even more determined not to admit his feelings for Meriel—
if
he has them.”

Laurel bit her bottom lip to hide her smile, but nothing could disguise the mischievous sparkle in her blue-green eyes. “Inspire jealousy? On the contrary, love. I was just thinking about you,” she said, craning her head back so that her pale blond hair hung in loose waves down to the small of her back. Putting her hands on his biceps, she added, “If you can convince Hamish to leave with us as well, then you will not have to help Meriel along the journey. If I recall, she is not quite as skilled with riding horses as we are.”

Conor’s eyes widened. “Skilled? Ha! She can barely stay on top of one.”

“So you will ask Hamish to come?”

The question seemed innocent, as well as her reasoning. But they both knew otherwise. Whatever the motivation behind her request, one thing was for certain—Laurel was in the midst of one of her plans. Conor sought only to escape its tentacles.

He narrowed his eyes. He released the bag and crossed his arms. “I do not know what is going on in that mind of yours, but just so you and I are clear,
I
will not be helping Meriel during this trip, nor will she be helping
you
with your duties after we arrive.”

Laurel smiled at him. “It won’t be like last time. I promise Meriel will be a guest and a guest only.”

“And exactly what will she do to occupy her time then?”

Laurel went onto her tiptoes and kissed him on his stubbled chin. “Oh, I’ve got some ideas.”

“If your ideas include Hamish, you might want to rethink them. I heard him talking last night. He is interested in someone else and he says it is serious this time.”

Laurel’s smile turned sour. “I am fully aware of Hamish and Wyenda, and I would not dream of interfering with a true love match. If it is meant to be, then it will be.”

Doubt crossed his face. If anything proved Laurel was not behind a match between Hamish and Wyenda, her last statement did. He knew his wife did not trust the beauty, and secretly he agreed with her. If Wyenda was showing an interest in Hamish and history was any indicator, she was doing so only until someone better came along. Still, Laurel’s statement definitely held hidden meaning. “Then just what are you planning?”

Laurel leaned into him, letting her soft curves mold to the contours of his muscular body. “Nothing more than for Hamish to come along and aid Meriel. I’ll admit to hoping they become friends, but truly nothing more. Maybe they will be able to help each other in ways you and I could not.”

Conor pulled back slightly, but not enough to break contact. “I’m not sure I believe you.”

“You didn’t believe I could pack everything in two bags either, did you? When are you going to trust me?”

His mouth twisted wryly. “Craig, Meriel, Hamish—they are adults. They have to arrive at their own conclusions, Laurel.”

“I absolutely agree. I also know that for them to arrive at the
right
conclusions, Hamish and Meriel need to come with us,” Laurel said softly. Her voice was sweet and amenable, but her chin was set in a stubborn line. Conor knew that unless he was willing to absolutely refuse her request, talking about it further was not going to change anything.

“Fine, I’ll talk to Hamish.”

“And I’ll go talk to Meriel.”

His lips parted in surprise. “You mean she didn’t ask to come?”

“Oh, she will want to.”

Conor arched a single dark brow as she slid her hands up and down his crossed arms, caressing the tense muscles. “No pressure?” he asked, his doubt unmistakable. She licked her lips, intentionally drawing his eyes toward her mouth. Her perfect mouth. Her sexy mouth.
Mo creach
. He would never get enough of her.

“Do you really still doubt a woman’s ability to read the needs of the other?”

“I only wish I had the gift to be able to read your mind,” Conor replied huskily, giving in to his baser needs.

Laurel let her head fall back as his lips began a sensuous trail along her neck. “You are an amazingly clever man. I’m sure given enough clues that you . . .” She sighed, unable to remember the witty retort on the tip of her tongue. Conor might not always know what she was thinking, but he never failed in his ability to stop her ability to think.

 

 

Meriel’s eyes followed her father as he retreated into the Great Hall. Rae Schellden, one of the strongest and more formidable clan chieftains in the Highlands, was also the most vulnerable and yielding when it came to his daughters. Last year was the first time she and her sister had ever left the protection of Caireoch, and only months after their return did she learn from the staff how tremendously hard their departure had been on him. And now she was leaving again.

Tears formed in her eyes as she remembered how close he had held her to him. “I should deny you this request, but since you were a wee thing, you have known better than anyone just how to sway my thinking. Take care, child. Go and learn how to smile again.”

Meriel had never said anything about her feelings for Craig, but somehow her father had known. And though she had promised her visit would be short, in reality, she did not know just how long she would be gone.

Returning her attention to her horse, Meriel took a step closer to the animal and inhaled deeply, hoping to diminish the ripples of fear going through her. Tentatively, she stretched her arm out and barely stroked the brown hair along the horse’s neck. “Remember me, Merry? We took a trip together once before and we are going to do it again. A nice, uneventful, peaceful trip.”

A chuckle behind her caused her to spin around. She should have known Hamish would be coming with them. She had seen him around and remembered the Highlander well from her visit to the McTiernays last year. It was hard to forget anyone who liked himself as much as the man in front of her did, which was one of the reasons she had intentionally avoided his company during the past week’s festivities.

He wore the McTiernay plaid, but he did not resemble the majority of their clan. The man was tall, but shaped more like her father, broad shouldered and muscular. Instead of being dark featured, his hair was a deep auburn and he let it hang loose just past his shoulders. But it was his eyes that were the most striking, and like so many women before her, his intense gaze had drawn her in. Meriel blinked and the magic was gone, leaving her to see that the shimmer in his eyes was caused from laughter. The hulking brute was gleaning enjoyment from her fear of riding.

Meriel turned around abruptly, hoping that he understood the hint but doubting he did. The man truly believed all females were susceptible to his charm, and after witnessing several women fall for his flirtations, it was not hard to believe the rumors of his being quite the sinner. “Beware, Merry,” she whispered to her mount. “A McTiernay wolf is in our presence.”

The chuckle increased in volume as two large hands gently gripped her waist and effortlessly placed her on top of the horse before she realized what was happening. “McTiernay wolf ?” Hamish whispered back. “I like your pet name for me. But only in private. In public, best call me Hamish.”

Meriel clutched Merry’s mane in a fierce grip and narrowed her eyes in preparation to glare at him, but she decided to play along instead. This man needed to know at least one woman was immune to his charm. “
Madadh-allaidh
.” She purred the word “wolf ” to him, gaining enormous satisfaction when his eyes popped open wide. She was about to say more when a bellow from across the courtyard halted most conversations and all activity.

“What the hell do you think you are doing on top of that horse?” roared Craig from across the bailey.

He had waited until the last possible moment before coming inside the castle walls to say good-bye to his brother and wife before they left for home. He knew Meriel would also be there giving her farewells, and had already prepared an excuse to leave as soon as his brother departed. After his barely successful attempt to restrain himself that morning, he had decided to minimize their time together until his attraction to her was once again under his complete control. But the moment he saw Hamish’s hands on her small waist, lifting her onto a horse, a wave of turbulent and indefinable emotion hit him full force.

“Just what do you think you are doing?” Craig demanded again in a steely voice as he reached her side. He issued Hamish an icy glare and immediately his friend threw his hands up and took a step backward.

Meriel, on the other hand, was not intimidated and had no inclination to retreat. “Do you really need me to answer? For I thought it was fairly obvious.”

Meriel tossed her hair back so that the blond highlights in the tawny locks caught the sun. Craig knew it was a move she did to compose herself when really mad. Well, she could go ahead and be mad. He was furious too. It was
her
sister who got them into this mess and it was
her
idea to kiss like they had.
She
was the one who prematurely came to visit him when
she
should have known he was not ready to see her. And now
she
was letting
Hamish
, a known womanizer, touch her. Meriel was lucky he did not yank her off the horse and throttle her in front of everyone. “It most certainly was a real question, and I am waiting for an answer, Meriel.”

His contemptuous tone only further sparked her anger. “Don’t bark at me, Craig McTiernay. I am not one of your men you can order about. And as far as what I’m doing, why, I am sitting on a horse.”

She did not call him a fool, but all within hearing heard the implication. “And just
where
do you plan on going?”

There was an edge to his voice, one that alarmed everyone around them but not her. With her chin, she pointed to the open portcullis. “Right out that gate, across a stretch of land and into your childhood home.”

“You are not.”

His voice, though quiet, had a ruthless, ominous quality, and Meriel could hear the crowd begin to whisper. She could only guess as to what they were saying. Who would have thought the most affable of the McTiernay warriors and Laird Schellden’s carefree daughter could raise their voices at one another, let alone fight? Another day when she was not so emotionally frazzled, Meriel might have cared. “Be careful,” she hissed, “or you will start rumors about us all over again. And I will not volunteer another chance for you to kiss me in order to quell them.”

Watching the two argue, Conor was caught somewhere between shock and amusement. It was rare to see Craig emerge from his emotional shell where he protected himself with mirth and wit. Maybe Laurel was right. Maybe Craig did love Meriel. Nothing else explained his brother’s violent reaction.

Laurel leaned over to him and whispered, “Is it possible we sound like that when we quarrel?”

Conor pulled back his chin in defiance of the possibility. “Nah, look around you, love. Everyone is watching them intently. Do our clansmen stare at us when we disagree?”

Laurel bit her bottom lip as she considered his argument. He was correct. Though she was honest with herself enough to know that their “disagreements” were sometimes intense enough to be called arguments, no one ever paid them any attention regardless how heated they became. Relief filled her just as Craig bellowed out another barb.

“You really expect me to believe you are actually leaving your home for any length of time?” Craig ground out as he examined Merry and the rest of the small group’s horses. There were no multitude of carriers crammed with sewing threads and materials. He pointed at the two sacks on the back of her horse. “I see none of your bulging bags hanging off the hind end of every horse.”