Page 70 of The Highlander's Auctioned Hellion
He would grip her tightly against him. Lydia would not pull away; lying, waiting for him, those beautiful green eyes reflecting the stars, lips parted on a low moan.
Lowering over her body, he would capture her lips, tasting the sweetness of her mouth before he would push his way inside her.
She would tremble, shuddering beneath him, and finally beg him to take her, rough and hard in the dark?—
Callum was wrenched from his fantasy by a movement behind him.
Spinning in place, he squinted into the shadows beside the wall, gripping the handle of his sword.
Then his shoulders relaxed.
“I cannae see ye but I ken ye’re there,” he murmured.
Slowly, Alexander emerged from the shadows. Callum’s eye ran over the myriad weapons about his person and the thick jacket over his shoulders.
“Are ye expectin’ company?” he asked gruffly, noting a third knife inside Alexander’s boot.
“Nay, M’Laird, I just always like to be prepared.”
“I didnae ask for yer company, man,” he muttered.
“I ken that, M’Laird, but me place is at yer side.”
Callum hesitated, something like happiness fluttering briefly within him at those words. “Go back to yer room, man, I dinnae need ye with me.”
“I ken that too, but I willnae be goin’ anywhere until ye are asleep.”
Callum scowled at him, but Alexander stood his ground, and after a long, drawn-out silence, Callum turned on his heel and continued in the same direction as before.
The man-at-arms soon fell into step beside him.
“What are ye doin’ out here?” Alexander asked.
“Patrolin,’ what does it look like?”
“I have the castle well manned, M’Laird.”
“Aye, what of it?”
Callum glanced at him, and in the residual light from the castle, he could see that the man’s lips were pursed, eyes narrowed with irritation.
“Dae ye think I dinnae believe ye’re doin’ yer job?” he asked, feeling faintly amused that Alexander would take his own restlessness so personally.
“Ye’ve checked the security arrangements every day for the last three, as if ye believe I willnae have protected us all. I will dae everythin’ in me power to keep ye and yer family safe.”
“I ken that.”
“Well then, why are ye checkin’ everything thrice over?” his voice rang out, angry and clear.
They stopped walking, Callum turning toward him. Alexander was looking away, his jaw clenched as he gave a heavy sigh.
“I serve ye, M’Laird. I dinnae ken how I can get it through to ye. I have always guarded this keep, and I will continue until me last breath. That hasnae changed.”
“I ken that, too,” Callum said, his voice soft in the stillness.
“Dae ye? Because ye still look at me as if ye hate me. With a few exceptions, perhaps.” He shook his head. “I would have done anythin’ to protect ye back then. But I had orders from me Laird, and me loyalty had to be with him. Ye think I have slept easy these last four years after what he did to ye? After what we now ken to be true of that woman?”
His eyes were glinting in the half-light, mouth twisted into an angry snarl.
