Page 15 of Desiring the Highland Laird
“Dougal,” he greeted.
“I hear ye have a visitor, Callum.” He shot him a grin as he entered the bedchamber, then halted when he saw the sleeping woman on the bed. “Aye, a fair bonnie lass.”
Impatience bubbled through him and a sudden sense of possessiveness. “Get to it.”
He chuckled as he moved closer to the side of the bed to check her over. As he reached for her, her eyes flew open. She sat up and screamed.
*
When Evie openedher eyes, the first thing she saw was a scruffy man with long, tangled hair leaning down toward her. Panic surged through her. Before she could think, a yelp tore through her throat as she scrambled back away from him.
It was then she realized she was in an oversized bed with four posts covered in thick velvet curtains. She moved backward on the soft mattress that felt as though it were stuffed with feathers to get away from the intruder.
“Stay back!” she warned.
“Och, lass, I mean ye no harm.”
His thick Scottish brogue made her realize she was still in Scotland. She glanced around the room, though she didn’t recognize it. The last thing she recalled was being in the museum and hunted by Bruce MacDonald.
A second man shoved the first out of the way. “Move aside, Dougal. Ye scared the poor wee lass.”
As soon as she saw him, she sucked in a sharp breath. His sharp blue eyes met hers. A moment of recognition pounded through her. The strange dream she had of the man by the fire flared bright in her mind. She was certain this was the man she saw in her dreams.
He stood at the side of the bed with his hands up as if in surrender. “We’re no goin to hurt ye, lass. What’s yer name?”
She looked from him to the man he called Dougal and back again. “Evie. Evie Sinclair.”
“Well, Evie Sinclair, welcome to Dundale.”
Words escaped her as her mind shut down. No, that wasn’t possible. She was in Edinburgh at a museum with her sister.
Her sister! Where was Chloe?
She shoved aside the thick blanket that covered her and leapt from the bed on the opposite side of the man.
“Chloe.” Her sister’s name came out on a choke.
“Take it easy, lass,” the man said. “Yer no fit to be walking.”
As soon as she took her first step, her leg gave out and she tumbled to the stone flooring. She cried out when she rapped her elbow against the floor. The man was at her side in an instant, kneeling down in front of her with a concerned look in those gorgeous blue eyes.
“Are ye hurt?”
She gripped her elbow. “Who are you?”
“Callum,” he said. “Callum MacLeod.”
Moira’s words came back to her then. Dundale was home to Clan MacLeod. But how did she end up here?
“Ye best let me have a look at her,” the other man said.
Callum waved him off. “Give us a minute.”
Nodding, Dougal shuffled from the room, closing the door behind him.
Callum turned his attention back to her. “I’m fair worried about ye. Ye took a rough tumble.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve fallen out of bed,” she said.
