Page 7 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
His gaze roamed her body as he spoke, and they stopped when they got to her lips again.What is this I am feeling? I cannae be lusting over this woman, Laird Drummond’s daughter.
“I dinnae think findin’ yer aunt is a good idea. What if she sends word to yer maither?”
“I am sure she wouldnae,” she replied. “Do ye have a better idea?” She asked and he shook his head. “Fine… how do we find her?”
“That I might have an idea of,” he replied. “Stay here,” he ordered and handed over the reins of the horse to her, then walked away and back to the market.
He found a man who looked younger than most of the traders he saw around and asked. “I need to find the witch, Orlaith.” The man gave him a shocked look that immediately changed to cautious.
“She lives far away from the village, alone on a deserted path leadin’ to the hills. Nay one around here ever wants to find Orlaith, and I am shocked that ye want to,” the man replied, giving Ian a suspicious look.
“Thank ye,” Ian replied, ignoring his other statement, and walked away from him, heading back to where Hope stood. She smiled when she saw him approach, and his nerves suddenly tingled.
She is so bonnie, and her smile is indeed charming.
Ian could see why many men, his uncle included, would bid such amounts of shillings for her hand. Not that any of them loved her or wanted to take care of her. From the look of awe and hunger on their faces the moment she had stepped into the Hall, he could tell all they wanted to do was devour her.
He couldn’t blame them even though they could at least treat her with the decency and respect they would their wives at home or daughters. What red-blooded man would not want to bed her when she was prettier than any other woman he had set eyes on in the Highlands?
The riding had tousled her brown hair and many strands were out of place, but it did nothing to deter how beautiful she looked, and the first ounce of desire sprang forth inside of him as he got to her. “Did ye find anythin’?” she asked with hope in her eyes and he nodded, unable to tear his gaze away from hers.
“Aye,” he replied. “She lives on the deserted mountainous path leadin’ to the hills.”
“We should head there then,” she said and he nodded.
He lifted her off her feet and put her on the horse again, then they started on the path leading in the direction the trader had pointed them.
As they galloped slowly, Hope turned her neck so she could look at him, and the movement brough her lips closer to his. He heard her sharp intake of breath, and his pulse spiked.
“So… I still dinnae ken yer name,” she said in a dangerously low tone, that made him melt inside.
* * *
Hope’s lips hovered so close to his and it made her shiver. She had never been this close to a man, and never been so far away from her home and yet all she could think of in the moment when she turned her neck was his scent, and the dark look in his eyes.
Earlier when he walked away from her to get some berries, she watched him, taking in his physical features. Most of the men in her Clan had hair just like her father’s. Golden-brown, wavy strands, but his was a jet black that matched his eyes so perfectly. He was also tall, and muscular that whenever he lifted her off the ground and tossed her on his shoulders, she felt light. When he braced her sides with his arms as they rode, she felt safe.
How can I feel safe with a stranger? I still don’t know who he is, why he took me away from my home, but I went with him because I would have done anything to get away from my father and that man.
She blinked away from her thoughts and asked again, “What is yer name?”
“Ian,” he replied as she turned away from him. “Ian Cowan.”
She gasped and turned to him again, their lips came close and she spoke. “Cowan… Cowan as in, Lyall Cowan?” she stammered and he nodded. “Halt,” she yelled. “Stop this horse now.”
Ian came to a halt, and panting she said, “Put me down.”
He obeyed, jumped down from the horse and lifted her, setting her on her feet gently. “Ye are his brother?”
“Nephew,” he corrected.
“Ye are his family. Ye live in his Castle and ye stole me away from him. He would have yer head, that… that is treason, ye betrayed him.”
“Lyall and I dinnae share a close bond relationship,” he said in a cold tone, and his gaze pinned hers. Hope crossed her arm over her chest and waited for him to continue.
“He is incompetent to be Laird of our Clan, he is corrupt and most certainly nay in the right state of mind to lead. Besides,” he paused and sighed, “he is marryin’ ye for the wrong reasons.”
“What reasons?”
