Page 35 of A Highland Bride Disciplined

And still he wanted her.

Not just the feel of her. Not just her mouth or her skin or her thighs, though he’d thought of all of it, too often, but the fire. The fight. The way she met him blow for blow, never breaking, never bending.

He’d never wanted anyone like this. It wasn’t desire. It was possession. Obsession.

He wasn’t sure he liked it.

He certainly couldn’t control it.

And that, more than anything, angered him.

Scarlett’s words about the nursemaid still hung in the air sharply.

In two strides he was in front of her. His hand caught her chin, tilting her face up to his. Her lips parted on a startled breath, and he felt the shiver run through her.

“Ye’ll nae mock me, Scarlett,” he growled. “Daenae think I’ll stand here and be dismissed like a servant.”

Her green eyes flashed defiantly. “Then what will ye do, Kian?” she whispered, like a dare, though her voice trembled.

For a heartbeat, he nearly showed her. Nearly crushed his mouth to hers, claimed her the way his body screamed for. He could taste the heat of her breath.

But Elise had shifted in her sleep, her hand curled tight into a fist beside her cheek.

He took a breath. “I’ll get her what she needs.”

Kian tried not to look at Scarlett’s mouth again, and he failed.

Scarlett’s upper lip had curled slightly as if he’d just presented her with a dead fish.

“Is that nae what ye wished to hear?”

“That’s just it, Kian. Ye’re just sayin’ what I wish to hear and nae what ye ken damn well is right.”

“Christ,” he muttered, pacing the length of the nursery. His boots moved soundless, his chest rattled.

Scarlett’s voice followed him, deceptively calm. “Are ye plannin’ to stride a hole in the floor, or is that just how ye process emotion?”

Kian’s brow ticked. “I was tryin’ nae to say somethin’ I’ll regret.”

“Oh, daenae hold back on me account. I’d hate for ye to bottle up all that brooding rage.”

He turned, slowly. “Andye? Ye’ve done nothin’ but snipe since I walked through the gates.”

“Forgive me if I’m naeweepin’with joy to see the man who abandoned his wife on her wedding night waltz back in like he owns the place.”

Kian stepped closer, “Idoown the place, Scarlett. It’s mine.”

They were nose to nose now. The cradle sat quiet between them, the only barrier to the heat pulsing from every word.

“I just — I hated…” Scarlett started to say, but the words seemingly stuck in her throat.

Me. She hates me.

“I justhatedwonderin’ if ye were ever comin’ back…”

They stood in the flickering firelight, both breathing hard, both too stubborn to be the first to look away.

And still, God help him, he wanted her.