Page 39 of Healing the Highland Sinner (Tales of the Maxwell Lasses #7)
CHAPTER TWO
H awk submerged himself in the warm, deep waters of the hot spring. He breached the surface and floated on his back, a small smile playing across his lips as he replayed what he’d just received from Lyla, one of the serving girls in his father’s household. He’d been flirting with her since his arrival the previous day and was glad to have finally brought that to fruition. She was good and he looked forward to having her again.
He stared up at the sky, watching the fat, white clouds drift across a field of deep azure. It was a beautiful day. Hawk tried to find solace in the natural beauty around him as he struggled to push down the resentment that burned inside of him. But the fact that he was there, beneath his father’s roof once more, did not allow that completely. It wasn’t necessarily that he was there that rankled him. It was why he was there.
His mother, Ysobel had passed just two years ago now and his father was already marrying again. That was why he was there, and it angered him greatly. Hawk loved his mother very much. She was a saint in his eyes and marrying so soon after her passing felt like a slap in the face to everything she was. It was disrespectful to her memory.
However, as his father’s heir, he was expected to attend the pending nuptials whether he liked it or not. Truth be told, Hawk didn’t believe he was suited to be the heir to his father’s lairdship. He thought that honor should go to his brother, Nathair, who had the skill, intelligence, and temperament to be a laird. Nathair was his father’s favored child and but for the fact that he was the second born, he would have been the logical choice to succeed him.
Hawk was smart and crafty. He was also a skilled and fierce warrior who’d seen and accomplished more on the battlefield than his brother. He simply did not have the skill of diplomacy or the temperament that Nathair had. Nor did he truly have the desire to succeed his father. Being the laird had never been something he had sought, nor truly wanted. The thing he wanted most was the one thing he felt he would never have: his father’s respect.
He did not know who it was his father was marrying, only that she was significantly younger than him and the daughter of a laird he sought to ally with. Having a keen strategic mind, Hawk understood the benefits of the alliance. He didn’t even necessarily disagree with it. With the threat of clan MacLean looming over them, strengthening their position made sense. MacLean was a power-hungry man, as ruthless as he was immoral, who sought to dominate the world around him. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to attain ultimate power.
So, from that perspective, Hawk understood this alliance. But from a more personal and emotional point of view, he still bristled. It felt like a betrayal of his mother. And that enraged him. And that his father would dismiss his anger, telling him to stop acting like a bairn, only served to enrage him further.
It showed Hawk that his father didn’t know him or understand him. More than that, it showed him his father didn’t care to. It had never been that way with Nathair. His father spent most of his time with Nathair, talking to him, learning about him, while Hawk’s relationship with his father had always been complicated.
As he floated languidly in the water, trying to quell the tempest in his mind, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and gooseflesh flashed across his skin. His body taut, Hawk put his feet on the soft bottom of the spring and stood up. He raked his fingers through his hair, his stomach churning as he moved slowly in a circle—he was being watched.
Gritting his teeth and cursing the fact that he was naked and had no weapon, Hawk narrowed his eyes and scanned the shoreline. He saw nothing at first and was about to chalk it up to his being paranoid when he saw her. She was peeking out from behind one of the tall, wide trees that ringed the spring. Hawk stood up to his waist in the water, his gaze locked on hers, trying to decide what to do next.
The girl watching him was young. He would have been surprised if she’d seen more than twenty or twenty-one summers. Her hair was blacker than they sky at midnight and fell to the middle of her back and her eyes sparkled like polished emeralds. Her complexion was pale, save for cheeks that were flushed red, but that only added to her beauty.
As their gazes lingered on one another, it occurred to Hawk that she had been behind that tree the whole time Lyla had been on his knees servicing him—an idea that seemed to carry some weight given her flushed cheeks and wide-eyed, mortified stare. He didn’t know why, but the thought of her watching them together stirred his arousal once more.
“Did ye enjoy the show, lass?” he called. “Did ye like what ye saw?”
A squeak burst from her mouth as she quickly ducked behind the tree again. Hawk’s hearty chuckle echoed around the spring. He couldn’t see her but knew her cheeks were burning a bright red as she battled the waves of embarrassment undoubtedly crashing over her. The thought of her huddling behind that tree, covering her face, mortified beyond belief, only made him laugh harder. His face and sides hurt—it was the sort of laugh he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
“Ye can stop laughin’ already. ‘Tis naethin’ funny about this,” she called from behind the tree.
“I disagree, lass. It is the funniest thing ever.”
“Which proves ye’re a simpleton.”
“Aye. Never said I wasnae,” he called back. “Now, why dinnae ye stop bein’ a coward and come on out from behind the tree. Unless ye’re just a deviant who likes watchin’ things when ye think nobody’s watchin’.”
She stepped out from behind the tree and planted her hands on her hips, glowering at him darkly. The woman really was beautiful. More beautiful than he’d even thought at first. She had a lean, petite figure but soft curves and swells in all the right places, making Hawk swell even more beneath the surface of the water.
“I’m nae a deviant,” she shouted.
“Nay? Then why’d ye watch?”
Her mouth fell open like she was going to say something, but no words came out. Instead, she snapped her mouth shut so hard, he could practically hear her teeth click together, which made him laugh again.
“But back tae me original question that ye’ve nae answered yet,” he called to her. “Did ye enjoy the show, lass?”
She pursed her lips and glared at him. “Nae really. I’ve seen better.”
“I find that hard tae believe.”
“’Tis true,” she replied. “I was nae impressed by what I saw.”
Grinning wide, Hawk shook his head. “Well, perhaps ye can show me what impresses ye, eh? Or better yet, why dinnae we get Lyla back here and ye can show her how tae dae it since ye seem tae be the expert and all.”
She gaped at him. “How dare ye!”
“Oh, I dare very easily, usually. ‘Tis in me nature.”
The woman folded her arms over her chest and looked absolutely scandalized. Hawk clapped his hands together as he laughed, having more fun than he’d had in a long time.
“Who are ye, lass?” he called once he stopped laughing. “Are ye new tae the village?”
“Who I am is of nay concern tae a boorish oaf like ye.”
“Oh, a boorish oaf? If I didnae ken better, I’d say ye’re a highborn girl.”
“’Tis a pity ye’ll never find out.”
With that, the raven-haired woman spun on her heel and began marching away indignantly. Hawk admired her backside, which was plump, round, and everything he liked, and he was determined to have her.
“Who are ye?” Hawk called. “I want tae ken yer name!”
She cast a glance at him over her shoulder. “’Tis a pity we dinnae get everything we want then, eh?”
Her feistiness made him smirk, both intriguing and arousing. He was more determined than ever to find out who she was and have her.
“Last chance,” he called, his voice chasing her down the path. “Tell me yer name.”
“Ye’ll never ken?—”
Her words cut off sharply, replaced by a shrill squeal as she tripped over an exposed root and stumbled forward on the path. She pinwheeled her arms and Hawk was certain she was going to land face first in the dirt and muck on the path, but she somehow managed to maintain her balance and stay upright. He howled with laughter.
“Well done, lass,” he called. “Well done!”
His last view of her was of that perfect heart-shaped backside and the obscene gesture she lobbed at him over her shoulder. Hawk laughed to himself.
“I dinnae ken who ye are. But I will find out,” he said. “And I’m goin’ tae have ye.”