Page 1 of Taken by the Highland Villain (Breaking the Highland Rules #2)

“Och, what a sweet, lovely bairn ye are. Aye, that ye are.” Valerie Blackwood finished wrapping a clean blanket around her newborn niece, marveling as she did so.

Ten months ago, she and her sisters would never have imagined having the good fortune they were currently enjoying. After watching their youngest sister, Brigid, being carried off by their grandfather’s men, they had all imagined the worst fate possible. But it hadn’t happened.

Instead, Brigid had gained a loving husband, and the rest of them had gained a clan. Just the previous season, they had been formally declared members of Clan MacKane, kin to Laird MacKane, his wife, and now their daughter.

The bairn whimpered fretfully, and Valerie turned back to where Brigid lay in her husband’s arms, exhausted from labor, while their oldest sibling worked to clean away the dirty sheets and towels and lay out new ones. “Is everything all right?”

“Aye. Everything’s perfect, even with the bairn born seven days earlier than expected. She has a good weight and good lungs on her.”

Valerie smiled wryly, remembering how the babe had screamed loud enough to send Brigid’s husband, Conall, charging into the room, afraid someone was dying.

Despite all the noise of childbirth, he could be stoic and wait outside the doors like men are supposed to do, but one squall from a bairn and he’s at his wits’ end, chargin’ in here like a bull.

Most likely, he’ll be wrapped around his daughter’s fingers afore she’s seen her first fortnight—he’s already so protective and concerned for her and Brigid.

“Good. Megan will be happy to hear it.”

Their other sister was out hunting and gathering more herbs with the help of MacKane’s healer, to ensure Brigid’s smooth and quick recovery.

Valerie soothed the bairn with a little bounce and a rocking motion of her arms. “It is still such a surprise—our Brigid the first to have a bairn. I thought for certain it would be ye or me, Lily.”

“Och, nae me. I thought perhaps ye, when Faither made that terrible bargain, but…” Lily trailed off.

“It wasnae to be, and I’m glad of that.” Valerie shrugged her shoulders. “And it doesnae matter, now that we have this perfect little lass.” She cooed and cradled the bairn closer, causing the child to make a sleepy, contented noise.

She’d wake up soon and want her mother for her first feeding, but for now, Valerie was content to hold the wee bairn and rock her.

A commotion outside the door caught her attention, and she turned with a frown. “Whatever can that be?”

She couldn’t imagine Conall’s man-at-arms allowing anyone to disturb them while Brigid was in labor, and for the sound to reach this deep into the castle…

Whoever was causing the disturbance was being quite loud. All of them listened with growing concern—and in Conall’s case, increasing ire—as the voices grew louder.

Brigid still looked too pale and too worn out to deal with any disturbance, and from the look in his eyes, Conall was going to tear whoever had dared disturb them limb from limb. Lily was needed at Brigid’s side to care for the new mother and the bairn.

That left Valerie.

She moved to Conall’s side as he laid Brigid in the freshly made bed and handed him the newborn babe. “Here. Ye hold her for a while. I’ll go deal with whatever trouble there is.”

Conall’s jaw clenched. “Ye dinnae need to. My duty as Laird…”

“Right now, yer duty is to be a supportive husband to yer wife and a faither to yer daughter. Rest easy, I can handle whatever trouble there is.”

Valerie patted him on the shoulder, bent to give Brigid a quick kiss on the forehead, then slipped out of the room and followed the sound of raised voices down the hall, out of the family wing, and into the main corridor.

The main corridor was crowded with men. Those with their backs to her wore MacKane tartan, and in the middle of them stood a tall, broad-shouldered man she knew all too well—Oliver, Conall’s brother and man-at-arms.

Opposite them stood a group of armed men wearing tartan she knew almost as well as that of Clan MacKane— Clan MacOlley —and in the center stood Laird MacOlley himself.

Valerie’s stomach tightened.

Nathan Cullen, Laird of Clan MacOlley, was a tall, suave man with long red hair that he kept impeccably brushed and tied back, brown eyes that reminded her of mud, and good looks that had made many a lass swoon at his feet.

He was charming, sophisticated, and wealthy, laird of a prosperous clan, and considered by many one of the most desirable men in the Highlands.

Valerie couldn’t stand him.

From the first time she’d met him, he’d reminded her far too much of her mother’s stories of her grandfather.

Her dislike of him had only increased after years serving aboard a ship with her father.

She’d met far too many men like Nathan Cullen to fall prey to the shallow words and empty smiles that everyone else thought so charming.

Not that her opinion mattered much to him , it seemed. Even as she approached, she could hear him speaking in that oily, polite tone of his.

“There’s nay need to be so ill-tempered. All I want is to speak to Valerie Blackwood. Let me see her, and I promise ye, I shall go away quietly—if the lady wishes it. Which she may nae, given our… understanding.”

The way he said the last word made Valerie’s stomach lurch. He made it sound like they were lovers. Even so, she steeled herself and stepped forward, even as Oliver responded.

“I dinnae ken anything about an ‘understanding’ between ye and anyone in this castle. What I do ken, however, is that ye’re trespassin’ on My Laird and braither’s lands without invitation, and unwanted into the bargain.

I dinnae want to shed blood at the birth of my niece, but if ye dinnae leave, there will be blood shed—ye can take my word for it. ”

“Och, I didnae come here to fight. However, I must insist—I shall nae leave without speakin’ to my Valerie.

If that means I must defend my presence here with steel, then so be it.

” Nathan’s smile was still fixed firmly in place, but there was a cold edge to it that told Valerie everything she needed to know.

Nathan wouldn’t hesitate to harm Oliver or any of Conall’s men if he thought it would get him what he wanted. Today, of all days, she could not let that happen.

She quickened her steps and pushed through the MacKane warriors to place a calming hand on Oliver’s shoulder, before he did something rash. “It is all right, Oliver. I’m here now.”

Oliver glanced down at her, worry mingling with anger in his eyes. “Valerie, if ye dinnae want to speak to this man…”

“It is all right. Laird MacOlley and I do have matters to speak of. I could wish he’d nae been so forceful about it, but…

” Valerie tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave him a sidelong, commiserating glance.

“Some men are determined to have their way when it suits them. I learned while travelin’ with my faither that it is best to hear them out and send them on their way, rather than waste time and spoil everyone’s mood with an argument. ”

Oliver frowned. “Are ye certain?”

“Aye, I am. Besides…” She patted his arm and offered him a warm smile. “Ye’ve a new niece now, and I think Conall’s calmed down enough now that ye’ll get through the door without him tearin’ yer head off.”

Oliver relaxed at the slight teasing note she’d forced into her voice. “I wouldnae dare enter afore maither and bairn were settled…”

“Lily just got Brigid back into a clean bed, and if ye dinnae go now, ye’ll likely have to wait until after our niece has had her first feeding—or suffer the wailin’ when she wakes up and demands her food.”

Oliver grimaced. “Och, I get enough of that with my own bairn. I love Dylan enough to fight a war for him, I truly do, but the lungs on that lad when he’s hungry or in need of a changin’…”

“Aye. So ye’d better go and get yer first look at yer niece while she’s still sleepy, because I dinnae doubt she’ll be as noisy as her cousin once she wakes up.” Valerie patted his arm again and gave him a small push toward the stairs. “Go. Yer men will keep me safe.”

Oliver glared at Nathan, but sheathed his sword, nonetheless. With a curt bow to both of them, he turned and walked away, his steps quick as he made his way toward the family wing, where his brother and the newest member of their clan awaited.

Nathan waited until Oliver was out of earshot, then motioned for his men to return to the Great Hall with the rest of the MacKane soldiers. Once they had departed, he smiled at Valerie. “Alone at last, my dear.”

She shivered at the expression on his face. Many might call it a handsome smile, but to her, it was a snake’s expression, and what glittered in his eyes was covetousness, not love or even simple desire.

He cared not one whit for her as a person—he wanted a trophy, and she well knew it. Still, she knew better than to let her feelings or her thoughts show on her face.

“Aye. But truly, ye picked a poor time to arrive unannounced. Surely ye didnae think Conall would welcome strangers when his wife is giving birth?”

“We are hardly strangers, ye and I. Besides, I came to celebrate the birth of the child with ye—ye and yer family. And why nae?” He stepped close and took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it that made her shudder in disgust. “After all, can ye think of a more perfect way to celebrate the birth of a child than by also celebratin’ a formal union between the two of us—and between Clan MacKane and Clan MacOlley? ”

Valerie plastered a smile on her face. “Och, I told ye I needed time to consider yer proposal. With my sister so close to giving birth, I’ve had little time to consider aught else. Surely ye understand that.”

“Of course I do, my dear. But she has given birth now, and my patience… well, it runs thin. I cannae wait forever.” Nathan gave a sigh, which made her tense. “If ye dinnae agree and come with me soon, I will think ye are rejectin’ me for a second time. And ye wouldnae want that to happen.”

Valerie scowled, unnerved more than she cared to admit. “What do ye mean by that?”

“I mean that if I cannae secure yer willing hand in marriage, I may have to claim ye by force—even if it means declarin’ war on Clan MacKane.

And that would be such a shame, would it nae?

To let yer newborn niece grow up without a faither, simply because of yer selfishness?

Ye dinnae want yer niece to grow up without a faither, do ye? ”

His smile was a poisonous thing, and it made her stomach twist.

She fought to maintain her confident facade. “Ye seem confident that ye would defeat Conall. Are ye so sure of yer skill that ye’d wager yer strength against his?”

She’d hoped to anger him, or at least put him on his guard. Instead, his cold smile only widened.

“The real question, my dear, is whether ye are willing to sacrifice the lives and welfare of yer kinfolk if his strength and resources are greater than mine.”

The question cut like a blade, and all the more keenly because they both knew the answer to that.

Nathan laughed and reached out his hand to caress her cheek. “Ye see, it really is for the best. I will give ye a little more time to spend with yer sister—I am nae heartless, after all. Seven days, perhaps? But then I expect to see ye at my side, and my castle.”

Valerie swallowed hard. “Seven days? It is scarcely enough time, especially if I’m to prepare for a wedding and gather my things to move. Besides, the bairn willnae even get to ken who I am if I leave so soon, and there will be questions if I leave so abruptly—a season would be better.”

“A season is far too long, especially when I ken how… spirited ye can be.” Nathan’s expression hardened, showing a glimpse of the cold viciousness under the mask of smooth politeness. “Seven days, my dear lass, or I will be forced to come and fetch ye.”

She wanted to protest, but she knew it would do no good. Worse, if she provoked him further, he might harm someone in the castle. It would appear accidental, but they would both know it was his retaliation for her refusal to bend to his whims.

“I understand.”

“I kenned ye would.” He bowed to her with mock politeness, that cold, covetous snake’s smile once more firmly in place. “Until then, I wish ye a good day. And Valerie… do try to moderate yer expressions, my dear. Ye ken I much prefer yer usual calm demeanor to such vehement emotional outbursts.”

Then, he was gone, leaving her heart in turmoil and heavy with resignation.

I must find a way. I cannae marry that man, but I cannae let him attack my family either!