Page 31 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Bride
CHAPTER 31
And to think, I believed Lillian was nae a good liar, Maisie thought as they emerged into the brightness of the day.
Harris ran to them, with several guards behind him, and James stopped in their path.
“Bram Wallace was to blame,” he stated loudly.
Marcus emerged behind him, holding Lillian close to his side. A great wail went up from behind them as James turned to see Mrs. Guthrie running towards her husband.
Despite his wife’s attempts at a tearful reunion, one look from James and Marcus dragged her and his niece away.
Maisie’s heart ached for Lillian. If what Bram said was true, she would only have been fifteen when he had begun to pay attention to her. What girl of fifteen could understand the world enough to realize when she was being manipulated?
She sighed, feeling James’s steady arm around her shoulders, utterly unsure where they would go from here.
“Bram’s body is in the cellar. Take it away and dispose of it, somewhere outside MacLennan lands, I dinnae wish that man to ever find his rest here.”
Harris nodded and beckoned to the guards as they descended the steps behind him.
James still hadn’t looked at her. His hand on her shoulder was tense, and as they walked toward the castle, she could not think of anything to say.
They reached his study in silence, both quiet and pensive.
Maisie walked to his desk, leaning against it and looking up at his stern expression. His eyes were dark and brooding. She didn’t know where their future was headed. The only thing she was sure of was that she hated being apart from him.
I cannae live separate lives with this man. She thought sadly. I willnae.
“When things are settled, I will head back to me faither’s,” she said. “Ye were right. Ye had everything under control, and I only caused problems for ye. Ye wouldnae even be in this situation if ye had just chosen Lillian.”
James slammed the door so loudly she jumped.
“What was that?”
Maisie scowled at him. “I said when all this is o’er, I will return to Larkhill.”
“Ye’ll leave when I give ye permission.”
“Stop that!” Maisie snapped, standing to attention and wincing slightly as it jarred her leg. “Stop pretendin’ ye want me here. The first words ye said to me were that I shouldnae have returned. It’s clear that all of this has been caused by me, and ye wish for me to be gone. Well, ye have yer wish!”
“What are ye talkin’ about?” he yelled.
“Ye said it right from the start, but I was stupid enough to believe that I could convince ye otherwise. I see I was foolish to believe I would ever get through to ye.”
He stalked toward her, his huge looming presence intimidating and thrilling all at once, but she pushed those feelings down and barreled on.
“Ye said it yerself—ye wouldnae let anyone threaten yer ‘world’!” she spat. “Well, clearly havin’ a wife is threatenin’ everythin’ just as ye said. I am merely a distraction. So, it would be best if I just?—”
He grabbed her by the shoulders, slamming her back into the desk with a growl of rage, and crushed his lips against hers.
His strong hand pressed firmly against the small of her back, bending her backward over the desk. He plundered her mouth with his tongue as he forced his way inside, pressing his body against her.
As quickly as the kiss had started, he pulled away, stepping back and looking down at her. She was so startled she could only pant in the wake of the desire in his eyes.
“ Ye are me world,” he stated, and her breath caught in her throat at the sincerity in his gaze. “Ye have penetrated me mind so deeply that all I can think, all I can see, is ye. A distraction ? Ye are me body and soul, Maisie. Ye mean more to me than anythin’ else in me world , because ye have become it.”
He stepped forward, pulling her toward him so roughly she gasped.
“Ye make me a better man every day that ye spend with me. I would become a fisherman if it meant I could keep ye forever, convince ye forever that ye are more important than anythin’ else that has passed through me life.”
He leaned forward and captured her mouth in another harsh kiss before he softened his hold and hugged her to him. He held her against his body as though he might never let go.
Maisie softened as he rested his head against her hair, a long sigh bursting from his lungs as he gripped her so tightly.
“I wouldnae e’er ask ye to choose between us,” she said urgently, pulling away a little and looking up at him. “Duty will always be yer purpose, and I will always be at yer side.”
His intense gaze locked with hers, and she forced herself not to look away from the weight of it.
“I love ye, Maisie Brown,” he said, making her heart flutter in her chest. “And I am nae lettin’ ye leave me. Nae ever again.”
“So ye dinnae wish us to live separate lives?” she asked, putting her arms around his waist and holding him just as tightly to her.
He snorted. “Nae, I may just dae as I threatened and tie ye to me bed. That way I can always ken where ye are. Me beautiful wife.”
She shuddered. “I love ye too,” she said simply, and he kissed her once more, his fingers tightening on her back. “I love every part of ye, even my stubborn laird.”
He frowned. “Dae ye nae think I would make a good fisherman then, lass?”
She laughed. “I am sure ye would be good at anythin’ ye set yer mind to, me laird.”
He grinned that impossible grin that lit up his whole countenance, and she smiled up at him happily.
“I am glad ye have such faith in me, wife, as I plan to be a marvelous husband to ye from now on.”
She giggled as he claimed her mouth with his own again kissing her passionately as they held one another, reveling in the knowledge that they were together again and that nothing could pull them apart.