Page 16 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Hellion (Auctioned Highland Brides #4)

“Patrol the nearest edges of the forest,” Callum instructed, watching the guards assembling below him in the courtyard. “I want three groups to walk along the lakeside and the east path. Look for signs of fires that might have been set—or anyone watching the castle.”

“Aye, M’Laird,” Alexander said, signaling to the men through the window to mount their horses.

They were sending out three patrols, and a fourth, led by Alexander.

Is it enough? It is impossible to ken. But I have to keep those wee girls safe.

There was a prevailing feeling in his gut that something was coming. He didn’t know what it was, but it was looming on the horizon like a shadow.

It has been too quiet for too long.

What was Moira playing at? If she wanted the girls, she could have come to take them at any time. What is the delay?

Since the night of the attack, Callum had been like a coiled spring. His reputation was such that there would be few who would wish to meet him head-on—he was a fearsome opponent in battle and had destroyed armies in the past.

If they chose to attack, it was more probable they’d aim for the castle and avoid a confrontation with him completely.

The idea of the girls being taken, even in the short time he’d spent with them, made his blood boil in his veins.

“I shall report tonight,” Alexander murmured, heading to the door.

“Watch yer back,” Callum said automatically and saw his man-at-arms pause, his eyes warming a little before he headed down to join the guards.

Callum stared after them as the horses galloped away, splitting in four directions as the sun moved lower in the sky.

I will catch anyone who is watchin’ us. Moira cannae take me by surprise again, and if she tries, I’ll kill her meself.

“Uncle Callum! Uncle Callum!”

He spun round, a hand on his sword, sprinting down the stone steps of the keep and leaping onto the courtyard below.

Amy and Eilis were running toward him, waving madly.

“What is it?”

“It is Lady Lydia! She is callin’ for ye, she’s cryin’ for help in the library!”

Callum didn’t hesitate, summoning a guard to watch the girls. He sprinted inside, drawing his sword and running at full pelt toward the rear wall where the library was situated.

He hadn’t set foot in that room in years.

Were there windows that could be penetrated? If someone had gotten in, how much time did he have? Would they kill his bride-to-be out of spite?

The questions swarmed through his head, his heart drumming at a rate of knots as he ran through the final corridor and only paused his stride for a second to burst through the door.

Panting wildly, he held his sword in front of him, ready to kill any man who laid a hand on his future wife.

But the sight that greeted him made him scowl instead.

Lydia was standing beside the fire, examining a telescope balanced on a tripod beside a bookshelf. She leaped back from it as though scalded, staring wide-eyed at him.

“Whatever is it?” she asked. “Was there another attack?”

“Who is in here with ye?” he demanded.

“Who would be here with me? I am alone.”

“Nae, was there a break in? Has someone attacked?” he demanded, staring up at the high window above and the small metal balcony that ran around the upper shelves.

“No, no one is in here. I was waiting for the girls to read them a story.”

“They said ye were callin’ for help!” Callum spat, stalking forward and walking around the edges of the room.

The library was filled with shelves on all sides. The kind of place that, if a villain wanted to hide, he could.

Callum and Angus hadn’t spent a lot of time here. He had never been a great reader, and the musty shelves and silence made him tense.

“Callum, there is no one here,” Lydia insisted, following behind him and watching as he leaped behind each shelf, sword drawn.

She laughed, and it cut through to his core.

“Ye think someone breakin’ into this castle and hurtin’ ye is funny?” he asked briskly.

“Well, the thought had not occurred to me,” she replied. “Seeing as you keep telling me how safe I am, how was I to know you thought someone had broken in?”

“The girls told me that. The little heathens must have made it up. When I catch them…” he left the sentence open.

Callum had no intention of punishing them in any real way; perhaps fewer cakes at dinner might make them think twice about it, but Lydia was right behind him as he stalked to the door.

“What do you mean? They have done nothing wrong.”

“I will dae as I see fit!”

“They must be bored out of their minds in this place. No one ever spends any real time with them. They only asked me to come here so that I could read them a story. Let them have a little fun.”

Callum whirled around, shoving his sword back into its scabbard.

“A little fun? Pretendin’ someone is in trouble is nae fun. I thought ye might be in danger.”

“And if I were, surely a man who sees me as nothing but a convenience could easily find another wife to amuse him.”

Her tone was acidic and angry, and Callum’s fingernails dug into his palm, the fear of what might have happened to her morphing into something else.

There was a dark need writhing within him now, like a snake. The adrenaline of the chase was pent up inside him, a ball of energy that needed an outlet.

No one in the castle spoke to him as Lydia did; no one dared. She should be afraid of him. He was twice her size, twice her strength, yet she argued with him like they were equals.

He grabbed the door handle, forcing himself to leave before he did something foolish. He turned it, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“What is this? Have ye locked it, woman?” he asked.

Lydia moved past him, taking the handle and rattling it.

“No, I didn’t even know it could lock.”

“Someone has done it from the outside.”

There was the sound of giggling from beyond the door, and Callum pounded his fist against it.

“Amy, Eilis, ye will let us out of here!” he shouted, but the only response that came was the fading sound of the girls’ footsteps.

Callum pulled at the handle with more force, but the heavy wooden door wouldn’t budge.

“Wonderful,” he grunted. “I am to be a prisoner in me own castle, is that it?”

Lydia put her hands on her hips as she watched him circle the room looking for another way out, but Callum knew there was none.

“They are trying to get your attention, can’t you see that?”

“All I see is that my life is made more complicated by meddlesome women. They have their mother’s wickedness, that is for sure.”

“There is nothing wicked about those little girls,” Lydia snapped, stepping toward him again as he rounded on her. “And you have still not told me what happened to their mother.”

“And I willnae!”

“Why not?”

“Because it isnae yer business,” he said, crowding her toward the door as her back hit it, her breath harsh and angry as she glared up at him.

“You once told me you were a beast. Well, perhaps that title wouldn’t fit you quite so well if you didn’t act so much like one.”

Callum watched her breasts rise and fall, his blood pounding in his ears. She looked so small and weak, yet there was wildfire burning through her veins.

“Ye are tellin’ me I am a beast?” he whispered. “Well then, if I touch ye now, ye will pull away in disgust, is that it?”

“Why would you touch me? You told me you weren’t interested in any woman.”

She gasped as Callum gripped her upper arms, lifting her effortlessly up against the door, pinning her with his hips.

Lydia closed her eyes, her jaw clenching as she tried to push him away.

“If ye dinnae want a beast to touch ye, tell me to let ye go and I will. We can sit in silence, side by side, and wait to be released from this little prison of our own makin’. Or ye can be silent, and let me have me way with ye.”

Lydia opened her eyes as they flashed fire, but her body was loose against him, melting for him even as she fought her own desires.

“I want ye to beg me,” he whispered, his stubbled cheek brushing her jaw as he pressed his body against her. “I want ye to tell me what ye want, and I’ll give it to ye.”

“Never.”

He chuckled, licking her neck as she shuddered beneath him.

“Did ye like what ye saw earlier?” he asked, watching her cheeks flush scarlet. “Because I could feel yer eyes on me from the lake.”

He pushed his hips forward, and Lydia let out a gasp of pleasure as he pressed his hard length between her legs.

“Let’s see what ye really want, M’Lady,” he said, lowering her to the ground as she stared up at him in confusion.

Stepping back, Callum stripped off his léine, enjoying the way her green eyes roamed over his skin, the pupils blown wide with lust.

Returning to her, he kept a few inches of space between them.

“Ye can tell me what ye want, and ye can touch me. Or ye stay silent, and ye cannae. We wait in the quiet until they come for us.” He leaned in close. “I might take all me clothes off while I wait, because it is mighty hot in here.”

Lydia could barely think. The sight of all that magnificent flesh was doing things to her insides, as Callum kept a careful distance between them.

I want to touch him.

She had never been this close to a naked man before in her life, and none of the men in the ton looked like this.

Callum was so wide and broad it caught her breath, and without conscious effort, she extended a hand toward him.

He gripped her wrist before she could touch him.

“Beg me.”

She scowled at him. “Never.”

“Very well, have it yer way,” he said, tugging her away from the door. Lydia cried out as he pulled her body into his arms and lowered them to the floor.

Suddenly, she found herself lying on her back on the rug before the fire with Callum looming over her.

“Ye may think I am a beast, but it’s a beast ye want.”

“You are the most arrogant man who ever lived,” she retorted, even as her body betrayed her with a soft moan as he ran a hand over her waist.

“Aye, and that’s what ye want, too.”

His confidence was mesmerizing, and Lydia watched, fascinated, as he reached behind her, his biceps bulging as he pulled the long lengths of fabric Kristen had given her from the chair where she had left them.

“And what are these?” he asked.

“My future gowns,” she said stiffly.

“Aye. Were ye savin’ them to see which one I liked?”

“I shall wear what I want,” she said firmly, and for the first time, she saw a real smile spread over his face.

The scars on either side bunched up, but the heat in his eyes almost stopped her breath.

“Is that so?” he asked, throwing them beside her and lowering himself over her body. “So ye dinnae wish to ken which color might send me wild with desire?” he asked.

Lydia groaned again as she felt the hard length of him rocking between her legs. She was shaking with need now, unable to say anything more as he ran his hands over her body.

His weight pressed against her as she cried out, finally losing the battle with herself, and raked her hands down his back, feeling her nails scratching at his skin.

She gasped as his giant hand pulled her forearms down, gripping her wrists against one enormous palm. He pushed them roughly upward, pinning them above her head.

“I have had enough scars for this lifetime, lass, but if ye cannae control yerself, I can remedy that.”

Lydia moaned as she watched him pick up one of the lengths of fabric and twist it around his palm. In the next instant, he had tied it securely around her wrists, the other end around a chair leg.

Her hands were immobile.

“Now ye dinnae get to touch me, just as I promised,” he said with a smirk, and Lydia sucked in a sharp breath as his fingers began pulling at the hem of her skirts.

He tugged them up and over her waist as he made short work of unlacing her stays and pulling her undergarments to the floor.

Callum grunted as they caught on her shoes and pulled everything roughly away until she was completely exposed to him.

“Now, let’s see if a beast can make ye moan,” he said as his dark head lowered beneath the line of her dress, and she shuddered as a wet tongue lapped at the entrance to her body.

“W—what are you doing?” she whispered, her stomach quivering.

“I am pleasurin’ me future wife,” Callum said. “And I only wish to hear ye moanin’ now. No more talk.”

Lydia couldn’t hold back her cries as his tongue lapped between her legs, the pleasure spangling like sharp sparks over her skin.

Her panting breaths and the sound of the fire were the only noise in the room as Callum grabbed her legs, pushing them upward so her knees were bent against her waist as he entered her with his tongue.

Lydia was groaning, writhing beneath him, shameless and lost to the pleasure. After a moment or two of his exquisite tongue, she moaned as she felt something blunt begin to push into her.

“Oh God,” she gasped, raising her head to watch him push his finger inside her, working it to the knuckle. He crooked it upward, and Lydia threw her head back, striking the carpet with a dull thud.

There was a chuckle from beneath her as his hand came up to cradle the back of her head.

“Dinnae hurt yerself, I havenae even heard ye scream, yet.”

Lydia’s body lifted off the rug beneath her as a second finger joined the first, and she shuddered and twisted beneath him, reveling in the pleasure this man could bring her.

There was a roar from deep in her body as he pushed his fingers further inside, his tongue still lapping at the sensitive nub as she reached her peak.

She screamed, body bowed from the floor, arching toward him as he watched her find her release.

As she collapsed down, he gently removed his fingers, lowering himself on top of her, his lips crushing against her own, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as the firelight played across his skin.

“Now ye ken what it is to have a beast, M’Lady.”