Page 7

There, it was said. Aileana lifted her chin higher, her even expression calculated to show that she knew full well her bride-value. A man like Duncan MacRae would need to search far and wide for a willing woman with bloodlines more noble than her own.

The MacRae remained silent, his face immovable granite, his eyes deepening from gray to icy flint.

The only sign that he’d heard came in the twitch of a muscle near his temple.

For a moment, Aileana thought that he would ignore Robert’s offer and add to the insult by walking from the hall without another word.

But then she watched in fascinated horror as his expression changed—to what, she wasn’t certain.

Perhaps sharpened was the best way to describe it.

With careful, measured steps he approached her and cradled her chin in his firm grip.

His leather glove felt warm and smooth against her skin, making a tingle of raw sensation sweep through her.

Her gaze fixed to his sensual lips as they edged upward.

But instead of relief, his smile made her feel captured. Frozen in place.

Wordlessly, his hand drifted from her cheek to her shoulder; he raised a tendril of her hair and rubbed it between his finger and thumb.

Through the numbness, a dark thought began to edge its way into the recesses of her mind.

It wriggled and twisted, forcing itself into her consciousness until it became too strong to ignore.

Then it burst upon her with the turbulence of an impending storm.

The bastard was inspecting her like a sow at market.

Aileana gasped and her cheeks burned. But before she could react, his hands slid down her sides to her hips, his touch bold, testing her flesh with unmistakable meaning. It was a show put on for the others, she knew; he had already seen her unclothed in the glen, and that made it all the worse.

With a guttural cry, Aileana shoved at him and stepped back.

He didn’t move. His eyes glinted with laughter, a deeper smile quirking his arrogant mouth…

and her temper snapped. She whipped her arm upward, intending to slap him hard enough to make him see stars, but he reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her.

“Not a very docile sacrifice, are you, lassie?” Duncan murmured for her ears alone, though his deliberate movements could be seen by all as he pressed her arm to her side again firmly.

Robert looked ready to throttle him, clearly struggling to hold himself in control for Gavin’s sake as he paused before muttering again, “So what say you, MacRae? Will you be taking my sister to wife or not?”

So great was Aileana’s fury that she almost didn’t hear Duncan’s response. But his answer gradually seeped through, making the blood in her veins congeal.

“Your sister is attractive enough. My own eyes told me as much earlier today in the glen. And it’s true I need a woman to warm my bed.”

With a nod of decision, he leaned forward and directed a glare at Robert. “Agreed, MacDonell. I’ll spare your brother’s life in exchange for taking possession of your sister. But I’ll not take her as wife.” He flicked his silver gaze to her. “I’ll take her as leman.”

Robert’s stupefaction matched hers, it seemed, though his lasted but an instant.

With a bellow of rage, he lunged at Duncan, only to be yanked to a stop by three MacRaes who’d been standing behind him.

Aileana watched the struggle as if in a dream; she shifted her gaze and saw Duncan shrug, saw him nod for his men to drag Gavin from the castle, saw him move toward the huge, arched portal at the end of the great hall…

Her palms felt clammy. The image flashed through her mind of what her life would be like as a social outcast, reviled and scorned, isolated by walls more impenetrable than those erected around her as the Ealach ’s keeper.

Yet she knew she must speak before the MacRae vanished through the door, taking Gavin with him.

Swallowing the dry ball in her throat, she took two steps forward.

“Wait,” she whispered.

The MacRae didn’t hear her. He kept walking, his stride inexorable, his hands clenched into fists of violence and hate.

“Wait, I said!” Her command bounced from the stone walls of the hall, its echo fading to utter silence.

Duncan had stopped at the authority in her voice. Now he turned with slow deliberation. His head tilted slightly down and to the side, and she felt a sharp piercing sensation in the area of her heart when his gaze locked with hers.

“You dare to forestall me longer?”

“I stopped you because I—” she faltered, twisting her fingers in her plaid, “—because I wish to accept your terms of agreement.”

Duncan stiffened, staring at her in silence, while Robert clamored protests. Aileana simply shook her head and held firm.

Shifting his weight forward, Duncan bridged the distance between them.

When they stood less than two paces apart, he came to a halt.

“The agreement is for you to come with me as leman . You will hold none of the privileges of wife, though I will be taking a wife later. You will still be required to remain with me, to use or discard as I see fit.” He knew his words were harsh, but he wanted them to be, to ensure no misunderstanding in their bargain.

Aileana didn’t answer right away. She was looking at a point above his shoulder, and as he waited, he saw the color of her cheeks intensify. Finally, she nodded. “I understand.”

Duncan stood still, unable to pull his gaze from her; shock swept through him, mingled with disbelief, hostility, and desire.

He’d never thought she would be so bold as to accept the offer.

A tiny flicker of respect for her courage filled him, but he quenched it.

This was revenge, pure and simple, though it meant he’d have to forego the pleasure of killing Gavin MacDonell.

But Gavin would suffer endless agonies over his sister’s humiliation, and that kind of living hell would be almost as good as the death he’d planned to inflict on him.

“Very well.” Looking over his shoulder, he called to the men holding Gavin, “Release him.” Then he gestured Robert toward Aileana. “Say your farewells. We’re leaving.”

As he waited, Duncan struggled to control the warring emotions that besieged him.

He didn’t like the turn the day had taken.

It created a host of new problems. But Aileana MacDonell had called his bluff on the challenge he’d been so reckless to throw at her, and honor demanded that he go through with the deal.

Her proximity to him would have one added benefit, though; she would be under his power, making it easier for him to force her to reveal the Ealach ’s location.

Images of the methods open to him, of her beauty and the pleasures she could provide, drove lancets of desire through him.

But then thoughts of her kinship to Morgana doused the flames in a shower of ice.

Facing her again, he issued the order to leave.

He forced himself to remain impervious to the wrenching loss painted across her delicate features, trying to ignore the worry so obvious in Robert’s eyes.

It was what they’d agreed to, damn it. And there wasn’t another instant to waste. It was time to go.

“Come. We’ve miles to cover before sundown.”

Aileana fixed her grief-stricken face forward, refusing to meet his gaze.

As he took her arm and led her through the door, Duncan closed his ears to the soft sounds she made as she clearly struggled to hold back tears.

But at the portal she twisted round in his grasp, craning her neck to see her brothers for as long as possible until the solid wall of stone blocked their view.

Still he led her on, pushing ahead until they reached his stallion.

He hoisted her in front of him astride Glendragon’s saddle.

As they began to ride, a coppery wave of her hair slid across his face, and, annoyed, he brushed it aside.

But not before its fragrance wafted to him, sweet honey and clove.

The pure simplicity of it twisted a knot in his gut and played havoc with his senses.

As if she somehow discerned his reaction, Aileana stiffened. Duncan watched the signs of grief fade from her face as if by the stroke of a wand, masked by that bland expression she seemed to wear so often. Even her tears dried quickly under the snap of the wind.

Gritting his teeth, Duncan urged Glendragon to a gallop. Aye, sure as the sun rose, he’d taken trouble for a ride today. But he would tame Aileana MacDonell once they reached home. She could rail and rant, or shroud herself in silence; either way he would bend her to his will.

And yet somehow, he couldn’t rid himself of the persistent voice deep in his mind. The voice that churned a dire omen with every beat of Glendragon’s hoofs, urging him to take heed and prepare before it was too late…

Because, it warned, his lion’s share of tribulation had only just begun.