Page 43 of The Winter Laird

“I believe we’re late for the meal,” Donovan commented as they rode through the portcullis and spied Nioclas standing on the step, his arms crossed and his face forbidding.

Brianagh gulped audibly.

“Oh, he’s not that bad,” Donovan said, urging his horse forward. “Especially when he finds out what you were about.”

Nioclas waited approximately three seconds from when she dismounted to stalk over to her. “What do you think you were doing in the village, unattended?”

“Unattended?” she repeated. “Seven men plus Laird Maguire isunattended?”

“Where was your personal guard?”

Brianagh’s brows drew together. “My what?”

“Your personal guard, Brianagh!”

She exchanged a glance with Donovan. “I wasn’t aware I had a personal anything.”

“The guards who brought you back here. I’m certain I informed you not to go anywhere without them,” Nioclas replied tersely, his patience wearing thin.

“Oh? When would that have been? I’ve been looking for you since—”

“When I saw you in the village with naught but a handful of men, I rode back to the castle to summon your personal guard. However, I wonder if perhaps I should have simply hauled you back myself and saved the men the aggravation of your presence!”

Brianagh gasped, outraged. “You were spying on me?”

“Perhaps you ought to take this conversation to a more private chamber,” Donovan interrupted. Meeting Nioclas’s eyes, he raised a brow, then murmured something in his ear before going inside.

“You. My solar,” Nioclas growled before he stomped off.

She stomped after him. He wanted a fight? She was more than ready. She was seething. He’d left her alone in a castle full of strange people for an entire week, and he was angry at her for leaving with his most trusted friend and seven heavily-armed men?

Oh, she didn’t think so.

Slamming the solar door behind her, Brianagh threw her hands on her hips. “Might I remind you that you are not my keeper?” She took a step closer. “You offer me refuge and abandon me to the walls of your castle. Then, because my teeth hurt, I search for you for hours so I can fire your cook and get someone in here who knows what she’s doing.”

“Teeth? Fire a cook?”

“Don’t play word games with me right now,” she snarled. He blinked and took a step back; she closed the gap. Poking him in the chest, she continued. “You’re ensuring that I live in absolute hell for three months, and you think you can treat me like I’m one of your servants?” She glared at him, spitting fire and fury. “I am not your servant, or one of your clansmen you can order about. I am a means to an end—and you aren’t making any effort to show your clan that we’re anything but mortal enemies!”

Nioclas wanted to listen, truly, but her face, flush with color and passion, snagged his attention more than her words. He was fascinated by the fullness of her bottom lip.

She continued to raise her voice angrily at him, her eyes flashing and her color rising even further.

He could well understand her anger, however misplaced it was. His own fury was nearly palpable when he learned Donovan had taken her from the castle walls with such inadequate protection.

Her voice brought him back to his dreams. Her tirade continued, each word accented by her small finger in his chest, and he felt more and more drawn to her lips.

Without warning, without even knowing what he was doing, Nioclas cradled her head, dug his hands into her hair, and covered her mouth with his.

And his soul sighed as if it had come home.

Melting against him, the fight left Bri’s body as her arms lifted, settling on his shoulders as he continued his ruthless assault. He angled her head, deepening the kiss. She moaned into his mouth, and he felt a flare of triumph at her acquiescence.

* * *

Nioclas backedher against the cold stone wall, but Bri only felt heat. Fisting her hands in his hair, she kissed him back, shocked at the feelings he awakened. His hands skimmed down her bodice—every touch burned through the fabric, seared her skin, forced her even higher in her response.

Nioclas trailed kisses down her neck, breathing in her scent as he freed the ties of her gown and slid a hand onto her smooth back. She gasped, and then her lips found his again as he moved his hand to her front.

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