Page 25 of Highlander of Steel
Killian had known what he was going to do as soon as he received that brutal note from Murdock Lyall. However, so as not to be deemed a reckless laird, he had spoken with two of his most trusted councilmen and Peter about his intentions first. They had been shocked, as he had anticipated, but it hadn’t taken much to convince them of the benefit.
Me faither told me to secure peace by sword or scheme. Ye are me olive branch, lass.
No one batted an eye at a war between clans, but it was tantamount to a sin to wage war against one’s own family. And if this went the way Killian planned, Laird Ainsley would soon be his father-in-law.
“I plan to make ye mine, lass,” he replied, his fingers curling around her dainty chin.
A faint thrill rippled through him, a spark that would smolder into a white-hot ember if he stayed so close to her.
Ailis reeled back, wrenching away from his touch as she leaped to her feet and jabbed a shaky finger at the door.
“Clearly, ye’ve taken leave of yer senses, me Laird. For ye to even suggest such a thing… Aye, ye’ve gone mad, and I willnae have a madman in me chambers.” She jabbed her finger harder. “Please, leave me room at once, before ye do somethin’ ye’ll regret.”
“Ailis—”
“Daenae call me by me name as if ye ken me, me Laird. If ye did, ye’d ken better than to… to…” She squeezed her eyes shut, as if to compose herself. When she opened them again, there was fire in that autumnal green. “Get out. Please.”
“Lass…” Killian tried again, with as much patience as he could, for he understood that the proposal must have come as a shock.
Ailis put up a hand to stop him. “Very well. If ye willnae leave, then I will.MayI leave this room? I assume I can, being yerguestand all.”
Instead of pushing past him, she squeezed through the gap between her chair and the table, hurrying around the other side to the door.
Killian watched her leave, but he had not made his decision lightly. It wasn’t something that could be permitted to fail when so much hinged on its success: his brother’s return, the fulfillment of his father’s wishes, his revenge against Laird Ainsley, and an end to his clan’s suffering and this purposeless war.
So he followed her out.
“Oh, so I’mnaeallowed to leave, is that it?” Ailis tossed back over her shoulder, evidently hearing his footsteps behind her.
“Yehaveleft,” he pointed out. “I’m nae goin’ to stay in a room that isnae mine.”
She whirled around. “But ye have nay issue sittin’ in me room while I sleep, without me knowledge? Ye have nay problem sendin’ in a horde of maids when I’m restin’? Ye didnae mind sendin’ Paisley into me room, even though she had every reason to want to kill me in me sleep?”
He couldn’t deny that she made an excellent argument, but saw no benefit to explaining himself at that moment. He had a good reason for each of those incidents, and when she was calmer, he would answer her accusations.
“Ye need time to think,” he said bluntly. “It’s to be expected. A bride is always nervous about her weddin’, or so I hear.”
Her hands curled into tight fists, her breathing labored. “I was right nae to believe all yer pleasantries and niceties,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “I kent it was too good to be true. Me faither didnae teach me much, aye, but he taught me one thing: never trust a MacNairn.”
“There’s nay deception, lass,” Killian insisted, a tad too harshly. “I treated ye with respect because ye’ve done nothin’ wrong. I told ye several times that I wasnae goin’ to do ye harm.”
“And this isnae harm?” she retorted, gesturing vaguely. “Ye’re justas bad as me faither, schemin’ and plottin’, nae carin’ who ye have to trample in order to win. I thought it was odd that ye kidnapped me of all people, but now I understand—ye stole me away so ye could use me for yer scheme. Ye had this planned from the start!”
Killian considered asking her to calm down, but he had learned over the years that it was never wise to ask a woman to calm down. Still, he needed to cool her ire so she would listen to him instead of throwing baseless accusations.
“What’s more,” she continued in a red-faced fury, “I wouldnae mind ye usin’ me against me faither if I thought it would make a difference in this war. But it willnae, and ye never bothered askin’ what I might think of such a plan! I might have helped ye, for pity’s sake, if ye hadnae just made decisions without me! Now, because of yer rash actions, me niece has been left withoutthe one person who made her life better, and ye’ve riskedmelife by draggin’ me away.
“I cannae just stay here when I ken what me faither will do if ye marry me! He might nae have cared when I was just yer captive, but he’ll bloody well care when I’m yer wife. He’ll care so much that he’ll insist on killin’ me himself. He’ll come for me and drive a dagger right through me heart.”
Her hand flew to her chest, her palm hitting the spot where her heart was no doubt pounding with the force of her anger.
Frustration turned into something colder in Killian’s veins as he stared at her. He could understand her rationale, had even considered it himself, but that didn’t mean his plan wouldn’t work. It would simply change.
If Laird Ainsley wouldn’t accept peace through marriage anddidcome to harm Ailis, Killian would be waiting.
But that willnae change her opinion that I’m usin’ her.
This matter required delicacy, which was not one of his strengths.
