Page 16 of When a Highlander Weds a Hellion
She paused and floated for a moment. Here was an opportunity to bring Broch further to their side and against the Blackswells, and she would be a fool not to use it, so she swam back to him. “Cadyn liked ye and William verra much,” she said. “He told me William shoots a bow truer than any man he has ever seen, and he said that ye showed him and Lannrick some excellent fighting techniques today.”
“That’s kind of him,” he said. The way the moon glinted off the rich outlines of his shoulders made muscles tighten at her core, muscles she had not known she possessed. She swallowed and tried to recall where she’d been going with her conversation. It took a moment, but she remembered.
“Where did ye learn to fight so well?” she asked, though she already knew. Broch, it seemed, had won Cadyn’s admiration almost immediately. Of course, Cadyn dreamed of becoming a legendary warrior, which Broch apparently already was, and when she had run into Cadyn in the courtyard earlier, he’d wanted to do nothing but speak of Broch, and so had William, who was obviously in awe of Broch as well.
Her father and Donell had come into the courtyard shortly after Cadyn and William had departed to ride, and she’d seen instantly the dislike for Broch in Donell’s eyes. And when he’d called Brochthe king’s bastard, she’d had to clench her teeth on snapping at her brother. She had managed to say, in a very pleasant tone, that Donell should not judge a man he’d only just met. It had earned her an often-heard lecture from Donell and her father on the dangers of not being suspicious of men outside of her family or clan.
“Well, the MacLeods taught me much of what I ken,” Broch said, pulling her thoughts back to him, “but I also went to train and live with the Dark Riders for a year.”
“Was that difficult?” She circled her arms in the water. “To leave yer home?”
“Nae at the time,” he said, surprising her.
“Ye were nae happy there?”
“I was mostly, but then I got in a fight with a warrior from the MacLean clan, who was at Dunvegan for the annual summer tourney the MacLeods host. He taunted and humiliated me, and I vowed I’d nae ever be in position to allow a man to do that to me again.”
“Dunnae ye mean ‘weMacLeods’?” she said, recalling what he’d said in the cave about needing to prove himself. She wondered why that was. Why did he not feel a part of his own clan?
“Has anyone ever told ye that ye’re verra astute?”
“Aye. I’ve had several hopeful men who wished to woo me remark that I was too shrewd for what a woman should be.”
Suddenly, Broch was very near her. She blinked, not knowing if a slight current had pulled them together or if he purposely had swum closer. Either way, she didn’t move, even knowing she should. The man had her courting danger! The air between them seemed to crackle as he said, “Those men are fools. There is nothing more beguiling than a clever lass.”
How could it be that she floated in cool water, yet she suddenly felt so hot? She grasped her hair and twined it in a coil to get it off her neck and feel the breeze. “Dunnae try to avoid my question,” she said, immensely relieved that she had remembered that she’d asked it. “Do ye nae consider yerself a MacLeod?”
“Aye and nay. Most of them have made me feel like one of them, especially my laird and his family. But a sense of nae truly being a MacLeod hangs over me. I dunnae ken who my father was, nor am I certain if the woman I always believed to be my mother actually was. So the need to prove myself is always there, which is why I’m here… I dunnae expect ye to understand.”
Impulsively, she pressed a finger to his lips. “But I do,” she said, her heart racing. “I ken the caves as well as I do because I worked hard to learn them, to prove to my brothers and my da that they dunnae need to guard me constantly, fash for me always. I had hoped that if I could prove this, they would find a measure of peace, and that the guilt they feel because of my sister’s death would lessen.” She paused a moment. “I feel as if they are always watching and waiting for me to fall prey to a horrible man as Lenora did. I kinnae fail them or give them more cause for concern.”
The minute the sentence was out of her mouth, astonishment hit her. She had not truly realized she felt that way until this moment. God’s teeth! She was supposed to be wary and guarded, and instead she was blabbering on, revealing secrets she had not known she was keeping. “I need to return to the keep,” she declared. Without waiting for his response, she turned to swim away from him, but his hand clasped her wrist and she found herself being tugged backward and turned to face him.
“What are ye doing?” she gasped, as her eyes locked with his.
“Something dangerous,” he replied, his mouth hungrily covering hers.
As Broch claimed Katreine’s sweet mouth, and her body pressed hard against his, all reason, all caution, all good sense fled him. He gave himself over to the passion she had stirred in him by simply floating in the loch under the moonlight and being her open, honest self. He felt in the way she was digging her hands into his hair and heard in the whimpers coming from her that the hot tide of desire flowing through him was also raging inside her. And God help him, he was not concerned that he was kissing a woman the king wished to wed to another. Victory, that this lass, who was so guarded, was allowing him to kiss her consumed him.
It was the last coherent thought he had. He slipped his arm around her waist to hold her firmly to him and keep them both afloat, and all he could think of was the need to taste more of her. He broke away from her hot, honeyed mouth to trail fiery kisses over her wet, salty skin. Her mouth came to his neck, and she suckled him, making him groan.
Need pounded through him as he found one of her hard buds with his fingers and then, in desperation, slipped her léine over her breast to suckle that nipple. She gasped but did not pull away, and when his mouth covered her bud, he pulled on it and circled it with his tongue until she cried out and arched against him, her nails raking his back under the water.
Suddenly, male laughter filled the night. Broch froze, then in a rush of movement, brought Katreine’s léine back up to cover her as he turned to see who was at the loch. But Katreine pulled him back around and hissed, “My brothers! ’Tis my brothers! Why would they come here? They ken I swim here before supper.”
Broch frowned at that. Cadyn was the one who had suggested Broch go to the loch to take a dip. Had he intended for Broch to happen on Katreine?
She hissed between her teeth. “If they find us here like this—”
He did not need her to finish the sentence. “Dive,” he commanded, and together, they went under the water. She took his hand and started to guide him. He followed, and when they came up moments later, they were in the cave.
“We can make our way through the woods to the keep,” she assured him.
He nodded, his blood still rushing from the desire and the adrenaline to keep her safe. He’d never in his life lost control like that. She could soon be wed to another, and honor would not allow that he impede that. “Katreine, I should nae have done that. I’m sorry.”
“I could have stopped ye,” she said, her voice low. And though he could not see her in the darkness, he sensed she was looking at him. Then her warm breath tickled his chest, and she pressed a palm to his heart. “I could have stopped ye, but I did nae want to, so dunnae blame just yerself. Mayhap if the king revokes his command that I wed Brodee… Well, mayhap then…”
Her sentence trailed off, but he understood what she meant. Maybe then they could see where this led. He covered her hand with his and brushed a gentle kiss across her lips. “I’d like that verra much,” he assured her.
