Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
“If you’d stop scaring off suitors, perhaps you would,” Rhona tosses back with a grin before turning to me. “So?”
“We are not having this—”
“Una, come on!” Ailith wines. “Just tell—”
“No, okay?” I mumble out, my face bright red. “No, it didn’t hurt. Happy?”
Cat grins wickedly. “Is he big?”
“Catriona!” My jaw drops as I glare at her. “Okay, we’re done here,” I choke out, blushing wildly.
Cat snickers, wagging her brows. “Oh, that sounds like a yes to me.”
“What sounds like a yes?”
The four of us gasp, whirling to find Hamish standing right behind us. And behind him, Malcolm McAuley and Callum Bruce.
“Uh, nothing,” I say quickly, my face on fire with embarrassment. But Hamish just grins, letting those fierce, gorgeous eyes of his pierce right into me. He moves into me, wrapping his big arms around my small frame and drawing me close as I melt into him.
“Come,” he purrs into my ear. “Let me take you away from all of the chaos, love.”
He kisses me tenderly, and then in a voice only I can hear, his words send a thrill through me.
“I could use a warm bath after that battle. I think you should join me.”
I rake my teeth over my lip, my eyes sparking with fire as he captivates them with his own hungry gaze. And slowly, I nod.
I give my friends quick hugs, ignoring the “look” from all three of them as Hamish kisses my hand and turns to say something to his friends.
“Have fun,” Cat snickers under her breath.
“Are you going to be ‘tending to’ Lord Bruce some more, Cat?” I say with a smile on my face—one that grows wider as I see her flush pink, her eyes darting past me to Callum.
“You’ve got a sinful mind, Una,” she hisses testily.
I smile, but when my eyes dart past her and see the cagey look on Ailith’s face as she waffles between staring at Malcolm and actively looking everywhere but him, I pause.
Well that’s interesting…
Something is going on with all three of them, and though I’ve got my suspicions where Ailith and Catriona are concerned, I’m mystified by the blushing, heated, scandalized look on Rhona’s face.
Hamish’s hand takes mine, gently tugging me away. I make quick plans to come to my friends’ guest quarters in the morning, and then we’re away—back up to our quarters, where some of the palace builders are already finishing installing a new door, and where a hot, steamy tub of water is already beckoning my shaken nerves.
“Was your friend Catriona okay?”
I frown before I smile. “Oh, yes. The blood isn’t hers. It’s Lord Bruce’s. He was wounded and needed a nurse.”
Hamish snorts. “Wounded?” He grins. “I’ve watched Callum endure far worse than whatever scratch he took today and not be in need of a nurse.”
His brow furrows as he shakes his head.
“Oh, and tell Ailith to mind herself around Malcolm,” he growls. “He’s a friend, but the man is a scoundrel.”
I grin, my mind whirling as I try and piece together the little clues I’ve been picking up on concerning my friends and Hamish’s big, handsome friends.
“I’ll be sure to warn her. Both of them. Wouldn’t want them going off and getting tangled up with some sort of highland lord, now would we?”
Hamish turns, grinning hungrily as he eyes me, and I barely have time to take a breath before he’s scooping me up into his arms and tickling me until I scream.
Later that night, I’m wrapped in his arms, sitting on a large fur rug in front of a roaring fire in the hearth, my back against his chest. Hamish’s arms circle me, pulling me tight to him as his lips brush the back of my neck.
“You weren’t hurt today?”
I smile, snuggling into him. He’s only asked me a dozen times, and I don’t mind one bit.
“No,” I shake my head, my fingers entwining with his before I frown and turn.
“God, I haven’t asked you that.”
He grins.
“Were you hurt today?”
He smiles as he shakes his head. “No. But if I said yes?”
I blush, biting my lip at the fire in his eyes.
“If you were, my lord,” I purr, twisting in his arms. “Then I could soothe your wounds.”
The lust drips from my words, and Hamish grins hungrily as his eyes dance over me.
“You’ve got a wicked tongue,” he growls.
“Perhaps you bring it out in me,” I breathe, turning fully in his lap to straddle him, my arms sliding around his neck. “Perhaps you light a fire in me, husband.”
He growls, leaning in to kiss me fiercely, his big strong hand sliding up the bare skin of my back.
I pull back, dropping the heat from my face as my eyes hold his.
“Hamish…”
“What is it, little love?”
“I’m not—” I frown, my eyes lowering. “I’m not going to be the wife you might think I was going to—”