Read Online Return of the Highlander by Julianne MacLean - Free Book Online
Authors: Julianne MacLean
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squarely. “You reminded me countless times that I was a dirty Campbell and not fit to lick your boots—”
“Now see here, lass, I never said that .”
“Well, perhaps not exactly that…but the implication was there. And ever since we left the castle, you’ve been quiet and moody, almost as if you’re sulking about something. Probably the fact that your brother is far more charming than you could ever dream of being, and the fact that you don’t know how to laugh.”
“I do know how to laugh,” he argued in that quiet, husky drawl that made something inside her tremble. He sat forward slightly and turned his body to face hers as well. “And I told you before, lass. I can be charming when I wish to be.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she replied, realizing that sometime during this conversation, she’d sobered up completely. She felt entirely clearheaded and sharp-witted enough to recognize that her heart was racing with exhilaration. “And please be informed that I have no use for your so-called ‘helpful’ warnings about your brother. I suspect you’re just jealous because he’s more pleasant than you are, and you simply can’t keep up. And I am not foolish enough to be taken in by a charming seducer—if that’s what Logan is. As I mentioned before, I think you’re just jealous, and may I remind you again that I am betrothed? The way I perceive it, Logan is merely fulfilling his duty to your chief. I see nothing untoward in his attentions. If I drank too much wine tonight and behaved out of turn…that was my own fault because it’s been a difficult time…with all that’s happened lately.”
Darach stared at her intently. “I’m not jealous.”
He continued to look into her eyes, then down at her lips, his face mere inches from hers. Eventually, she could do nothing but stare down at her lap.
“Of course you’re not jealous,” she conceded. “I don’t know why I said that. Clearly I’m still a bit inebriated.”
Although it had nothing to do with the wine and everything to do with the dangerously intoxicating way his voice slid over her like soft velvet, rippling across her skin.
“Just keep your head on straight as far as my brother is concerned,” Darach said in a commanding tone. He rose to his feet and returned to the other side of the fire. “Get some rest, lass. Tomorrow will be a long day. We’ll be spending many hours in the saddle.”
Nodding her head, she inched down into her bedroll, closed her eyes, and tried to think of nothing but her arrival at Leathan.
* * *
Darach shouldn’t have been surprised that the lassie curled up in her bedroll and fell asleep within minutes of closing her eyes. She’d had far too much wine to drink, and besides that, she had no notion of the danger she was in with him and Logan as her escorts back to Leathan.
It was just his luck that Logan was taking his good old time scouting the surrounding area, which left Darach with nothing to do but sit by the fire and watch over Larena. It was not a task he relished, for she was a Campbell—Fitzroy’s daughter no less—and this whole situation had stirred up an angry hornet’s nest full of problems, especially where Logan was concerned.
Darach bowed his head and shook it slowly with regret, for he’d once believed that the past was long dead and buried, and he and his brother could go on to live relatively normal lives. It had taken Darach many years to push certain memories into the ground and stop checking over his shoulder at every turn. He’d not woken up in a cold sweat in almost a decade, yet here he sat tonight, plagued with wretched torment as he watched Larena Campbell sleep soundly a few short feet away from him with no knowledge of the men who had been assigned to protect her. She knew nothing of their past or the extent of the antagonism they felt toward her father, Fitzroy Campbell of Leathan.
For two years ago, he had murdered their father.
At least that’s
“Now see here, lass, I never said that .”
“Well, perhaps not exactly that…but the implication was there. And ever since we left the castle, you’ve been quiet and moody, almost as if you’re sulking about something. Probably the fact that your brother is far more charming than you could ever dream of being, and the fact that you don’t know how to laugh.”
“I do know how to laugh,” he argued in that quiet, husky drawl that made something inside her tremble. He sat forward slightly and turned his body to face hers as well. “And I told you before, lass. I can be charming when I wish to be.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she replied, realizing that sometime during this conversation, she’d sobered up completely. She felt entirely clearheaded and sharp-witted enough to recognize that her heart was racing with exhilaration. “And please be informed that I have no use for your so-called ‘helpful’ warnings about your brother. I suspect you’re just jealous because he’s more pleasant than you are, and you simply can’t keep up. And I am not foolish enough to be taken in by a charming seducer—if that’s what Logan is. As I mentioned before, I think you’re just jealous, and may I remind you again that I am betrothed? The way I perceive it, Logan is merely fulfilling his duty to your chief. I see nothing untoward in his attentions. If I drank too much wine tonight and behaved out of turn…that was my own fault because it’s been a difficult time…with all that’s happened lately.”
Darach stared at her intently. “I’m not jealous.”
He continued to look into her eyes, then down at her lips, his face mere inches from hers. Eventually, she could do nothing but stare down at her lap.
“Of course you’re not jealous,” she conceded. “I don’t know why I said that. Clearly I’m still a bit inebriated.”
Although it had nothing to do with the wine and everything to do with the dangerously intoxicating way his voice slid over her like soft velvet, rippling across her skin.
“Just keep your head on straight as far as my brother is concerned,” Darach said in a commanding tone. He rose to his feet and returned to the other side of the fire. “Get some rest, lass. Tomorrow will be a long day. We’ll be spending many hours in the saddle.”
Nodding her head, she inched down into her bedroll, closed her eyes, and tried to think of nothing but her arrival at Leathan.
* * *
Darach shouldn’t have been surprised that the lassie curled up in her bedroll and fell asleep within minutes of closing her eyes. She’d had far too much wine to drink, and besides that, she had no notion of the danger she was in with him and Logan as her escorts back to Leathan.
It was just his luck that Logan was taking his good old time scouting the surrounding area, which left Darach with nothing to do but sit by the fire and watch over Larena. It was not a task he relished, for she was a Campbell—Fitzroy’s daughter no less—and this whole situation had stirred up an angry hornet’s nest full of problems, especially where Logan was concerned.
Darach bowed his head and shook it slowly with regret, for he’d once believed that the past was long dead and buried, and he and his brother could go on to live relatively normal lives. It had taken Darach many years to push certain memories into the ground and stop checking over his shoulder at every turn. He’d not woken up in a cold sweat in almost a decade, yet here he sat tonight, plagued with wretched torment as he watched Larena Campbell sleep soundly a few short feet away from him with no knowledge of the men who had been assigned to protect her. She knew nothing of their past or the extent of the antagonism they felt toward her father, Fitzroy Campbell of Leathan.
For two years ago, he had murdered their father.
At least that’s
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