Chapter One

Clan Mackintosh
Highlands, May 1698

“Catreena pushed her head through the gap between the doors, listening intently. Her head was cocked to the side and her blonde hair gathered behind her ears so she could hear clearly.

The guards were marching up and down the battlements of the castle walls, clearly just as determined to keep everyone inside as they were to keep intruders out.

“Ye give yer orders carefully, eh, Alec?” Catreena muttered under her breath, as if she could indeed speak to her older brother, the Laird of the Macintoshes, though he was currently miles away, visiting family in the clan of his wife Kira. Clearly, he had given careful instructions when he left to make sure she was guarded in this castle, more prisoner than free.

Something in the back of Catreena’s mind told her Alec had left such instructions only to keep her safe, but her frustration and boredom made this thought vanish as if it had been magicked from her mind. With Alec away, and Bran, her second brother, also gone with his wife Ilyssa, that left only Dunn, her twin brother, and Evander, her other brother, for company. They were both so caught up in their own business those days, they hardly noticed her when she wished to talk or find entertainment. Fortunately for her, they did not seem to notice much either when she tried to sneak out of the castle.

Catreena waited with bated breath, feeling the cool night breeze on her cheeks as the guards’ footsteps faded away, then she stepped out onto the battlement walls. Lit by the stars above, the castle looked colder than it did in daylight, the stone whiter and much more ghoulish. She shivered as she looked around the bare wall, seeing the spots where some of the guards had left their weapons, ready to snatch up. The sight of those weapons reminded her of the battles that had ensued in these walls and in others.

We’re nae safe. That’s what Alec keeps telling me.

She backed away from the weapons as quickly as she could, going in the opposite direction to the guards. She reached for the nearest watch tower and scrambled down the spiral staircase nestled deep within the grey walls, running her fingers along the stones to ensure she did not lose her balance and fall.

It was always the same, whenever she thought of the battle and bloodshed that happened between the clans of Scotland. It made her fear the future, and fear what men were capable of doing to one another. Her brother’s parting words before he left with Kira on his travels sent a shiver up her spine.

“Remember, Catreena, the son of Laird Gilroy Grant wants revenge on us all after his faither’s death. Ye must stay inside the castle.”

Yet she was tired of staying indoors, and she thought it unlikely that at this time of night, Cillian Grant would steal inside Clan Mackintosh lands to take revenge on her family when so few of them were gathered there.

It’s time for an adventure.

She turned the key in the lock of the door and pushed it open, stepping out beyond the watch tower into the outer grounds. She inhaled deeply, feeling the chilly spring air fill her lungs.

“Freedom,” she whispered to herself. “Aye, it’s wonderful tae breathe easily.” She giggled at what she was doing, the mischief of it all, and glanced back toward the door of the tower, being careful to close it behind her. No guard had noticed her, and before they patrolled back to that tower, she shot off at a run.

With the skirt of her paisley gown tucked into one hand, she sprinted as fast as she could between the trees, running on her toes to avoid making too much noise. The scent of the fresh pine needles filled her nose, as did the wild garlic, stronger and more pungent, the fragrance wafting up from where she kicked the plants as she ran. More than once, she nearly tripped on the roots of trees in the darkness, but she did not care. She simply reached out to nearby trees, steadying her balance before running again.

In the distance, something glistened in the dark. The moon, strong, almost full like a vast candle, was shining on the surface of the loch. She hurried toward it, peering between the branches of the Douglas firs and larches, to glimpse the loch bank.

“Och, it’s beautiful,” she whispered, coming to a halt at last on the riverbank. She panted, catching her breath as her gaze took in the sight of the shimmering loch and the distant mountains. Giggling with delight at her escape in the darkness, she wandered along the loch bank, searching for what she gone there for.

Sophia had said it would be here. Aye, on the loch bank.

She wafted her hands through the long reeds at the edge of the loch, searching by moonlight. For the past few years, Catreena had watched the healer, Sophia’s, to learn all she could from her. Practically an apprentice, Catreena was learning how herbs could heal a man. It was a fascinating subject, a world of tonics and potions that sometimes seemed more magic than science at all. Her twin, Dunn, seemed to be the only one out of her brothers who understood her fascination for such a world, though he too had issued caution about not learning too much.

“Remember ye are sister tae a laird now, Catreena. A healer’s life isnae the one fer ye.”

She had asked what he meant, what he expected the path of her life to be, but he had chosen not to answer.

“Ah, there ye are,” she whispered, coming to a halt on the loch bank. A small and hairy plant stretched up before her. Short and stubby, it was very difficult to find at the side of the reeds, encapsulated in muddy marsh land. The thing that made it most identifiable were the hundreds of tiny white flowers speckled across the stem. The moonlight glinted off the petals, revealing what it was.

Gypsywort.

Sophia had told her what properties it could have for those who struggled to sleep and suffered errant beatings of their heart at night.

She reached forward, about to pluck the plant from the ground, when she felt a chill run up her spine. She froze, her fingers still outstretched toward the plant that swayed in a breeze that rippled around the loch.

The evening may have been cold, but the chill which had run up Catreena’s spine had little to do with that. She had the unmistakable feeling she was being watched.

She stood abruptly tall, stiffening her spine and jerking her head around. Her eyes traced the side of the loch, the undisturbed water, smooth as glass, and the dark mass of trees nearby. She staggered a little as she backed up into the marshy earth, her eyes on those trees. If someone was indeed watching her from that darkness, she had no way of knowing. They would be too hidden.

With one hand, she scrambled to retrieve the dirk she carried in her belt. It never left her side now, and she kept it there at Alec’s insistence, though she had to admit it was now a wise decision. Keeping the dirk close to her side, she clasped her fingers tightly around the hilt, ready to attack if needed.

There!

Catreena thought she saw something move in the trees. She stepped forward, away from the marshy ground and onto the firmer loch bank. She peered, straining her eyes against the darkness to see what was there, then suddenly, something with great flapping wings shot out of the branches. Inhaling sharply, she scarcely managed to stop herself from yelping, as the creature shot past her and into the sky.

She staggered, spinning around as she saw the barn owl, spectral in its white plumage, darting across the river surface, then up toward the mountains.

Realizing how much she had been panicked over nothing more than an owl, she chuckled under her breath, shaking her head. She placed the dirk back in the small scabbard that hung from a leather belt at her hip, ready to return to the gypsywort herb, just as a hand snaked across her waist –

“Nay!” Catreena screamed and whirled around, though she wasn’t fast enough.

She couldn’t reach her dirk as the hand tightened, now clasping her tightly across the back. The tall figure bent his head down toward her, the long dark hair a mass that cloaked the cover of the moonlight for a moment.

Fear erupted in her chest, her heart pounding fast as she pushed into his abdomen, trying to escape him.

“Let go of me!”

“Is that anyway tae greet an old friend, little Catreena?”

She froze, knowing that nickname without even being able to see his face in the darkness. He cocked his head to the side and his lips practically brushed her ear. An unwelcome shiver of delight passed up her spine.

“Are ye mad tae come out here alone in the middle of the night?” he hissed.

The anger was plain, and only mirrored by the anger she felt within her own gut at liking how close his lips were to her ear. Catreena thrust harsher into his stomach and this time managed to wrench herself from his grasp. She backed away into the reeds, stumbling, scarcely keeping her balance, as her eyes settled on his face.

The moonlight now shone on those features she knew very well indeed.

The tanned skin looked very dark in this light, and the tattoos she that covered his body were somewhat difficult to identify, but what was clear was his face. The strong jawline, the pronounced cheekbones, and the gray eyes. In the white light surrounding them, those eyes shone with intensity.

Not once did he blink as he slowly folded his arms, glowering at her, with his tall figure towering over her, despite the distance she had managed to put between them.

“Why did ye dae that?” she raged at him, waving her arms madly. “Ye frightened me half tae death.”

“Imagine how frightened ye would have been had I been an attacker and nae yer friend.”

“Some friend,” she scoffed, and the two of them exchanged an awkward look.

We both ken we arenae friends.

They were more like brother and sister than anything else, though Tad was like the brother she hated. He was her brothers’ dearest friend, and his sister – her best friend – had recently married Bran, so they were now technically extended family. She had known Tad her whole life, watched him as he grew from a boy into a philandering man. Much older than her, a laird with a very particular reputation, Tad carried darkness and seduction with him, wherever he went.

“Ye didnae need tae frighten me,” she tried to go on the offensive again, doing her best to walk out of the marshy reeds and up the bank, far away from him, yet her feet had become stuck in the bog and one foot was refusing to move.

“Ye are telling me off?” he exclaimed, his voice so sharp that her gut squirmed. “Cat, look where ye are!” he hissed loudly.

“I currently seem tae be in a bog,” she muttered to herself, trying to free her foot again, but finding it impossible.

“Bloody hell. What if I was an attacker, eh?” He had clearly seen her predicament and marched toward her.

“Dinnae touch me,” she ordered, holding up her hands. She didn’t want him to again, fearing that she’d feel another one of those excited trembles she despised.

Tad was too seductive for his own good and it didn’t help that she had already made a decision long ago to hate him.

“Come here,” he said, ignoring her order and taking hold of her hand, trying to pull her out. It did nothing though, her foot stayed fast. “Ye are bloody lucky,” he went again, cursing loudly. When he couldn’t free her foot, he stepped closer toward her.

“What are ye doing!?” she hissed in panic.

“What dae ye think?” he matched her tone, his handsome face coming startlingly closer to hers. He wrapped a hand smoothly around her waist and lifted her with one clean jerk out of the bog. Her body fell against his as he walked backward out of the marsh, carrying her. Her hands found his chest, trying to push him away. “Imagine if someone else had found ye. What would ye have done then if he had tried tae take ye here and now in this darkness? Dae ye think a guard could have heard ye scream fer help? Dae ye think ye could fight him off?”

Catreena turned as cold as ice in his arms.

I wish he wouldnae talk about coupling so much.

She had a reputation for her wit and her arguments, but whenever conversation turned to such matters, she preferred to stay silent. For her, intimacy was sacred. It should only be shared between two people who were very much in love. She knew that Tad did not agree though. He saw sex as little more than sport.

“How would ye have fought off a man, eh?” Tad asked, coming to a stop, though he still didn’t put her down. He just held her, his arms around her waist, their bodies pressed flat together. “Assuming ye wanted tae fight him off, of course?” It was a leading question, the glimmer of mischief in those gray eyes, despite the anger which had made his jawline taut.

Her mind was racing. When had Tad arrived at the castle? He must have come to call on her brothers, but then what had induced him to come looking for her out here? Was it chance?

When he still didn’t release her but glared at her in anger, akin to the fury her brothers would feel, her own rage snapped.

“Ye bast –”

“Always so affectionate, little Cat,” he whispered, smirking.

She kicked out at him and he dropped her, allowing her to push away from him across the riverbank.

“I was perfectly safe,” she insisted, scrambling to pull her dirk out to show him. “See. I had this.”

“Oh, aye,” he said loudly with full sarcasm, waving an errant hand toward her. “Much good that was going tae dae ye, eh? Dae ye think a dirk would stop a strong man who wanted tae force himself on ye?”

“I would have stopped him,” she insisted.

“Let’s test that, shall we?” He advanced toward her.

“Tad… Tad, what are ye doing!?” She turned and ran away from him, but she only reached the first tree before he caught her. In one swift movement, he took hold of her skirt and flung her around. She fell against the trunk of the fir tree, raising her dirk threateningly toward him, but he caught her forearm with his right hand.

She couldn’t move her arm and they fell still, staring at one another. She had a feeling he was using a small amount of energy to hold her wrist in place. Compared to his strong biceps, her arms were like twigs.

“See?” he pointed out, his eyebrows risen. “See how easy that was?”

He didn’t move but stayed close to her. The way her gut squirmed once again wasn’t helping. It didn’t help either that Tad had that look in his eyes – it was an expression she could not understand and one she had seen on him a lot recently when he looked at her.

“Ye-ye made yer point,” she managed to stammer.

Abruptly, he released her and stepped back. She returned her dirk to her belt, staring at him, his back now toward her as he breathed heavily and stepped toward the loch.

“I’ll take ye back tae the castle.”

“I’m nae going yet.” She marched toward him, ready to argue further, yet to her surprise, he said nothing. He stayed completely silent. “Tad? Did ye hear me?”

He lifted a hand between them, the palm outward, as if pleading for silence.

“What is it?”

“Shush,” he hissed so quietly, she almost didn’t hear him.

He had cocked his head to the side, his eyes scanning the trees behind them.

I ken that look. I have seen it before on him as well.

She had seen it when he went hunting with her brothers in the woods. He turned completely to face the trees, then reached for her.

“What are ye doing?”

“What dae ye nae understand about holding that sharp tongue of yers, Cat?” he hissed angrily.

“Who said I have tae obey yer order?”

“Quiet!”

“Ah!” she yelped as a whistle of a bolt suddenly struck through the air.

Tad pushed her down behind him. She practically fell to her knees, his hand on her shoulder as he acted as her shield, facing down the trees.

The whistle of the bolt was followed by an angry bellow.

“Get them,” someone roared from the trees.

Two hooded figures stepped out from behind the tree trunks, one already reloading his crossbow as the other drew out a sword from his belt.

“Dae me a favor and obey one order fer once in yer life, Cat,” Tad hissed. He grabbed her arm and drew her to her feet again, then turned his back to her and faced the men. “Leave this tae me.

Chapter Two

Tad rested his hands in his weapons belt, stepping in front of Catreena in the hope that he was blocking her completely as his gaze rested on their attackers.

Nae Cat. Ye will nae put a hand on her.

He was breathing heavily now, like a bull ready to charge, as he stared at the men. He knew this day would come. Grant soldiers had been seen often enough sneaking into the Mackintosh clan as of late, it would only have been so long before they got this close to the castle.

The man with the crossbow raised the weapon ready to fire, then he shifted it, clearly aiming for Catreena.

Tad reached back. In one swift movement, he grabbed her wrist and lunged to the side with her. They landed in the boggy reeds together, their booted feet struggling in the mud, as the bolt whistled passed them and landed in the water of the loch.

“Dimwit,” the man with the sword muttered to the other. “Leave it tae me.” He stepped forward, swishing his sword through the air. In Tad’s mind, he was a man who knew how to posture with a sword, but that didn’t necessarily mean he knew how to use one.

Tad reached for the dirk he carried in his own belt and raised it high, clipping the man’s shoulder so deeply that he staggered back, dropping the sword. A bellow of pain erupted, and as his friend went to check on him, Catreena took the opportunity to try and escape out the other side of the marshy bog, to the other part of the bank. Tad followed her, keeping his eyes on the men at all times.

The one with the crossbow raised his weapon again, bearing yet another arrow. This time, he fired too quickly for Tad to be able to do much about it.

He pulled on the back of Catreena’s skirt, managing to get her out of the way in time, but as he swung the two of them around, causing her to fall into his arms, the arrow caught the side of his arm.

He grunted, hissing in pain through his teeth as he felt the arrowhead tear his shirt and whip past his skin. There would be blood, he knew that, but it was not bad.

He thrust Catreena onto her feet again, only catching a glimpse of her expression in the moonlight, though it was enough to make him suddenly aware of the pounding of her heart.

Her blue eyes were wide with fear.

A fury took over him like nothing else he had ever experienced.

He reached into the back of his weapons belt, lifting out his own crossbow. It was smaller than his foe’s, more accurate, and much more deadly. With a bolt slipped into place within a second, he fired it at the two men. It struck his assailant in the shoulder, knocking him with such startling force, that he dropped his weapon and fell backwards.

“Time tae go,” Tad called to Catreena and grabbed her hand.

“Dae ye have tae hold me hand!?”

“Nae the time fer this!” he snapped back and shot off through the forest. He kept the crossbow in his other hand, ready to use it if needed, as they ran between the trees, darting over scrambling tree roots and great clumps of wild garlic. He could feel Catreena struggling to keep up with his pace, but he didn’t slow down. They needed to get as far away from there as possible, and as quickly as they could.

There could be others waiting for us.

He spied his horse through the branches, the reins tied to the tree where he had left it. When he’d arrived at the castle, he’d caught sight of Catreena running off and had turned his horse to follow her instead.

As they reached the horse, the animal snorted in greeting. Tad took hold of Catreena’s waist and practically tossed her into the saddle.

“Och!” she exclaimed, struggling to sit straight. “I can climb intae a saddle meself. I am nae completely incapable, Tad.”

“Ye say that now?” He scoffed as he snatched up the reins and stepped into the stirrup. With some difficulty, he managed to pull himself up in front of her. She was forced with the way he had tipped the saddle to sit flush against him, her front to his back. “Hold on tight. As if we were lovers.” His tone was a little playful through the anger, though it was only momentary as he looked back through the trees.

There’s someone there. One of the men have recovered and come after us.

“I’d rather grip ontae a wild wolf,” she hissed.

“A lover that acts like a wild wolf isnae bad thing, little Catreena.”

“What daes that mean – ah!” She yelped as he suddenly flicked the reins, and they darted off through the trees again.

Another bolt hit the earth beneath the horse’s hooves, but his steed was a hard one to spook. The stallion barely snorted as it rode on at great speed, sensing the danger and carrying them far away.

Fortunately, at the sudden speed, Catreena had indeed held tightly onto him. Tad just had to do his best not to let the monster that often stirred in his gut rise on this occasion.

It was how he always thought of it when he was aroused, as if some dragon was roaring in his lower gut, ready to rise and feed his lovemaking with fire. That dragon had started to rear its head recently around Catreena, though he knew he couldn’t let that happen.

There were too many obstacles in the way of him letting that dragon free. Catreena was the sister of his dearest friends in the world. There was an age gap between them, and there was also the small problem that she despised everything about him.

How inconvenient that she grew up tae be as spirited and beautiful as she is.

He flicked the reins again and concentrated on their journey. Within minutes, they were back near the castle. As they rode out toward the courtyard, two guards stepped forward, alarmed at their presence.

“We were attacked,” Tad shouted at them. They clearly recognized his voice at once. “Double the guard at every entrance. Consider it an order from yer own laird, I’m sure Alec would say as much.”

Tad was allowed to steer the horse into the courtyard before the guards slammed the gate shut behind him. The moment he slowed the pace of the horse, Catreena released him. She even staggered down from the saddle before the horse had fully stopped, nearly managing to make herself fall over.

Tad halted the horse then jumped down too, passing the reins into the hands of a stable boy who had run through the darkness to greet them.

“What happened out there?” Catreena asked, seeming to speak more to herself than to him at all. For a change, she held no argumentative tone. It was more like a curious fear, her voice very quiet indeed. “Who were they?”

“I expect they were Grant soldiers. They have been seen more and more in the Mackintosh lands. Me scouts saw them recently break yer borders. I came tae warn Dunn and Evander about it tonight.” He tried to take her arm to steer her into the castle, but she veered it out of his grasp.

“Why us?” she snapped, stepping back. “I ken Cillian Grant despises us. Bran married the woman he wanted, but ye were the one who killed his faither. Why come and attack us? Why now?”

“Why dae ye think?” he said, sighing with tiredness. “Ye, Dunn and Evander are easier targets with Bran and Alec away, nae tae mention the soldiers that will accompany them. Ye are nae as fortified as me own castle is. Now, come inside. Ye seem tae have had enough of journeying with me fer one night.”

She narrowed her eyes as she stalked past him into the castle.

“I dinnae intend tae go on a journey with ye ever again, Tad.”

Tad followed behind her. Something in her spirited words had made that dragon purr once again in his gut. He shook his head as he followed her into the castle.

She is forbidden tae ye, ye idiot. Remember that.

How likely are you to recommend this preview to a friend? *

Not at all Likely Extremely Likely
0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

Submit