Unwilling (Highland Historical #2)

the souls who depend on him, this
world who would strike him down, and the father who sired him.  I’m fit for no
woman, Roderick, especially not that infuriating lass upstairs.”
    “Yer not him, Connor,” Roderick
insisted. “Ye’ve proven it to everyone in the highlands but yerself.”
    “Not to myself.  And not to Lindsay. 
You saw her wrists.”
    “You said she did that to herself,”
Roderick said. 
    “Aye, trying to escape me.”  He
heaved a great sigh.  “I made a vow that I woudlna take a mate, that I’d never
kiss a woman.  Just because my berserker bungled that doesna mean I have to
break the promise.  It’s better this way.  Safer.”
    “I suppose so.” Roderick turned
away from him, heading back toward the stone entry.  “Per her betrothal
contract, she’ll have to wed the heir to the MacKay clan.  I imagine she’d
rather take Rory’s hand than Angus’s.”
    Connor grunted, a hollow emptiness
opening up in his chest where his heart should be.
    Roderick continued, his even voice
a little too merry for the exchange.  “Rory’s a good man, if a bit foolhardy. 
I’m certain he’ll tend to her needs… planting little MacKay babes in her belly
night after ni—”
    With a roar, Connor rushed his
brother, pinning him against the armory wall by the neck.  He could feel the
air pumping though his lungs as his beast rushed to the surface, infuriated at
the thought of another man touching his mate.
    After a tense moment, Roderick only
smiled at him, point made.  “Ye canna let her go, brother.  I doona think you
realize the misery ye’d both be doomed to suffer.”
    Lowering his head, Connor released
his brother.  “Christ, I’m done for.”
    “Nay, this is just the beginning. 
Now, go hence and seduce yer woman.  Win her love.  Once ye have it, treasure
it and make the choice every day to love her and treat her with kindness and
respect.  I promise she’ll return the favor… and then some.”  Roderick smirked.
    Connor heard the truth in his
words.  How did Roderick get so wise?  Wasn’t he supposed to be the
elder brother, the Patriarch of the MacLauchlan clan? 
    He worked his jaw a few times,
narrowing his eyes and squelching his pride.  “How does one go about seducing a
woman?”  Usually, willing lassies just made themselves undeniably available to
him.  Talking a woman into wanting him was uncharted territory.
    Roderick just shrugged again,
before leaning to pick up the wrack of pole arms.  “I didna even have to speak
to Evelyn, she was seduced just by looking at me.”  He threw his arms wide and
looked down, as though that should be explanation enough.
    Seizing the opportunity, Connor
landed a punch in his midsection, knocking a breath from him.  “I liked ye
better when ye were mute,” he muttered.
    They strode from the armory out
into the bustling sun-lit square of Castle Lauchlan.
    “I’ve been told that from time to
time.”  Roderick snatched an apple from a cart and tossed a coin to the
vendor.  “But that’s usually when I’m right.”
     

Chapter
Nine
     
    Connor wiped clammy hands on his
tartan and paused in his pacing to stare expectantly at the bedroom door.  She
should return any moment now.  After he’d given Lindsay the night to settle
into her castle chamber, he’d suggested that Evelyn take her to the village. 
Harvest market had commenced a week hence and the ladies could peruse many
local and imported riches.  In her absence, Connor solicited the aid of the
household staff in adorning her chambers in a manner would serve that of a
noble bride.  After much amusement on the part of the maids at his attempts to
help, he was shooed away and assigned the task of making himself presentable. 
    To him, that had meant a through
scrubbing and a clean tartan. 
    He had to admit, they’d done a fine
job.  Wreaths of flowers adorned the thick oak bedposts and any other
previously unoccupied surface.  Innumerable candles threw a golden glow about
the room.  He’d drawn the thick purple drapes to block out the sunset and amassed
a light but decadent supper.
    His eyes kept drifting back to the
bed, spread with lush violet silks and a heavy fur blanket to ward against the
autumn chill.  It matched her amethyst eyes.  She would look perfect draped
upon it, her golden skin glowing in the candlelight, her hair tangling with the
silk. 
    His body responded instantly to the
image.  Blood heated and sped through his