Unwilling (Highland Historical #2)

thrilled to the sound.  When evil bled, it was difficult for even the
softest heart to mourn.  The second blow crushed Angus’s chest in, and the
third flattened his head with a sickening crunch.
    Finished with his warrior kills,
Connor turned his attention to the last few of the women filing out behind her. 
With a hiss he charged them, angling to leap around Lindsay and crush them into
the walls. 
    Lindsay backed closer to them, throwing
her hands wide.  “Connor, no!” she cried.  “Let them leave.”  He pulled up
short, snarling.  Though, when he looked down at her, his black eyes went to
her lips and they softened.  At least, she would call it that.  Grunting, he
lifted a finger to wipe at the tiny trail of blood that had leaked from her
wound.  He made a soft sound of regret.
    “I’m all right,” she crooned.
“Let’s—”
    A moan sounded from behind him, and
Connor’s head whipped around.
    Rory had stirred and struggled to
push himself from the earthen floor.  With a massive effort, he achieved a
sitting position and held his head with another beleaguered groan. 
    The berserker leapt for him at the
very same instant that Lindsay lunged for the chain that still hung from the
shackle about his neck.  She dug in her feet and tugged, desperate to save the
new Laird of this decimated clan.  Her feeble strength wasn’t enough, and her
feet made shallow trails across the packed earth. 
    “Connor, stop!” she cried to no
avail.  “Connor I… I accept you!”
    He froze.     
    “I accept you as my mate.  You hear
me?”  His shoulders rolled and a force of some kind seemed to ripple through
his great body.  “Now… don’t kill anyone else or I shall …” how did one punish
a berserker?  “Be very cross with you if you do,” she threatened.  There, that
should strike terror into his heart.  She rolled her eyes at her own
ineptitude. 
    Suddenly, an elated sensation stole
her breath, and though her soul soared, it seemed to bind to his with links
stronger than the iron chains she clutched.  It was as though they’d been
weaved into the ether with the fibers of the strongest silk, unable to be rent
apart by any force imaginable. 
    It was fate.  It was choice.  And
he was hers.
    For a moment, no one breathed, then
he turned to her, his green eyes shining with incredulity and, for the first
time since she’d met him, aching vulnerability. 
    “Tell me you meant it,” he
breathed.  “Tell me you accepted me , Lindsay, not just to save those
people.”
    Lindsay looked at Connor and truly
saw the man within him for the first time.  His eyes, raw with unchecked
emotion, glimmered with affect she’d never seen before.  Hope.  Trust…  Love. 
It was love, fledgling but pure that pulsed between them and she was
humbled by the gentle, unstoppable force of it. 
    “I accepted you the moment I
accepted you into my body,” she admitted.  “I just lacked the courage to say it
until now.”
    He lunged for her, pulling her
against his body and searing her soul with a kiss.  She didn’t even notice the
pressure on her cut as their mouths fused.  He devoured her with a frantic
desperation until she placed her hands on the sides of his face and softened
the kiss before pulling back.        
    “You’re going to have to stop
getting blood on all my fine dresses,” she teased.  “At least, this one’s
borrowed.”
    He let out something between a
groan and a laugh.  “I love ye, Lindsay Ross.  Having ye as my wife and my mate
will complete my life.  My very existence will belong to ye.  My body, my soul,
my magic and my beast will—”
    Lindsay put her finger over his
lips, lifting an eyebrow at him.  “I may be your mate, but it’s not certain
I’ll be your wife, Connor MacLauchlan,” she quipped. 
    “Why?” he asked, nibbling on the
tip of her finger.  Her body warmed to the movement of his lips.
    “Because.” She extricated herself
from his grip and took hold of the chain about his neck. Tugging him toward the
door, she threw a saucy look over her shoulder. 
    “Ye still haven’t asked.”
     

About
the Author
     
     
    Kerrigan
Byrne's stories span the spectrum of romantic fiction from historical, to
paranormal, to romantic suspense.  She can always promise her reader one
thing:  memorable and sexy Celtic heroes who are guaranteed to heat your blood
before they steal your heart. 
     
    Kerrigan
lives at the base of the Rocky