Beloved Highlander

Gregor’s face had cleared, and he took her hand in his, his fingers closing hard. “If he will think that, if that is so, then we must act at once! We must wed as soon as possible, Meg. If Abercauldy is as determined as you say, and he discovers our plans, he will move to stop us. We cannot risk that.”

That was true, Meg knew it was true.

She took a deep breath. “Gregor…I do not think you realize how much danger you will be placing yourself in by marrying me. No, listen! If you…if we wed, then it is possible Abercauldy will see you as an object in his path, that he will seek to remove you. Destroy you. If he has murdered before, then it will hardly matter to him.”

Gregor’s smile grew irritatingly smug, even a little patronizing. “I am not afraid of the Duke of Abercauldy. Dinna let that influence your decision, Meg. I have survived worse than him. But whatever your decision is, you must make it verra soon.”

Meg knew she was in danger and her choices were limited. She could face Abercauldy alone, or she could wed Gregor and they could face him together. For three days she had been agonizing over her decision, and now it was simple.

“I will keep you safe, Meg,” Gregor’s voice was soft and low. He had moved closer, his chest brushing her shoulder, his breath in her hair. “I will protect you. That is part of my vow, and be in no doubt, I will honor it.”

They were words she had wanted to hear, and yet they were all about honor and protection. There was nothing about holding her, kissing her, taking her to his bed. Meg’s face flamed at her own thoughts, and the sudden realization that maybe Gregor did not want her in that way. Why should he? She was plain, tart-tongued Meg Mackintosh. Why should he desire her? How humiliating, if he were to feel obliged to bed her!

The words spilled from her lips.

“I…A marriage does not mean we must share other than our vows. It could be in name only. We are near enough to strangers, after all. I do not mind if…”

His amber eyes stared into hers, and then he shook his head slightly, as though clearing it. “We are no more strangers than many other husbands and wives when they first wed. And you forget, Meg, if a marriage is not properly done, it can be turned aside. Do you want that?”

She gazed up into his face, trying to read him.

It was impossible.

“What are you saying?” she asked in a low voice. “That you think it would be wiser to…to consummate it? That it is in our best interests to do so?” Her breath was quick and fast, but she controlled it. Was this his reasoning? That they must sleep in the same bed to make their union legal? Was that all that mattered to him?

“Aye, it would be sensible. Don’t you agree?”

Sensible.

His amber eyes were still searching hers, as if he sought to read something in them that wasn’t there. Meg closed her own eyes a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. What had she wanted? A passionate avowal of lust and desire? She was a fool, and thus she was bound to be disappointed. This was a business arrangement between two strangers, not a love match. As Gregor had said, sensible…

“Meg?” His voice had an edge to it. And suddenly his hand closed on her arm, and her eyes opened, finding his face very close to hers. His breath brushed her skin like a caress.

Impatience tightened his lips and made a frowning crease

between his brows. “Och, if you marry me, Meg, then I want all of you! I dinna do things by half measures!”

Well, that was plain enough! And somehow comforting, even if it wasn’t the speech she had dreamed of since she was a girl. Meg nodded, once, then twice. “Very well then, very well. I will wed you, Gregor. But you must be laird in fact as well as name. You must have the authority of Glen Dhui behind any orders you give. In such circumstances I cannot hold Glen Dhui alone. We will hold it together.”

She had made that decision on her ride home. As much as his rejection of his rights as laird had pleased her and shocked her, she could not allow him to have his way. If he was to fight for her and Glen Dhui, maybe give his life, then he deserved to be laird in fact as well as name.

He was watching her, gauging her, and then he too nodded his head. “Verra well, Meg, it will be as you say. We will hold Glen Dhui together. The Grants and the Mackintoshes, there’s a combination to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies! Abercauldy won’t stand a chance against us.”

So easy, Meg thought. After all, it was such a simple thing. And if she were not quite as ecstatically happy as she had hoped to be at this moment in her life, if it had not gone quite as she had always dreamed, then she must learn to live with disappointment.

“So it is yes, Meg?”

Meg managed a serious little smile. “It is yes. Yes, I will wed you, Gregor, and it will be as you say. I will tell my father when Lorenzo is gone and—”

“I am finished with your father, my lady.”

The voice came from above them.

They looked up.

Meg was shocked to see that thin, smiling face at the head of the stairs. Lorenzo. He was standing, hidden in the shadows, spying on them. It was impossible to know how much he had heard, or whether it had been enough to give their secret away, but Meg was quite certain of one thing. Lorenzo would make whatever mischief with Abercauldy it was in his power to make.

Chapter 17