The Condemned Highlander (Highland Intrigue Trilogy 2)

Her annoyance was palpable. It sparked around him like a flame that had yet to catch.

“There is much more to this than she tells me. Why is that? Why does she choose to keep things from me? What is she afraid of?”

“You cannot mean to think she is fearful,” Brogan asked, the thought absurd.

Annis turned on her husband, agitated. “I tell you there is more to what surrounds this curse than she says.”

“What makes you believe that?”

“Her avoidance,” Annis said. “It is like she wants me to know something yet needs me to find it out myself.”

“Why would she want you to do that?”

“I do not know,”—she threw her hands up in frustration—“though I wish I did. And what about those who lie to us that she continues to warn about? Who are they and what do they lie about?”

Brogan felt the guilt like a stab to his gut. “There is something I have not told you.”

Her stomach twisted. “You have lied to me?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “It was a secret I was bound to, but no longer.”

“What secret?” Annis shook her head. “Tell me before I go mad with worry.”

“Weeks ago, Lord Odran rescued Clan Loudon from attack.”

“Una told me, and I was sorry to hear that Chieftain Emory succumbed to wounds received in battle.” Her eyes turned wide. “Something has happened to Elysia?”

There was no other way to tell her, and she had a right to know. “Saber hid his true identity. He is Lord Odran—the silent Highlander.”

Annis staggered back, the news shocking. “The very thing Bliss fought so hard to protect us from, marrying any of the cursed lords. Now all three of us are wed to them. I am assuming Elysia now knows her husband’s true identity?”

“There is no hiding it now with Lord Odran having saved Clan Loudon from defeat.”

“I do not only fight to keep Bliss safe but Elysia as well,” she said, realizing how important her quest had become. She shook her head. “Elysia chose to wed Saber—Lord Odran—of her own free will and sealed her fate, didn’t she?”

“Aye, she did,” Brogan said, “and from what I have heard they truly love each other.”

Annis sat on the side of the bed. “Elysia did favor Saber and he was kind and gentle with her.” Her head shot up to glare at her husband. “Tell me Lord Odran is no different than Saber.”

“I can tell you that Saber’s love for your sister is no different than Odran’s,” Brogan said.

Her mind was filled with far too many disturbing thoughts. She needed to let them go like she did when something she was constructing posed a problem. She would give it time, move away from it so she could better understand it and see it more clearly before solving the issue. That is what she needed to do now—clear her head.

“Make love to me,” she demanded.

Brogan’s brow shot up. He knew what she wanted from him. He had sought it himself often enough when his mind troubled him. Meaningless coupling.

“Nay,” he snapped. “I will not couple with you meaninglessly, so you can avoid what troubles you. Our love means more to me than that.”

“I cannot believe you refuse to make love with me,” she said, more than a bit shocked.

“I cannot believe you would ask me to pointlessly couple with you,” he shot back, annoyed.

She drew back her head as if he had struck her. “Pointlessly couple? Is that what you think I want from you? What I need from you?” She silently cursed the tears that gathered in her eyes.

He had been rash in refusing her. But how did he explain how her words had stung and brought back memories of how he had lost himself in women whose names and faces he could no longer recall. He did not want that with her and if he had not allowed his memories to sting, he would have realized their lovemaking would never be pointless.

“I spoke out of turn,” he said, rushing his fingers through his hair, not sure how to right the hurt he had caused her. The tears that glistened in her eyes ready to spill stabbed at his heart. She cried easily, often at foolish things, but this time he had caused her tears and that was something he never wanted to do.

“You spoke out of turn. I spoke out of love. If I cannot come to you in need…” She shook her head. “I never gave thought, not for a moment, that you would deny me.”

Brogan hated himself at that moment and all he wanted to do was snatch her up in his arms and beg her forgiveness for being such a fool.

“Annis,” he said and stepped toward her.

Her hand shot up stopping him. “I need a moment of privacy.” She went to the door.