“Which is?”
“My protection.”
“Ah. And you think that is why I wish to marry you?”
“Do you still?” He did not mean to voice the question, and certainly not in that odd, breathy tone, like a besotted lad awaiting a single word from his beloved. After all, she’d agreed to marry him once. He’d given her every opportunity to change her mind. He need not do so again and he would not. He was a selfish man at heart.
“Aye,” she said. “I wish to marry you.”
For a moment he forgot how to breathe. “Then you have my loyalty for eternity and beyond.”
“I know,” she said simply.
He swallowed the lump in his throat. “And my sword arm to guard against all that may threaten you.”
“What if I want more than your sword arm, Sir Hawk?” She leaned forward and kissed him. Flame touched his lips. “What if I want your kindness?”
It was difficult to breathe with her so near, but he managed. “I am not a kind man, Catriona. You should know that by now.”
“Truly?”
“Aye.”
“Then mayhap I shall marry you for your sense of humor,” she said and kissed his bare shoulder.
He tilted his head back. “In truth, I have none.”
She laughed. The sound was like the bells of Christmas or the song of birds at first light. Immeasurably soothing. “Then it must be your body that tempts me so,” she said and slipped her hand down his chest.
“I have one of those,” he rasped and pulled a sharp breath between his teeth.
“Aye, you do.” She stretched out beside him, her breath warm against his bare skin, her fingers feather-soft as she traced a scar across his shoulder. “Am I hurting you?”
His chuckle sounded a wee bit insane, he thought. “Nay.”
She was silent for a moment. “How did you know?” she murmured.
He stroked her hair for a moment, thinking, ” ‘Twas a fair enough lie you told about the medallion,” he said. “And producing Drummond’s piece—‘twas all but a stroke of genius. But you gave in too easily. The Catriona I have come to love would have fought to the death before letting me deliver it to Blackheart alone.”
“But I saw you leave the castle.”
“I did not go far. Just out of sight, and then I waited. ‘Twas following you through the woods that was difficult. But the finches are not known for their silence.” He tensed for a moment. “I should have found you sooner. I should have known they planned to take Lachlan to the cottage where Rory had gone. But when you are near, I cannot seem to think of ought but…” He shook his head, his words a whisper in the darkness. “You should have told me, lass. It breaks my heart to think you endured that alone.”
“I was so scared. So confused. Blackheart said I must tell no one, for the very person I trusted might be him. No one was what they should be at Blackburn. Not Physic, or Father Matthew, or Drummond—”
“Father Matthew?”
She lifted her gaze to his. “Might you remember when I went charging around the corner and you nearly beheaded me in the hallway?”
“Aye.”
” ‘Twas the priest I saw… coupling.”
“Well, that’s it then, lass,” he rumbled. “He’ll not be marrying us.”
She chuckled, but the sound was jagged and uncertain as she turned her face back against his shoulder. “The Earl of Harrowhead, he seemed so—”
She shivered and he tightened his arm around her. “I should have known, lass. I should have seen through him. I had heard tales of his father’s evil, but I thought he had weathered the storm. I can almost pity the poor bastard—a frail lad unloved by his father. It might turn any mind septic.”
“It didn’t you.”
“What?”
“Your childhood was somewhat similar to his, it seems. But while he was all that is evil, you are all that is good.” She shivered. “And I almost lost you.”
He gazed down at her, letting the intoxicating emotions sink into his soul. “But you did not lose me,” he said, and curling his fingers under, he stroked her cheek.
Silence settled in, soothing in the darkness.
“Samuel MacKinnon asked me to thank you,” Haydan said. “For everything.” A pause. “He blushed when he said it. Is this something I should worry on?”
“If you like.” She sighed as she brushed her fingers, feather-light, across his chest. “Another wound.”
He let himself be distracted, for he had a feeling that forever and always there would be worries where Catriona was concerned. “Aye. Another wound. I only hope it does not mar the perfection of my skin.”
“Me too,” she said and kissed a spot of flesh that was bared above a swath of bandage.
Peace flowed through him, but one worry niggled. “Tell me one thing, lass,” he said, forcing himself to voice the question he was certain he should not. Leave well enough alone—she had agreed to be his. But honesty was a hard habit to break. “Do you marry me out of guilt?”
“Guilt!” Her gaze met his in the darkness. Against his shoulder, he could feel her heart beat in time with his own. “Nay, Haydan, not out of guilt.”
“For gratitude?”
She hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Aye. Out of gratitude. Every day of my life, I will be grateful that you are the best, the kindest, the wisest man I have ever known. I will be grateful for the sound of your voice, the touch of your hand, the fact that you do not realize that you are too good for the likes of me.” She pressed against him. “I love you, Haydan the Hawk. Not because of what you can do, but because of what you are,” she whispered.
And as their lips joined, so did their lives.
Author’s Note
James V was born in 1512 and crowned king of Scotland at seventeen months of age when his father died in the battle of the Field of Flodden. In 1525 he was seized by his mother’s husband, the Earl of Angus, and kept in comfortable captivity while an English faction took over the government. Three years later, he escaped and seized the political reins. But for many years he would often disguise himself as a peasant and travel about Scotland visiting his people. I like to imagine it was my fictional characters who first introduced him to the wonders of being “average.”
Discover Lois Greiman
“Dangerously funny stuff.”
—Janet Evanovich
American Historical Romance:
Surrender My Heart
The Gambler
European Historical Romance:
Highland Wolf
Highland Flame
Highland Jewel
Highland Heroes Box Set
Highland Hawk
Highland Enchantment
Highland Scoundrel
The Lady and the Knight
Bewitching the Highlander
Tempting the Wolf
Taming the Barbarian
Seducing a Princess
The Princess Masquerade
The Princess and Her Pirate
Paranormal Romance:
Charming the Devil
Seduced By Your Spell
Under Your Spell
Not One Clue
One Hot Mess
Unmanned
Unscrewed
Unplugged
Unzipped
Uncorked
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“Amazingly good.” (Top Pick!) -Romantic Times
“L.A. psychologist, Chrissy McMullen is back to prove that boobs, brass, and brains make for one heck of a good time…lau
gh out loud funny…sassy…clever.” -Mystery Scene
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About the Author
Born on a North Dakota cattle ranch, Lois Greiman graduated from a high school class of sixty students before moving to Minnesota where she professionally trained and showed Arabian Horses for several years. Since that time she’s been a high fashion model, a fitness instructor, and a veterinary assistant. But an incurable case of writing fever put a stop to all those occupations.
Since selling her first book to Avon in 1992, she has sold 22 romance novels, 5 mysteries and the first in her Witches of Mayfair series.
While caring for three children, fifteen horses, and a menagerie of pets on her small farm in Minnesota, Ms. Greiman writes full time, producing two or three novels a year and garnering much praise from readers and reviewers alike.
Her Highland novels have received Affaire de Couer’s Critic’s Choice Award, Romantic Times K.I.S.S. Award, and have been nominated for Romance Writer’s of America’s prestigious Rita. Her titles have appeared on Barnes & Nobles’ bestselling romance list and won her the Midwest Fiction Writer’s Rising Star Award.
To learn more about Lois Greiman and her award-winning novels, please visit Lois Greiman’s website.
Table of Contents
Highland Hawk
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Author’s Note
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About the Author