“I am Fawn, and I tend to the forest animals, and I lecture you because the lives of innocent creatures are threatened,” she responded, holding his gaze without flinching. “Your hunts take more than is needful. Greed leaves the forest barren. You should show restraint, if not respect.”
A murmur of surprise rose from the few men lingering near the hearth, quickly silenced by Rhodes’s dark glance. No one dared speak against him, no one but this fiery slip of a woman.
“You speak boldly, Fawn,” he said, rising slowly to his feet. He towered over her, the hall seeming smaller with his full height filling it. “Do you not fear me?”
“I fear for the creatures you slaughter without thought,” she countered, her chin lifting. “Not you.”
Her defiance stirred something deep in him, something he had not felt in a long time, resistance, challenge. And instead of anger, a slow, dark thrill slid through him.
Boyce cleared his throat, as though about to intervene, but Rhodes silenced him with a raised hand. His dark gaze never left the woman.
“You dare enter my hall, defy my word, and command me as though I were some wayward lad?” Rhodes demanded with the barest smile before commanding, “You will be my wife.”
CHAPTER 2
Fawn’s green eyes flashed like sunlight striking glass at his audacity. “You must be mad if you think I’ll agree to that.”
The kitten nestled closer into the curve of her arm, purring as though her fury was a lullaby.
Rhodes’s dark gaze held steady, unblinking. Few dared meet it, fewer still dared defy it. Yet this slip of a woman, fiery-haired and small as a reed, stared him down as though she feared him not at all.
“You will,” he said, his deep voice unhurried, final. “I have spoken it. And once spoken, it is done.”
She laughed then, a short, incredulous sound that echoed through the Great Hall and pricked at the ears of the few warriors present. None had ever heard such a foolish thing… laughter at their laird’s decree.
“You think yourself all-powerful,” she said, clutching the kitten protectively. “But I will let no man decide my life as though I were a ewe to be claimed. You’ve already enough beasts penned at your bidding. I will not let you add me as another.”
Rhodes stepped down from the dais, his height and presence filling the space between them. He stopped only a breath away, forcing her to tilt her head back to keep her glare upon him.
“You walked into my hall, challenged me, defied me before my men, and still stand without trembling. You are unlike any woman I have known, and I will have you as my own.”
Her chin lifted, fiery curls tumbling over her shoulders. “Then you are a fool as well as mad, for I will never be yours.”
Rhodes could hear and almost feel Boyce shift uncomfortably at the table, but Rhodes ignored him. His gaze remained locked on her with a steady weight that might have bent a lesser soul.
“I am Lord Rhodes of Clan MacBrair. An exceptional warrior and always—always—victorious. When I claim something, it is final. You will be my wife. Nothing you say will change it.”
For a heartbeat, silence reigned, broken only by the fire’s pop and the steady rumble of the kitten’s purr.
Fawn’s lips curved in a defiant smile. “We shall see about that.”
With that, she turned on her heels, the hem of her cloak sweeping the wood floor, and strode for the doors. The kitten clung close, its small head nestled under her chin, purring as though in agreement with her.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind her, leaving only the echo of her words and the faint scent of pine and cold air in her wake.
Rhodes stood in the silence, his jaw set, a slow, dangerous smile curving his lips as his eyes remained on the closed door. Something about her lit a fire in his blood and stirred his manhood with a strength of which he had not felt in far too long.
Boyce shook his head. “You’ve gone and done it now.”
Rhodes’s eyes narrowed. “And what have I done, besides claim what is mine?”
“There are mumbles about her,” Boyce said carefully. “Whispers that she’s a witch.”
Rhodes turned sharply, dark brows lifting. “A witch? For what reason?”
“Because she lives alone in the woods,” Boyce said, lowering his voice as though the stones themselves might be listening. “No kin nearby, no husband, no protection but her own. Animals are drawn to her, follow her as though she commands them. She protects them fiercely, and they in turn protect her. Men say she can soothe a wild beast with a single touch.”
Rhodes was silent for a long moment, his thoughts turning over like grinding stone. The image of her fiery hair, her bold green eyes, her fearless defiance rose again in his mind, along with the kitten purring in her arms as though it had belonged there always.
