After a restless night’s sleep and an hour pacing the castle corridors wondering what to do with herself, Allia was now on her knees in the garden industriously pulling weeds from a long-neglected rose bed. And there he was, a stranger, leaning against a wall perhaps thirty feet away, casually talking with some of the stable hands. But his eyes were glued to her, in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end. She had no idea who he was, only that she hadn't seen him until today. She peeked up at him from under her lashes, not wanting to meet his gaze. He was good looking, she could tell that even from a distance. Tall, muscled, dark blond hair falling to his shoulders, a regular Adonis. But why was he staring ather? Was she suddenly destined to attract the undivided attention of every gorgeous man in Scotland? The thought had merit, she thought wryly. But no, she could hardly take advantage of all those men like that.
Amused, she finished pulling the last of the weeds and sat back to admire her work. Much better. If she was going to be stuck here with nothing to do for much longer, the entire castle grounds were going to end up re-landscaped. And her uncle still hadn’t spoken of what his plans were for her, so she was pretty much waiting around for the other shoe to drop, to see if she should stay or run.
With a little sigh, she stood and brushed off her skirts, making her way to a nearby water trough to wash the worst of the dirt from her hands. When she looked up, the strange man was standing right in front of her. Allia gasped and took a step back, pressing her hand to her chest in surprise.
He smiled, a row of perfect white teeth making the Adonis-look complete. "My Lady, I didna mean to startle ye. I only wanted to introduce myself, I'm Murdo McDermont. I'm visiting Lochain for the week, on clan business."
Allia managed at last to gather her wits and smiled politely, whether or not she wanted to. "I'm Allia, the Laird's niece."
"I ken. I already asked about ye."
"Oh. You did?" Somehow, that made her nervous, because it implied that he had been watching her before now, and without her knowing.
He smiled that dazzling smile again. "Would ye walk with me for a moment?"
Allia glanced around, unsure. Despite his physical beauty, she wasn't getting the best of vibes from this guy. Something seemed a little... off, and though she couldn't put her finger on what it was, she trusted her instincts. But it was the middle of the day, and there were plenty of people around. And of course she didn't want to be rude to a guest of her uncle's, now that she was on her best behavior.
"Yes... um…all right."
He offered his arm and she hesitantly took it as he led her past the stable and towards the herb beds. After a moment, she realized that unlike with Eian touchingthisman, as handsome as he was, did nothing for her. She furrowed her brow in thought and not a little irritation. Whenever she had touched Eian, there had been so much heat between them she thought she might just burn up on the spot.Damn him. Why did it have to be the bad-boy womanizer she had super-hot chemistry with? Why couldn't it be some nice, honorable man that would be happy just to haveher...not the man she was currently walking with though, he was questionable at best. She glanced up at him suspiciously, but he was looking straight ahead and didn’t seem to notice.
"I saw ye tending the roses. Ye enjoy working in the gardens?"
"Aye. I find it passes the time. And I like to be outside.” She paused, searching for something else to say. “And what do you do, Murdo?"
"Ah, I'm just a warrior for my Chief, and a sometimes messenger when there's no battles to be fought."
Yeah, I don’t think so…“So what brings you to Lochain then?”
“Just passing through on my way south. I needed a rest and some good company.”
Apparently, small, isolated Lochain was becoming a major crossroads. Trying to think of another question that would make Murdo give away any ulterior motives, it took Allia a moment to realize they had stopped walking. She looked around, surprised that they had already come to the orchard at the edge of the wood. Murdo had turned to stand in front of her, his large frame towering over her five and a half feet. Something akin to fear skittered down her back, but she shook it off. After all, she only had to shout if she got into trouble. Her uncle's guards weren't far, and they would likely be watching her from a distance even now. If she screamed, someone would come running.
Murdo reached up and traced a finger down her jaw, shocking her and making her even more certain that her instincts had been right. "So beautiful ye are, lass. Would ye allow me just one kiss?"
She drew back, her heart pounding in her chest, but not in a good way. She felt uneasy, wanted to get away.
She shook her head. "Um, no, I don't think..."
He tightened his grip a little, pulling her closer so that their bodies were almost touching, and she could feel his heat. "Hush lass, only a chaste kiss on the cheek. No more than ye would give to yer uncle the laird. Just so that I may brag that I once kissed a beautiful lady."
Before she could answer, he leaned in, his arms sliding around her as he bent over her. True to his word, he gave her only a lingering kiss on the cheek then released her, but still she felt terribly violated somehow. He whispered something softly near her ear, in a language she couldn't understand, but that somehow sounded ancient, something that she should know perhaps...
Suddenly she felt dizzy, and her vision began to grow dark around the edges. She knew what this was… god, he was trying to put her under a spell of some sort! Panic rose in her chest, and she wasn't sure if she'd been standing there for just a moment, or for hours. Forcing her body to comply, she shook her head, fought to clear it, and pushed him away.
"What... what did you just do to me?" she demanded indignantly.
He smiled at her, but this time the smile was not half so charming. "I only kissed ye, lass. Have ye never been kissed before?"
No… oh no, that was magic. And she didnotmean the kiss. He had definitely just tried to put some sort of spell over her. To what end, she didn’t know, but nothing she would have agreed to, that was for sure. Anger rose in her belly and filled her veins with fire. "Who are you really?”
His eyes narrowed and she could have sworn they glowed just a little, which was when Allia realized she didn’t really want to stick around for introductions. “Leave!” she hissed at him. “Leave me alone!"
Allia turned and ran back to the castle as fast as she could, not daring to look behind to see if he followed. Murdo McDermont was not an ordinary man; that much she knew. And she also knew she had almost been in really big trouble just now. If she weren’t as strong as she was, he could have taken over her mind and body and bent her to his will. And she could bet that whatever his intentions were, they weren't good. Damn, she had to be more careful! For years she had been relatively safe in a time where almost everyone had forgotten about magic and other-worldly power. It had been reduced to nothing more than the stuff of bedtime stories; no one really believed anymore that it could actually exist, or that it ever had. But here... here it was alive and well, and she was fairly certain that the man who called himself Murdo had just tried to use it against her.
When at last she had reached the relative safety of the keep, Allia turned and looked back, but the man hadn’t followed her. For a moment she debated telling her uncle what had happened, but quickly decided against it. She would only end up with more guards, more trouble, and less freedom. She could handle a man like Murdo McDermont (if that was even his real name), now that she knew what to look out for. After all, she had been taking care of herself for years now.
If this was a contest to see who could be the first to win a kiss from the lady, Eian had just lost. He turned and walked slowly away, needing to be alone somewhere to lick his wounds. He had been lurking at the edge of the wood for the last hour or so, ever since he saw Allia working in the garden on his way back from the training fields and stopped to spy on her in secret. She had been so beautiful, with the sun shining on her golden hair and a little smile of satisfaction playing on her lips every time she pulled a particularly large weed from the bed. He couldn't help but smile too, every time she did. He had stood there completely captivated, like a besotted fool, just watching her, and aye, of course day-dreaming about having her under him and bent to his will. Hewasa hot blooded mac Coinnach male, after all.
