Telling Jamie how to run his life.
Jamie did not care to listen any longer.
His sire narrowed his gaze at his son and lifted his chin, spinning his sword with his hand, acting like he knew everything. “I think ‘tis exactly the same.”
And Jamie’s temper blew. “I do not, and I’m tired of everyone telling me what to do, where to go. The bastard deserved to be thrown off our land, putting his hands all over Gracie.”
His sire just leveled him with a look.
He’d never known anyone who could control his temper like his father could. Alex could be furious and one would never know it, but Jamie had learned the subtle signs that meant he was close to losing his temper. He’d see that wee tic in his sire’s jaw and he’d nod to Jake, telling him to start running.
That tic hadn’t started yet.
“You and Mama taught me that a Highlander should protect women. I protected Gracie against Sean and Chisholm and the baron just as you raised me to do. Why was I wrong?” He could feel his voice growing louder, but he did not care. It felt good to yell at his father. “Did you ever consider that mayhap I did notwantto protect her, that it was our clan’s code of honor that made me go after the baron?”
The tic in his sire’s jaw started to wiggle. It did not matter. He could not stop now.
“The way the men all circled her, you should have assigned her a team of protectors. Mayhap had three guards follow her everywhere. The lass draws men like bees to a honeycomb—all of them flitting around her, trying to sniff her, trying to lick her, trying to…”
“Get your arse outside and draw your sword, lad.”
Jamie stared at his father, at the tic of his jaw, at his narrowed gaze, another bad sign.
But he didn’t stop, plowing ahead without any thought of the repercussions. The anger had grown in him over the past weeks, peaking last night. “They wished to stick their cock in her like she was a common wench, a whore…” he growled.
His sire’s voice bellowed through the rafters. “Get your arse outside and draw your weapon, lad, or it’ll be my fists.”
Jamie hollered back, “Suits me. Kick my arse any way you want. Mayhap I’ll kick yours.” He stalked outside, took his shirt off, and grabbed his sword.
His sire came at him with a roar, his blade poised over his head, waiting for Jamie to ready himself. Once they were far enough from the building, Jamie charged toward his sire, forcing the confrontation. He would hold back nothing. Metal clashed against metal, and though Jamie’s muscles begged for mercy, he would not stop. He could not. He swung and swung, stopping his father’s advances. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jake and Connor, but they stayed back. This was between him and his sire.
He’d had enough. He could take no more of watching those bastards flitting around his Gracie.HisGracie! Aye, he was supposed to protect her, but he’d failed.
He swung his sword from the side, hoping to catch his sire off-guard, but Alex was faster, and he swung with a force that knocked him on his arse.
He hadn’t protected her as he ought to have. Those bastards had touched her.
He jumped up and ran straight at his father with his sword, and again his father knocked him on his arse.
Laird Chisholm had kissed her.Kissed his Gracie.
Jumping to his feet, he spun in a circle and brought his sword down on his father’s weapon so hard that sparks flew.
Sean had kissed her…his Gracie.
He swung again and his father knocked his weapon out of his hands. He grabbed it quick and ran at him again, but he knocked him away.
The bastard baron hadkissed his Gracie!
His sire stood in front of him, heaving, his sword down in front of him. “Jamie, this is no different than before. You couldn’t handle losing Mac. Can you not see what’s bothering you?”
“Nay. Naught is bothering me. Draw your weapon, Papa.”
His father lifted his sword again, but with a different attitude. “Can you not see what you’re doing? You’re deliberately keeping your distance from the lass. She’ll not hurt you like Mac did.” His father let up a touch, though he continued a light parry while they talked.
“Aye, she could,” he said, choking on the words. “You’ve lost loved ones before, I know that, but have you watched them die in front of you? Da, a bolt of lightning shot down out of the sky and sucked the life right out of him, and there was nothing I could do butwatch. I’ll never put myself in such a position again.”
“What happened to Mac was a terrible accident, but it wasn’t a common one. We did not raise you to be afraid of life, Jamie. Stop hiding from it.”
