Page 33 of Highlander’s Forbidden Fruit

Aleck couldn’t deny the accuracy of this statement, so he maneuvered Daisy into a faster trot. Vano laughed his infectious laughter.

“You’re a serious one. No wonder the ladies like you. They go for that quiet, brooding sort.”

“By the sounds of yer tales, ye have no trouble with the ladies, either.”

Vano laughed. It seemed like it was one of the things he loved to do most.

“So, why does the Laird need a bagpiper so urgently?”

“His daughter’s returning after months away. There’s a feast.”

“Grand! I like feasts. Might there be more than food and ale in payment?”

“Please the Laird, and ye’ll get more than ye desire.”

“And is she pretty, the Laird’s daughter?”

Aleck didn’t comment. He didn’t appreciate Vano’s tone.

“I’ve never bedded a Laird’s daughter. Suppose she’s as lively as the rest of your Scots, eh?”

“Ye’ll do well to keep that tongue in yer mouth and yer hands to yerself unless ye want to spend the rest of yer life begging maimed and mute,” Aleck growled.

Vano laughed harder than before. “Ah! I see. That’s where yer heart resides. The Laird’s daughter must be pretty indeed.”

Aleck hmphed and dug his boots in Daisy’s side. The horse galloped on ahead, but it could not outpace Vano’s laughter.

* * *

At the castle, Aleck introduced Vano to Joseph Algee and tasked him to show the gypsy the great hall and Laird MacLeod. Once rid of Vano, he took their horses to the stables. Usually, he let the stable boy remove the saddle and brush the horses down, but today he needed his hands to be busy. Chances were, he’d punch Vano the next time he saw him, so best to keep the hands occupied.

He was just done with Daisy when a tap on his shoulder alerted him to someone else in the stables.

“Ye didnae forget about me, did ye Aleck?” Isla was standing close to him. Much too close. He could see the pains she’d taken to make herself desirable. Her bodice was tied lower than usual; he could make out the blushing pink of areolas peaking out of the bodice, her nipples dangerously close to exposure. She lifted her arms to pet Daisy, lifting her breasts higher for Aleck’s view.

Aleck stepped away from her and retrieved the ribbon from his coat pocket. “You said you wanted blue.”

He thrust it into her hand, but before he could snatch his hand away, she grasped on to it and pulled it to her breast with the ribbon.

“Oh, Aleck!” she squealed. “It’s just the shade I’d wanted.” She smashed his hand against her, rubbing her nipples against his fingers till they were hard and pointed underneath the fabric. “You deserve a prize for being so thoughtful and attentive.” She gave him a sly glance from hooded eyes, and before Aleck could make heads or tails of what was happening, she had pressed herself against him and kissed him.

Their lips weren’t the only thing mashed together. His hand was still on her breast, now sandwiched between each chest. Isla moaned into his mouth, her tongue darting out to lick his lips. Aleck knew pushing her away would be a grave mistake lest she take offence and complain to her grandfather. So, he pulled himself away.

But it was too late.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Evanna MacLeod was standing at the entrance of the stables, a horse by her side. “I was looking for Peter.”

Aleck couldn’t breathe. The wind had been knocked out of him by the sight of her. What he’d seen of her transformation in London had been nothing compared to the vision she was now.

Hair parted in the middle and braided to form a crown while the rest of her luscious locks cascaded down her back like a river of gold, cheeks pink and eyes bright from a day’s ride, Evanna looked more beautiful than she ever had before. But it wasn’t just her appearance. There was something in the way she held her head, the way she spoke and held herself back emotionally from the situation at hand.

Evanna had gone to London a girl and had returned a lady.

And the first thing she’d seen was Aleck and Isla kissing in the stables.

Aleck had known he wasn’t destined for greatness, but he hadn’t known his luck was this rotten.

Chapter Twelve