Page 19 of Scot of Seduction

Ilyssa was the first to burst through, running down the steps as quickly as she could with Bran running after her. Ilyssa’s dark hair was fighting to get out of its updo, flying behind her in the wind. Bran chuckled, his dark blond hair a contrast to his wife’s.

“Ilyssa, would ye calm down?” he called. “They’ll still be there when ye reach them. They willnae have vanished.”

Ilyssa flung herself at Catreena first. Catreena embraced her friend tightly, the two of them tottering together from the sheer force of Ilyssa’s movement.

“Oh, I am so glad tae see ye,” Ilyssa exclaimed. “I had nay idea ye were coming back with me braither.”

“Neither did I,” Catreena murmured, stepping back from her friend. “Speaking of which, yer enthusiasm at seeing me might have given me a cracked rib.” She pretended to rub her chest in pain, prompting Ilyssa to giggle.

Ilyssa next embraced her brother as Bran came to hold Catreena.

“What’s happened?” he added in his usual paternal tone, while he kissed her forehead.

“I’m nae dead yet, Bran,” she reminded him. “Nay need tae sound so concerned.”

“Yet!?” Bran and Ilyssa said together.

“Perhaps I should explain why she is here,” Tad began.

“Pray, dae,” Bran said hurriedly, looking at Tad, who promptly went into an explanation of Cillian Grant’s soldiers and the attack on Catreena. When the story was done, Catreena felt Bran’s protective hand on her shoulder, and even Ilyssa had taken her hand.

“Well, I can hardly blame ye fer running out intae the forest. It sounds like something I would have done,” Ilyssa said with a wink.

“Dinnae encourage her,” Tad warned. “Catreena, ye arenae tae dae that here.”

“I already have one braither acting like a faither.” Catreena waved a hand at Bran. “Dinnae ye start.”

As Ilyssa and Bran laughed, it caught Catreena’s attention that Tad did not even smile. Instead, he looked at her, a glimmer of something in his eyes that reminded her of what had happened the night before.

He kissed me. Why did he dae that? Is it possible that he doesnae remember?

All morning, she had been trying her best not to think about that moment, but it returned to her now as if it had just freshly happened. She felt the coiling excitement swirling in her stomach and heard the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.

It was her first kiss and had begun much more gently than she ever could have expected Tad would be capable of. She had liked it, far more than she knew she should have done.

Yet it is still wrong tae long fer that touch again.

“Well, I expect ye have had quite enough of me braither’s company fer one day, how about I show ye tae yer room, Catreena?” Ilyssa asked, linking their arms together.

“A sensible suggestion at last,” Catreena said with a smile. She happily went with Ilyssa into the castle, though she glanced back over her shoulder just once.

Tad was watching her, his arms folded, the tattoos on his forearms much more noticeable than before. She remembered the way the maid had trailed her fingers across that skin and had a fantasy of what it would be like to do the same, then the door of the keep closed, and Tad was shut out from her view.

“Well? What dae ye two think?” Tad poured out the tea between him, Bran, and his most trusted advisor from the MacBean council, Callum.

“It isnae good, is it?” Bran said rubbing his hands together uncertainly. They were sitting around the long table where he usually sat with his council during meetings. The three of them at such a large and empty table felt strange, somehow more intimidating than usual, but Tad rather liked talking in this room. He found in his darkest of moments, it focused his mind on his responsibilities to this clan. “If Cillian is getting so easily intae the Macintosh clan, then we are all at risk. Ye and me braithers were wise tae bring Catreena here.”

“Try telling her that,” Tad said with humor, to which both men laughed.

Callum took his own cup, deep in thought. For a man with much war experience, he had a very diplomatic mind, calm, even when others were panicked and could scarcely think of politics. As he turned his head back and forth, his short black hair barely moved with him. The blue eyes were like dark oceans. Tad had seen those eyes able to make a man quake in a diplomatic discussion all too easily.

“Something must be done,” he said calmly, staring into his cup. “If scouts arenae doing their job at finding Cillian Grant’s men, then ye need men with lighter feet. Ye need tae send out spies.”

“Spies?” Tad hadn’t thought about that. He shifted in his seat, taking a bitter taste of the tea as he considered the idea.

“Aye, it could be a good idea.” Bran nodded deep in thought. “They could hear things that scouts wouldnae hear. They could blend in.”

“Aye, it is a thought.” Tad had to agree. He was scratching his chin, considering the idea and which men he knew would be ready for such a scheme when Bran looked at him.