Page 13 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

“Maybe I can,” Aaden said with a small shrug that Lilith could hardly see through the bushes. “She wouldnae be the first lass tae fall fer me. I have plenty o’ experience, so I think I can handle her.”

Laughing, Cameron shook his head. “What experience could compare tae this?”

“Well, there was a lass I met once who wanted me very much. An’ I did bed her, mind ye, but I thought I wouldnae stay in town fer long. I was there fer clan business, ye see,” Aaden said.

“That doesnae sound like the same situation tae me,” Cameron interrupted with a chuckle.

“Let me finish,” said Aaden. “So I thought I would leave an’ I figured there would be nae harm if I bedded her friend, too.”

From where Lilith crouched, Cameron seemed to look at Aaden with something akin to horror. “Ye didnae.”

“I did,” Aaden confirmed. “An’ o’ course, the mission was delayed an’ I had tae stay there longer, an’ o’ course she found out. She gave me a good slap fer it, too, but I managed tae convince her it was only a mistake an’ tae bed her again.”

“Ye did?”

“I did.”

Cameron let out a disbelieving laugh, a whoosh of air that mirrored the way Lilith felt about all this. How could someone be so blinded by Aaden’s charm and his good looks to allow him to treat her like that? How could that woman allow him to convince her that what he had done was acceptable?

How did he even manage it? And why would he take advantage of a woman like that?

Lilith couldn’t wrap her head around it, but she didn’t need to. All she needed was the knowledge that she had been right about him all along. Aaden was nothing but a lying, conniving bastard and she was going to make this pursuit a living hell for him to take revenge for all the women he had wronged.

For a short while, she remained hidden among the bushes, but just as she was about to creep back into the castle when the conversation had turned to the topic of the clan, Cameron excused himself as one of the soldiers called for him from the other side of the courtyard. With Aaden alone, Lilith found her opportunity to slide up to him, her face a mask of hatred and fury.

“Ye!” she told him once more, that finger pointing at him again. “Dinnae think I dinnae ken what ye’re doin’ here. I see right through ye.”

Aaden seemed completely unfazed by her sudden appearance and also by the way she glared at him, his hands coming up as if in surrender but his smile retaining its amused edge.

“Och?” Aaden asked, eyebrows flying up to his hairline. “All I’m doin’ is tryin’ tae have yer hand in marriage.”

“Ye ken ye cannae have me hand,” Lilith said, snatching back the one she had extended towards him as if she feared he would grab it and ask to marry her right then and there. “Ye wish tae fool everyone intae thinkin’ that yer a good man, a noble man who doesnae take part in barbarities such as pointless fights, but what ye truly are, is a beast. An’ ye’re nae lookin’ fer a wife. Ye’re lookin’ fer a bed slave, someone who can satisfy ye until ye can find yer next victim.”

The smile slowly dropped from Aaden’s face now, much to Lilith’s satisfaction. She wanted him angry. She wanted him prone to making a mistake, to proving to everyone just what kind of despicable man he truly was.

“That is a serious accusation, me lady,” he said, his voice level despite the guarded tone. “I can assure ye that if we are tae wed, I will be faithful tae ye. An’ I am nae as cruel as tae treat ye or anyone else as a bed slave.”

“Ye must take me fer a fool,” Lilith said, choking on a humorless laugh at the thought that she could be forced to marry a man like him. She had avoided so many others. This one was no different simply because Freya and her father were in a hurry now. “I heard ye speak with Cameron. I heard what ye told him about the lasses ye bedded.”

Aaden had the decency to appear embarrassed by that, at least. A faint pink tint covered his face, racing all the way up to the tips of his ears, and he averted his gaze, staring down at the other side of the courtyard at nothing in particular.

When he looked at Lilith once more, his lips were pursed in dissatisfaction.

“Forgive me,” he said. “I didnae mean fer ye tae hear such crude things.”

“But ye meant tae dae them,” Lilith pointed out.

“Aye, that is true,” Aaden said. “But that was a long time ago.”

“How long ago?”

“Weeks.”

“Weeks!”

“Months?”

Throwing her hands up in exasperation, Lilith turned around to leave, but Aaden was quick to step in her way, stopping her. She was glad that he had the sense not to touch her, at least, or she would have bitten off his hand.