Possession of a Highlander

by Madeline Martin

  “The pleasure is all mine, lass. I look forward to getting to know ye more during our stay. For the time being, I’d like to speak with yer husband before I release him back to yer care.” His unreadable gaze settled on Colin. “There is much that needs to be said.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  The great hall was silent. Too silent, too empty. Colin stood several paces away from where his father gazed out the window with one thumb thrust through the loop of his wide belt.

  As a boy, Colin had never thought to find a man larger or more powerful than his father. Though the years had turned his father’s blond hair to a clean white, Colin still held that belief.

  How could an old man appear so imposing?

  “Ye’ve no ever been good at making decisions.” His father’s booming voice echoed in the large room. The same volume Colin remembered, the same tone. The same words.

  His father studied him with a stare that had not softened with age. If anything, his look had become sharper, more probing. “And I’ve no ever been good at admitting when I’m wrong.” His head twisted to the side, and a deep, hollow pop sounded from within the back of his neck. “I was wrong about ye when I said ye wouldna be a good leader. Ye’ve proved that to me today.”

  Colin forced himself to keep his father’s gaze, though the unruly adolescent in him wanted to glance away. “Ye dinna know what decisions I’ve made.” A hot dagger of pain twisted in his chest. “Ye dinna know the people who have suffered for my actions.”

  “Ye have suffered more than they have.”

  Was his father not listening to what he said? “That’s no true. If I hadna gone back into the manor, Brianna would never have been arrested.” Regret scorched through him. “Marie would still be alive.” He clenched his teeth, as if the force in his jaw could rip the pain from his words. “She is dead because of me.”

  His father’s hands clamped onto Colin’s shoulders, and his eyes lit with the fierce determination he was known for. “That her death weighs heavy on ye means ye understand yer wrong. Let it stain yer soul, let it burn into ye, lad, so ye learn from yer mistakes and prevent them from happening again, aye?” His grip eased. “Ye’ve been a good leader to yer people.”

  Colin opened his mouth to speak, but his father arched a brow and stopped the words from flowing before they could start.

  “Alec told me everything ye’ve done, and I know he wouldna lie. He no ever has and he wouldna start now.” He lowered his chin. “No even for ye.”

  His father released him and stepped toward the open window. He braced his weight against the frame overhead and nodded outside. “Ye’ve done well with this land and its people. Ye’ve grown up.”

  “Da, I dinna—”

  His father grinned over at him. The rare smile softened his hard features, and the handsome man he had been in his youth shone through. “Who would have thought Colin MacKinnon would ever know humility?”

  “And who would’ve thought my Da actually smiled?”

  His father chuckled and pushed away from the window. He stared down at Colin and his mouth fell stern, but the sparkle in his eye remained. “I want ye to share the lairdship of the MacKinnons with yer brother. The way it should have been from the beginning.”

  Colin stared at his father, and the world around him stood still. Everything he had ever wanted was being given to him this very night.

  And yet the price had been too high.

  “Humility and speechlessness from my oldest. ‘Tis a rare day indeed.” His father clapped him on the back. “Though perhaps ye should discuss it with yer wife first, aye?” He nodded toward the open door behind Colin. “We’ll talk in the morning. The choice is up to ye.”

  Colin turned and found Brianna standing in the doorway, one slender hand resting against the painted wall. The pink gown she wore hugged her curves and made her skin glow like moonlit cream. Her hair was washed free of the effects of war and gleamed where it spilled down her shoulders.

  His father’s retreating footsteps echoed off the high ceiling. Only when they disappeared down the hall did Brianna make her way toward Colin, her smile hesitant.

  His chest swelled with a joy he longed to share with the woman he loved. “Did ye hear?”

  “I did.” Her hands twisted against one another. “This is what you have always wanted.”

  Indeed it was. If the servants rushed, they could have Edzell packed in two weeks’ time, and they could be back on the Isle of Skye while the weather was still warm. Back to the land of his birth, the castle he grew up in and the people who lived there.

  Colin paused. The people he hadn’t known for almost ten years.

  Would his boyhood home feel as foreign to his memory as did the people?

  He took Brianna’s hands in both of his. So soft, so delicate.

  Yet those hands had battled with the force of a warrior for Edzell’s people.

  Fulfilling his dream would force her to give up everything she’d fought for. And everything he had fought for alongside her.

  “Are you not happy, husband?” she asked.

  He glanced up and found her concerned gaze on him. “Ye dinna want to leave Edzell, do ye?”

  “I don’t understand what you mean,” she said. Did he intend to leave for Skye without her?

  “Ye’ve worked too hard to leave, Brianna. Ye love it here.” His eyes filled with something somber. “Edzell is yer home.” He rubbed a hand over his tired face and left a trail of black grit behind.

  Brianna tried to swallow the thick lump of emotion in her throat. “And where is your home, husband?”

  He caught a lock of her hair in the hook of his forefinger and let it slide through his grasp. “Wherever ye are.”

  She hesitated, uncertain what his words meant.

  “Being laird of Dunakin Castle was a dream in my youth, a desire to possess what I felt belonged to me. Yet here, I’ve come to know the people, I’ve tended the castle, I’ve trained the soldiers.” He stroked the back of his hand down her neck, and a wave of goosebumps raced across her skin. “I fell in love.” He looked down at their clasped hands. “It took me getting what I want to realize it’s no what I want at all. No anymore. No since ye.” He pulled her toward him and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

  Hope quickened her pulse. “I don’t want you to sacrifice something so important. Not for me.”

  “It’s no sacrifice when I think what I gain from this decision. A loving home with a bonny wife.” He watched her carefully at he spoke. “One who wouldna mind helping to keep the accounts again so her husband can train with the guards more often.”

  A giddy bubble rose in Brianna. “Truly?”

  “If ye dinna mind.”

  Brianna shook her head vigorously. “Of course not.”

  “That isna all I gain in staying here.” His hand moved between their bodies to cradle the gentle swell of her stomach. “I’ll soon be a proud father.” He brushed his lips over hers. “What will ye do if ye bear twins?”

  A shy blush warmed Brianna’s cheeks. “If they are girls, I have already selected their names.”

  “Oh?” He leaned back and his brows lifted.

  She placed her hand on top of his. “Elizabeth and Marie.”

  His sharp inhale was slow to ease from his chest. “I dinna think finer names have ever been selected.”

  She rose on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his lips. A soft, sweet kiss that simmered with a desire she could not ignore.

  “I think we’ll both need to bathe before bed.” His grin displayed the dimple she loved so. “Preferably together.”

  Brianna tilted her head in a coy gesture. “I’ve already bathed, husband.”

  “Aye, but ye’re all dirty again.”

  A glance at her clothes confirmed she was indeed grimy. Black smudges showed on the light fabric where his hands had caressed her body. “It would appear that I am. Fortunately for us, a bath awaits us already.”

  He swept a kiss to her lips an
d nudged her toward the door. “We should hurry so it doesna get cold.”

  She nipped his lower lip, and the swell of longing deepened to a sharp tug. Her feet scuffed across the floor in hurried distraction before Colin lifted her into the soot-stained cradle of his arms.

  His lips nudged hers. “I love ye, wife.”

  She arched her neck, straining toward the warmth of his mouth. “I love you, husband.”

  And she did, with all the heart-swelling affection any one person could possess, with no dread for the future, only eager anticipation of a life enlightened by love.

  Acknowledgments

  Once again, there are so many amazing people to thank for the creation of this book. Thank you to Laura for being steadfast and supportive of me during a harrowing life event that transpired during this book. Thank you to the incredible staff (Randall Klein, Sarah Masterson Hally, Brielle Benton, and anyone else I may have missed) at Diversion Books for their hard work and for taking the time to answer all my questions (Hannah Black, I miss you already!) and help me through marketing.

  Thank you so much to the incredible groups who support me—my loving Lalalas, the inspiring Fire Breathing Flamingos and the fabulous First Coast Romance Writers. The Romance Writers of America is filled with authors who give selflessly and are always there to back a new author; I truly consider myself fortunate to be involved in such an amazing network of women.

  Thank you to Margie Lawson for the invaluable knowledge I gained in the Immersion in 2014 (Jolaj and the Gang forever!)—I was able to apply some of that newfound knowledge in the revisions of this manuscript and feel it’s stronger because of you.

  Thank you to my beta readers who amaze me with their speed reading and whose honesty and opinion I value: Alli Searle who I think loves Highlanders as much as I do (and that’s saying something!), Katie Couch who also acts as final editor on final reviews—I could never ask for a better Madikat than you. Thank you to my amazing critique partner, Hillary Raymer, who inspires me, encourages me and keeps my butt in line—I don’t know what I’d do without you.

  Thank you to my minions, parents and brother & sister-in-law for their amazing support. They completely blew me away with everything they did to help me market Deception of a Highlander and never stop telling me and everyone else how proud they are of me.

  I’m so, so very fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life.

  More from Madeline Martin

  Deception of a Highlander

  Scottish Romance doesn’t get much steamier—or more dangerous—than a spy hunting her quarry, and losing her heart to him instead.

  To pay a seemingly impossible debt, Mariel Brandon has become a spy for Aaron, one of England’s deadliest minds. Aaron’s latest mission for the sharp-witted and daring Mariel is to find two people in a heavily fortified castle on the Isle of Skye, a castle headed by the clan MacDonald and the powerful Kieran. Mariel is to seduce Kieran and get him to take her to Skye. If she succeeds, Aaron promises to let Mariel’s young brother go, and to free both of them from their debt. If she fails, her brother will die.

  What she doesn’t count on is craving Kieran MacDonald almost immediately upon meeting him. Now Mariel must keep a secret from Kieran—one that could get them both killed—as she tries to form a plan that will save her brother, get her out from under Aaron’s thumb once and for all, and keep her in Kieran’s strong arms forever.

  About the Author

  Madeline Martin lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her two daughters and a menagerie of pets. She graduated from Flagler College with a degree in Business Administration and works for corporate America. Her hobbies include rock climbing, running, doing Mud Runs and just about anything exciting she can do without getting nauseous. She grew up in Europe and still enjoys traveling overseas whenever she can find the time to get away. Her favorite place to visit thus far: Scotland.

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