Taming a Highland Devil (10 page)

Magnus blinked at her, completely perplexed by her audacity. Then he saw it—a slight twinkle in her eyes. The corner of her lips rose into a half-smirk, but his foul mood prevented him from sharing her merriment. “Ye willnae behead me. I’m the father of your sister’s unborn child.”

“The child is not yours, Magnus.” A smile lifted her lips briefly, but quickly vanished when she added, “’Tis Ian’s.” She proceeded to tell him the whole sordid tale, which only further incensed him. He’d been a fool for falling victim to Ian’s scheme. Not only was he repulsed by their debauchery, he felt nigh ill knowing he’d lain with Effie’s sister.

“So ye see, m’laird, ’tis up to me to secure the alliance between our clans.”

“What are ye saying?” Hope quivered in his gut.

“I intend to take ye to husband.” Her words sang through his ears like an angel’s hymn.

His heart rejoiced. His limbs trembled. He wanted naught more than to wrap his arms around her and kiss the color from her lips.

“But first, I need to know if ye are worthy of the position.” She paused briefly in thought, then pointed the tip of her blade at his chest and demanded, “Get on your knees, warrior.”

She was toying with him now, but he knelt before her, eager to appease.

“Ye will be faithful to me ’til death.” As she walked a full circle around him, she brushed her fingertips across the nape of his neck.

That slight touch streaked a tingle up his spine, but he wanted more. He wanted the charge of lightning she evoked in him.

When he failed to respond, she grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back. “Vow it!”

“Aye, I vow it. I want no other.”

“Ye will respect me as your equal.” She stepped in front of him and waited for his avowal.

“Aye, I will.” Desperate to touch her, Magnus reached for her legs, but she flattened the bottom of her boot against his chest and pushed him onto his back.

She then stood overtop him, straddling his hips. “Ye will not go to war for any reason other than to protect the clan.” She tossed her weapon, then fell atop him. “And ye will love me with your whole heart from this day onward.”

“I will. I do. I love ye, Effie.” Magnus clutched her skull and kissed her with a passion that inflamed his entire being.

When he attempted to roll her onto her back, she jerked away from his mouth and added, “And if ye break your vows, I will castrate ye and feed your bollocks to the swine.”

Magnus laughed at her threat, grabbed the front of her bodice and wrenched her back to his mouth. He relished her sweet taste, the softness of her body, the wild excitement of her hands as they found their way inside his
plaide
.

She plucked at his nipples and nibbled on the skin beneath his ear. “’Tis a foolish man who laughs in the face of danger.”

“Think ye I am afraid of ye?” His hands curved over the backs of her warm thighs.

“If ye knew what I had planned, ye would be afraid. Verra afraid.” Her eyes widened with mischief. She ground her pelvis against his growing erection and bent low to nip his chest.

His fingertips dug into her soft flesh as his body hardened beneath her. “Do tell.”

“Tonight, I intend to bind
ye
to the bed.”

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