Highland Ruse by Madeline Martin

Author:Madeline Martin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 0
Published: 2017-11-13T22:00:00+00:00

• • •

The vial called to Kaid.

The hour was late and the day had been long. So damn long.

There had been many issues requiring his assistance—disputes which had awaited his arrival, decisions to be made, advice to be given. His head ached with the burden of his responsibilities.

But, no, it wasn’t that.

It was coming home to Ardvreck and being reminded of what MacKenzie’s attack had done to his people. Though they tried to rally, their spirits were even more broken than their bodies. Many had died, and those who carried on had to work twice as hard to compensate for the loss. The deep lines in their faces bespoke how the extra labor exacted its toll.

At least home brought the relief Rhona afforded him.

He pulled the stopper from the vial. He wanted the bitterness on his tongue, to melt into his body and mind and shroud everything roiling and screaming in a blanket of silence.

A knock sounded at the door.

He clenched his teeth and slid the stopper back into place before bidding the intruder enter.

The door did not swing open as he’d expected. There was a moment of hesitation before the creaking groan of the hinges.

And it was no man who entered his private room, but a woman.

Nay, a goddess.

Or so she appeared with her golden brown hair spilling over her shoulders and a cloak of rich red velvet atop a night-rail seemingly made of glowing moonlight.

“Delilah.” Her name came out in a low rasp, like a dying man asking for water.

Her gaze swept his large room and lingered for the briefest of moments on his bed. She paused in the doorway before lifting her head and striding toward him with all the confidence of the goddess she appeared to be.

God, how he longed to pull her into his arms and bury his nose in the silken tresses of her hair where he could breathe in the sweet floral spice of her.

“Have you taken the valerian root yet?” she asked.

He blinked.

That was not what he’d expected to hear her say, not when she appeared so brazenly in his room while the rest of the castle slept.

He shook his head and tightened his grip on the glass in his palm.

Delilah’s shoulders relaxed. “Please do not take it.”

Her words sent a shiver down his back. Not because he feared what she said, but because the idea of possessing the valerian in his grasp and not taking it was almost as agonizing as having Delilah in the privacy of his room and not touching her.

She approached him, and the feminine scent of her perfume caught at his awareness with a far tighter hold than he’d have thought possible. Her hands settled on his fist, delicate and soft.

He wanted them on the rest of him.

“Please don’t take it,” she repeated. Her pleading look grabbed at his heart. “It’s poison to your body. It brings nightmares and sleepless nights and yet makes you want more.”

He gritted his teeth. “How do ye know this?”

Even as he prepared to defend the drug, his thoughts searched for the validity of her words.

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