Page 36 of Highland Steel

“Aye,” said Logan. “I thought it would be guid if Newell learned to fight the right way. And then ye wouldna have to worry about him.”

“He seems to have made a friend with Oliver.”

“Aye, they are goin’ to be guid friends, I’m sure. Plus, Hawke is helpin’ me train the boys. He needed help gettin’ close to Oliver, and I think mayhap it is workin’.”

“That was nice of you,” she said with a smile. “But why did you do it?”

“I guess it’s because I like ye and yer siblin’s and just want to get to ken ye all better.”

“Thank you,” she said, standing on her tiptoes and kissing him on the mouth. Once again, she felt a tingle of excitement wash through her.

When she pulled away, he was looking at her in a way that made her think he wanted her, and somehow she hoped so. And just when she thought he was going to kiss her again, he pulled back and cleared his throat.

“Well, I suppose we shouldna keep everyone waitin’. Cold haggis isna nearly as guid as when it’s hot.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Disheartened that the kiss hadn’t gone further, she walked back to camp with Logan, with no other purpose than to eat haggis.

Chapter 13

Logan burst into the small house he shared with Caleb later that night, collapsing atop the bed, throwing his arm over his face. His wolf followed him inside and curled up on the floor next to the bed. All during the meal, he couldn’t stop looking at Rhoswen. He never should have let her kiss him again, because all it did was make him randy. And randy was the last thing he needed right now. He needed to keep a clear head so he didn’t make stupid mistakes like the time he bedded Ranulph Drummond’s daughter. It ended up badly, and he’d never forgiven himself for being so careless.

“Och, I am so full from that haggis that I’m goin’ to sleep for days.” Caleb entered the room with his pine marten in his grasp. Jack jumped up and sniffed the air. “Logan, ye ken yer wolf canna stay in here overnight. I dinna want to wake up to find out that Slink has been devoured in his sleep.”

“Go on, Jack,” said Logan with a wave of his arm. “Sleep outside. Mayhap someday we’ll have our own place and ye willna have to leave.”

The wolf trotted away and Caleb closed the door behind it.

“What’s the matter with ye?” asked Caleb, putting Slink down on the bed and starting to undress. “Ye look like a man who has somethin’ on his mind.”

“I do,” he admitted. “I think I am fallin’ hard for Rhoswen.”

“Bluidy hell, dinna tell me that ye are fallin’ for a lass that is no guid for ye again.”

“There’s nothin’ wrong with Rhoswen.” He pushed up on one elbow. “And I canna help it if I like her.”

“Ye dinna even ken her, Logan.” Caleb threw his plaid over the table and pulled his leine over his head.

“Well, ye dinna even ken Bridget yet I see the way ye fawn over her.”

“I’ve kent her for months now,” said Caleb, throwing his tunic on the floor and falling back on his bed. He folded his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. “I ken everythin’ about her from the way her blue eyes light up when she plays with the children to the way she holds her spoon in two fingers when she eats or the way she licks her lips when she gets nervous.”

“Oh, please, spare me the details. If ye are so infatuated with her then why havena ye bedded her by now?”

“Ye think I should?” Slink walked over Caleb’s chest. He grabbed the animal, petting it while he once again daydreamed about the chronicler’s daughter.

“I think ye are ridiculous is what I think.” Logan sat up on the edge of the bed and ran his hand through his hair.

“I wonder if she screams out when she reaches her climax or if she whimpers like a puppy or mayhap doesna say a word at all,” said Caleb. “And although she seems to try to hide it under those baggy clothes, I ken she has breasts that are full and firm and hips that I’d like to run my hands over as I –”

“God’s eyes, stop it!” shouted Logan. Listening to Caleb was only making him want Rhoswen more and more. He was already hard beneath his plaid after kissing her. If he stayed here any longer listening to this fool fantasize about bedding the chronicler’s daughter, he was going to have to pleasure himself since he’d been thinking about Rhoswen in much the same manner. He got up and headed for the door.

“Where are ye goin’ this late?” asked Caleb.

“I’m goin’ down to the loch for a swim,” he grunted.

“Oh, missin’ Rhoswen are we?” Caleb chuckled.

“Leave me alone,” said Logan, slamming the door to the hut as he left and headed down to the lake.