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“Shut yer mouth,” Owen growled.

Raghnall’s occasional chords grew into a melody, and he began to sing.

“Oh, road before me, bring me favorable wind,

Oh, deep, blue sea, be gentle with me.

Pick me up, tired, sick, and lonely,

And take me to the lass who waits for me…”

He had a pleasant, melodic voice, and Owen was thankful to the man for the temporary distraction. Owen didn’t know if Craig suspected he had feelings for Amber, but he didn’t need an additional reminder of her when he was doing everything in his power to keep his mind on the mission.

“Have a cup of uisge?” a familiar voice sounded.

Owen turned. Ian stood behind him, tall and as big as he remembered him, and whole. Both Craig and Owen stood and took Ian in a heartfelt embrace.

“My messenger was fast,” Owen said. He’d sent a boy earlier to Dundail to ask Ian to join the fight. “I didna expect ye till the morn.”

Ian looked at the sky. “’Tis nae long till the morn. I hurried, dinna want to miss my chance.”

“How are yer wounds?” Craig said.

“I’ll live. If the MacDougall is going to be there, ’tis my chance to get revenge for what he did to me.”

The three Cambels exchanged a look. This battle meant everything to the clan. Owen could pull it off. If only he could keep his heart and cock under control, and stay away from the first woman to make him feel alive.

Chapter 27

The next day…

Amber watched the courtyard where Owen barked instructions at the men training. His affable expression and easy half smile were gone, replaced by the determined frown of a man who knew what he wanted and was going for it. He walked straighter, and he seemed bigger, as though he’d gained muscle since she’d seen him yesterday at the Bruce’s council.

The gracefulness of his body was the same—the way he swung the sword, the way he ducked and lurched and evaded blows like a predator on a hunt. Collected. In control. Deadly.

She was relieved that the Bruce had let her go after yesterday. The fact she’d stood up for herself and defended her position in front of the most powerful man in Scotland showed she’d changed, too. Owen still had her back and was ready to vouch for her and potentially lose everything he’d been fighting for, and that was life changing for her.

It was magical.

And it had hit her right in the heart.

The world had stopped. The universe consisted of him alone. That handsome, strong, and brave Highlander with the kindest heart and the most beautiful body she’d ever seen. The man who’d stood by her side more times than anyone in her life back in the twenty-first century.

Electricity crackled over her skin just from looking at him. This man had more courage in one drop of his blood than she did in her whole body, despite fighting in a war for years.

The man she loved.

Yes, she loved him. The thought hit her, and she went still as she struggled to take it in. It was like a small, personal sun had been born in her chest and radiated warmth and light into every cell of her body. Like she’d lived in darkness her whole life, and for the first time she’d came out into the light.

She’d finally found what was missing in her life.

Him.

Everything she was screamed that she loved him.

She wanted to tell him. He should know. She wanted him to know.

For the first time in her life, she wanted to be vulnerable and open and tell him. Even if he might not want to hear it. Amber marched towards him, determined. She wouldn’t be stopped.