Amanda Scott by Abducted Heiress Page A

witchcraft.”
    “That is not what your men said about his temper,” Molly said. “They said it was as wicked as your own—although,” she amended
     hastily, “they did say, too, that he was as meek as a lamb with you. It
was
odd, sir,” she said to Mackinnon. “Naught occurred to spook him, I promise you. He reared for no reason.”
    “Well, there be little accounting for beasts,” Mackinnon said amiably. Turning to Kintail, he added in the same tone, “We’re
     agreed, then. Ye’ll remain until after dinner on Thursday—or mayhap till Friday morning. Ye’ll no want t’ be sleeping on that
     stone floor in the hall all that time, either, for ye’ll need your sleep, and in a bed befitting your station. My people will
     look after ye nicely. Now then, Molly, ye run along t’ bed. We’ll speak more o’ this business anon.”
    “Aye, lass,” Kintail said.“You and I will also speak more anon.”
    Ignoring the little shiver that shot up her spine at his stern tone, Molly curtsied to Mackinnon but spared only a nod for
     Kintail. She was pleased when he frowned. Let him learn that she was no woman to bend her knee to a man merely because he
     thought he wielded power over her.
    “Come along, lad,” she heard Mackinnon say heartily as she strode briskly away from them. “Unless ye be lying and your head
     aches like the devil—as it should—I’ll teach ye how t’ play chess properly.”

Chapter 4
    F in accompanied his host willingly enough, but it was as well that no one asked him just then what he thought of his new ward.
     From the moment of receiving the King’s writ, he had thought only of what the transfer would mean to Donald of Sleat and perhaps
     to Eilean Donan. He had scarcely given a moment’s thought to what it might mean to him. Had anyone asked what he had expected
     her to look like, he would have had no answer. Indeed, he would not have thought such a detail important, but he certainly
     had not expected her to look as she did—deliciously, intoxicatingly beautiful.
    He had never seen anyone like her. He doubted that most men ever had, and it occurred to him then that James could not possibly
     know how beautiful she was, or he would have seduced her himself before offering her to anyone else. Such was his grace’s
     reputation, after all, and if her fortune was half what they claimed, her purity would not matter a whit. Doubtless, James
     thought of her still as a child, no more than a pawn in his favorite game of pitting noble against noble.
    Fin realized that he, too, had thought of this new ward as a child, but she was no such thing. Even dressed as she was and
     bedraggled after hiding in the shrubbery, she was exquisite. Her pale red-gold hair was soft and silky-looking, encouraging
     a man’s touch. He could easily imagine burying his face in her long, thick curls. Her complexion was pale, translucently so,
     with a stubborn little chin, a tip-tilted nose, and undeniably kissable lips. And her eyes were extraordinary—large, with
     black-rimmed gray pupils, or so they had seemed in the dim torchlight of the corridor. Black lashes—long, curly ones—fringed
     them and made her look vulnerable, until she opened her saucy mouth.
    She had a truly elegant figure, slender, graceful, and enticingly curvaceous. Indeed, he could complain of nothing in her
     appearance, and if the truth were told, he looked forward to seeing her again. But her behavior and manner of speech would
     have to change if they were to get along. That much was certain.
    Following Mackinnon to the high table, he wondered what the man had been thinking to let her grow up speaking so impertinently
     to him or to anyone else. As Fin watched him finish his game, an image flashed before his mind’s eye of the lass naked and
     spread out like a feast before him, her mouth bound shut. He chuckled at the thought. Doubtless, she would unman anyone foolish
     enough to try gagging her.
    When Mackinnon’s opponent