Taming the Scotsman by Kinley MacGregor

know which one stunned him more, and for his life he couldn’t understand what had prompted either action.
    The lass was an odd one to be sure. Peculiar and strange. And yet on some level she was rathercharming, especially when her mouth was closed.
    Bemused by her, he followed the women inside the cottage.
    Aenos was already seated at the wooden table in the middle of the main room, pouring large goblets of ale.
    Without taking a seat in one of the five chairs, Ewan grabbed his goblet and downed it in one gulp, then belched loudly.
    As he set the goblet down to be refilled, he caught Nora’s horrified face as she sat herself in the chair next to Aenos.
    “Why, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man swallow the whole of his cup with one breath,” she said, her tone chiding. “If you keep that up, you’ll be drunk in a matter of minutes.”
    He scoffed at her warning as he pulled a chair out for himself and sat down. “Trust me, it’ll take more than a few minutes.”
    He nodded to Aenos, who poured the goblet full.
    Sorcha made them trenchers of roasted ham with leeks and onions.
    As was his custom, Ewan ignored the food and continued to drink. He also did his best to ignore the lady who sat across from him.
    Something that proved to be impossible. All he could see was the firelight playing in the golden highlights of her hair. The way the shadows played across her creamy skin.
    The delicate grace of her hands as she used them to cut her food and eat.
    Nora was pure elegance.
    And it made him ache with desire for her.
    She didn’t say anything else about his drinking, but chattered with Sorcha.
    “’Tis so kind of you to feed us, good wife. I’m sorry we arrived unannounced.”
    Sorcha waved her words away. “We’re used to it. Ewan comes to us all the time like this.”
    Nora looked at him expectantly. “Then why did you pass by the village?”
    “I wanted to get you to Lochlan as soon as possible.”
    “Then why did you double back?”
    Because a lady so fine deserves better than to sleep on soggy ground with me for company .
    That was something he had no intention of explaining to her. “Because I wanted to.”
    Ewan poured more ale and downed it, then poured more. He took the goblet and pitcher and made for the door.
    Frowning, Nora watched him leave.
    “Aenos, go after him,” Sorcha said. “I don’t want him sleeping in the barn again. He caught a cold and was sick for days the last time he did that.”
    Aenos nodded and got up to follow him.
    After Aenos left, Nora turned to Sorcha. “Sorcha, why is Lord Ewan so—”
    “Gruff?”
    “Surly and drunken was what I wanted to say, but gruff works as well.”
    “Guilt, my lady, is hard on a man. Every day he lives that his brother doesn’t is a day he feels he owes to Kieran.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Sorcha traced a circle on the table for a minute as if debating whether she should answer. When she spoke, her voice was scarce more than a whisper, as if she were imparting a secret to her. “Well, one night when the lad was drunk, he said something that has stuck in my mind. He said that he didn’t deserve comfort while his brother was lying at the bottom of a cold loch because he was a fool.”
    Nora frowned at that. “But his cave is furnished in luxury.”
    “Aye, the doing of his mother once she saw how he was living up there in the hills with nothing at all for comfort. Not even a blanket to warm him. The lady couldn’t stand the thought of him in such misery, so she led an army of helpers and threatened to come every day if he removed any of it.”
    Nora smiled at his mother’s kindness. “So he intends to waste away his life because his brother is dead?”
    “It appears so.”
    Nora sat back as she thought that over. Why would he throw away his life because his brother was weak?
    “Well, what foolishness is that?” she asked.
    “My lady, you don’t understand how close they were.”
    “Perhaps not, but does he honestly think