Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

S tellan arrived at the laird's solar in time to hear Mariota threaten her attacker, then she burst out of the room, followed by her da's laughter, and ran right into Stellan's arms.

He pulled her aside. "That sounded intense. Are ye well?"

She shook her head. "Nay, I dinna think so."

"Is there anywhere we can go to talk? To be private?"

She glanced out toward the great hall, nodded and without a word, led him away from it, down the corridor to a storage area.

After he closed the door, he turned to her. "What happened when ye talked to yer da? From the little I heard, it didna go well."

She broke down in tears. He reached for her but she shook her head and stepped back. "I'm angry, Anders. Furious, nay sad," she said around gulps of air and fresh bouts of tears.

Stellan pulled her against him into his arms and took a breath when her arms went around his waist, her hands on his back, clutching his leine . She fit against him so well, he wasn't sure he could force himself to release her. Her body aligned with his, breasts to his chest, hips to his hardness, thighs touching, her head on his shoulder. He didn't know how he could give her up, not to Anders, or any other man.

"I dinna ken where the betrothal is going," he said, "but I will protect ye as best I can for as long as I and my men are here. I dinna want to leave ye to face yer problems without my help." He hoped reminding her she wasn't alone would make her feel better. But her answer surprised him.

"Take me with ye back to Sutherland," she said. "I still dinna ken why, but I have nay future here. My da— if ye marry me, ye will rule MacKay in all but name. Or he will name one of his men to follow him instead of me. He has made it clear he has no confidence that a mere lass can be a good laird."

Stellan didn't see how he could take her away, now that she was back home. "Both our fathers would go daft— or go to war," he reminded her.

"Mine doesna care," she asserted. "And Alber thinks to rule the clan. He will ruin me to force Da to let him wed me if he gets the chance." She shuddered. "I canna even tolerate the sound of his name, much less his presence. Nor his taunts, or his fists," she added.

Stellan vowed silently to kill the man if he came near her again, despite knowing full well he'd cause trouble for himself and Sutherland. "Ye dinna deserve any of those. Ye deserve loving arms around ye, warm lips to worship ye and strong hands to protect ye."

"Yers?"

He didn't think. He dipped his head and brushed his lips across hers. Soft, so soft, and delicious, with a trace of cider and tears, sweet and salt.

Instead of pulling back, she wrapped her hands around his neck and lifted onto her toes, putting her mouth close to his for one heart-stopping moment, then she kissed him back. Her lips parted on a sigh and he took that as an invitation, though he knew he was daft to do it. He sucked her lower lip gently, slid his tongue into her mouth and tasted, stroking hers, making her sigh again. His body reacted with heat and need stronger than he'd ever known.

Her chest lifted, pressing her breasts against his chest as she stepped fully into his embrace, molding her body tightly to his. "Dinna stop. I want more. I need more."

His body reacted instantly, hardening. He pulled her with him until he could turn her back against the wall. He slid his hands down to cup her arse and lifted her, all the while tasting her mouth, her throat, her shoulder where her chemise had slipped aside. He pulled it farther askew with his teeth and nipped the muscle he uncovered, making her cry out softly. Her warm breath scorched his neck, loosening his control to dangerous levels.

Mariota wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to him, arching against him and driving him mad. The real Anders had enjoyed many lasses in the time since Stellan last did so. He was full of pent-up need, and had no doubt his desire for this woman was going to be his undoing.

Mariota knew she was risking everything. But what she felt in Anders' arms had nothing to do with seducing him into doing her bidding and everything to do with heat and longing that flared between them. She'd never felt like this before, except near Stellan. They had never kissed, never touched like this, but the heat, the need, filled her and weakened her as they had only done with Stellan. Now, Anders had lit the fire within her, not his brother, and she didn't understand how that had happened, or what to do with it except to see where it led.

She wanted to climb him like the trees she'd loved to climb as a lass and cling to him forever, sheltered in his arms like the branches of her favorite tree had sheltered her. She had thought she was attracted only to Stellan. Now it turned out that Anders had something fierce that called to something primal within her. If this was Anders. The thought kept echoing in her mind. If. If. If. Why didn't she know?

She only knew she wanted more, things she didn't know how to name, and in this moment, was willing to risk him overpowering her. Sensation ruled her rather than thought. The Sutherland twins held the key to opening the wellspring of new feelings driving her to heights she'd never experienced. Surprised at herself, she vowed to enjoy this, wherever it led, especially if it led to her escaping MacKay again. Forever this time.

But something held her back. Which twin was this ?

Stellan felt himself losing control exactly as he had once feared. Exactly what he had hoped to avoid. But the more he kissed her and the more she kissed him back, the more her legs tightened around his waist and her sighs and moans teased him, the more he wanted. But he couldn't. She thought he was his brother.

That stung.

Before they went much farther, he loosed his hold and let her slide down his body until her feet were firmly on the floor. He'd never felt such sweet torture, such overwhelming need, but he fought to control his body and stepped back from her. "Ye are playing with fire, lass. Getting burned will set ye on a path ye may not want to follow."

"That sounds like something Stellan would say, nay Anders." She studied him for a moment. "Which twin are ye?"

Her question shocked him into immobility. How had he raised her suspicions? And how to fix this? He dared not let his dismay show on his face, so he forced a hint of annoyance into his voice. "Ye ken who I am. Anders ." He hated lying to her but he had to. Anders' warning about ruining the lass and being forced to marry her rang in his ears. He could see it now. The wedding, with him still posing as his brother, the marriage record with his brother's name, but the wedding night with him.

The honorable thing to do would be to confess all before that happened, and stand proxy for his brother, breaking the oath they'd sworn as young lads. Anders would be forever tied to MacKay, close by, but not in the way they had planned. And of course, no wedding night would happen until the real Anders arrived to consummate the union Stellan had forced him into. The very wedding night Stellan's traitorous body wanted more than anything.

This pull between them was too fraught with disaster to continue. Should he tell her the truth she asked for? Could he? Nay, the repercussions would be felt all the way to Dunrobin, hell, to Sterling and Islay, too. The Sutherland heir at MacKay under false pretenses. Impersonating his twin. No one would believe he was here simply to protect the lass in his arms, and to learn more about her. He'd be seen as a spy, the worst sort of liar. Any hope of an alliance between the two clans would be lost. Sutherland's reputation would be tarnished.

How had he let himself be talked into this? In truth, he hadn't needed much convincing. And what could he do now that they'd kissed? Now that he wanted her even more than before their lips had touched? Their bodies… clothes had been no impediment to the fire raging in his blood. He'd sensed every curve. Every bit of pressure she exerted with her thighs around his waist had made him crave what lay between them. Her breath had made him drunk with need for her.

He'd made a mistake. Possibly the biggest one in his life. If he could not have this woman, he would not be able to breathe.

He should leave MacKay, but he couldn't leave her at Alber's mercy. Nor could he take her with him back to Sutherland. He was trapped between impossible alternatives. The only honorable solution was to get word to Anders to meet him, switch places with him, and let the real Anders continue what they had begun to its inevitable conclusion. Betrothal. Marriage.

Was he willing to do that? To give the woman in his arms to his brother? Never to let her know the fire she felt with him was started by Stellan, not Anders? To grow old watching his brother make a family with the woman he wanted for himself? Or would she know the moment Anders approached her? Was the magic only with him, and seeing Anders after this would tell her exactly what he and his twin had done— switched places in a dangerous game that could only hurt them all.

He stepped back from her and pulled his hands from her lush body. "We canna continue this, Mariota. Too much depends on yer marriage. On ye being wed the right way, nay because ye are ruined and ye must. That would make me nay better than Alber."

She watched him for a moment, eyes wide and liquid. He feared her tears would start to fall at any second and he hated the idea that he had caused them. He never wanted to hurt her.

Instead, she surged forward, knocking him back, and his arms went around her of their own volition.

"I dinna care. If I have to choose between ye and someone like Alber, I want more from ye," she said and met his mouth again, sucking his lower lip and tracing her tongue over it as he had done to her.

His body roared to life just as the door opened behind her.