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Who was she, and why did she have to land herself under the care of the Cah years had passed since the lad’s arrival, Ewen remained dreadfully uneasy about what this mysterious maze was Hoould choose a person Or why

And now this new stranger The one, he suspected, whorounded in the realained and asserted through tradition and physical prowess He had no use for witchery, and no use for tales of years past or years to co to pierce Lily’s consciousness was the sound of another person breathing A slow, deliberate inhaling and exhaling that spoke of one accusto their body measured and mind in check

She opened her eyes, and the most formidable man she had ever seen filled her vision He sat as still as the rock of

Ben Nevis itself Shoulder-length black hair fraes of cheeks, nose, and chin softened only by faint black stubble He was in full traditional Highland regalia, with a crisp linen tunic tucked into red and green tartan Laced loosely at the neck, the shirt revealed a sli out from the top of one of his leather boots

Lily stretched, savoring her body’s reaction to such a ed Scottish countryside hland warrior in her sleeping erously pure and potent maleness called to some well -buried ultrafeminine aspect of herself Her dream had painted hiian dubh in his boot She didn’t recall the last time she had an erotic fantasy, and this was a welco of h her veins, the sensation of her body unfurling, with ive her A sensual sined nipping the salty stubble of his chin just before taking his mouth to hers

His brow furrowed and intense blue eyes bored into her own as if he were able to take the aze was met with a shriek fro reality This was no drea but an arth from her She sat up faster than she knew her sto the thick fur cover to fall to her waist Lily gasped as the cold air hit her body and she realized she was barely clothed in a nightgown made only of thin ivory linen, trimmed with delicate lacework around the neck and cap sleeves She prayed that he wasn’t the one who had stripped and changed her into so suitable for an antique doll

Lily steadied herself and tried to er eye to eye She felt a bit like a bird that ’s discovered it’s been unwittingly stalked by a silent--and very hungry--cat

She took in his every detail while her heart pounded, unsure if her reaction was fro face -to -face with a Scotsend, a little ripple of leftover desire, or sireen tartan, it dawned on Lily that this must be the man who’d checked on her as she slept She was thankful that she hadn’t seen hiht with nighth Lily estimated that he ell over six feet, all broad shoulders, heavily h, which Lily found theof all It wasn’t his features as such that provoked fear Looked at individually, every part of his face was actually quite handsoh cheekbones; a firo blue eyes that glittered dangerously as he looked Lily up and down in her bed She unconsciously pulled the covers ht that it was the su features that ure out if he was the handsomest creature she had ever seen, or the fiercest

"What … ? " That single word alone sent a shooting pain through the right side of her skull

Lily gave a start at the sound of a cleared throat from across the room She turned to discover a somewhat foppish man seated in the corner He didn’t look at ease with hiht posture, and delicately crossed legs gave him an appearance that Lily could only describe as pretty He had a full head of soft curls, lit gently by the sun that shone through the thick glass s and old

The blond saw that she was paralyzed with fear, and Lily i black-haired Highlander take advantage of her stillness to fully size her up Her unease was rapidly beco all- out fear, and she looked back and forth between the two as silence choked the room These men clearly had saved her life, but just ere they and ere their intentions now?

Lily looked back to the youngUnlike his companion, the blond was dressed in soetup, ita short, fitted jacket in a ood at fashion and could barely tell one fabric from another but she could see that these threads were the best His sleeves were puffed out at the upper arm and patterned with rich, navy blue brocade His perfectlyoutfit was coathered at the knee, with deep vertical slashes of h pleats in the fabric

Perhaps it was catching sight of the preposterous ed the blond’s calves, but Lily ulp down her panic and let her temper take over the situation "Don’t just stare at me! Where am I?"