"Then what are we to do?"

That was one question Maggie wasn't sure she could answer. But one thing she did know: The earth would cease to exist before she ever succ.u.mbed to Braden's honeyed words and hot glances.

Her heart might be partial to him, but her head was not. So long as she possessed her reasoning abilities, she would not let him sway her.

Maggie was the one woman on this earth who would never be moved by his charming good looks. And if there was one thing she'd learned while living with six boys, it was how to handle a man.

Aye, Braden had no idea what he was in for.

"What are we going to do?" Maggie repeated Pegeen's question. "I'll tell you. We are finally going to see to it that the devil gets his due. If Braden wants to stay here, fine. But I promise you this: He won't enjoy a single moment of it."

Chapter 4.

Braden immensely enjoyed the sight of Maggie leaving the women's dormitory and walking toward the small alcove where he was standing, concealed by shadows.

After Maggie had left to see to Bridget, Lochlan had headed back to the castle while Ewan and Sin had gone to help Father Bede repair a leak in the nave.

Left alone, Braden had decided to wait for his prey.

And such a sweet bit she was too, all fiery and pa.s.sionate. He actually felt the urge to lick his lips in antic.i.p.ation of her surrender.

Aye, she would be sweet to savor. Such a spirited treat, just ripe for the taking. He couldn't wait for a taste.

A gentle breeze blew across the yard, caressing the unruly tendrils of her thick russet hair. His palms itched to unbraid those riotous curls and he ached to fist his hands in the midst of them, to spread them out across her bare white shoulders and see them flow down the length of her naked back to caress her pale hips.

Even worse, he could almost smell the sunshine in that hair, feel the warmth of it cascading around him as he held her naked and writhing above him while he dipped his hand down to play in the small russet curls covering another part of her he longed to explore at greater length.

His groin drew tight at the thought. No doubt she'd give as good as he gave her. He had an instinct for such things, and that instinct told him that she would be truly spectacular.

Aye, she'd ride him hard and fast, and please him to no uncertain end.

He smiled in expectation as she drew nearer.

Her brown kirtle was plain and threadbare, and she wore a red and black plaid over it. Still, there was such pride in her walk, such self-a.s.surance, that a man would have to be a fool not to take notice of her.

And his days of foolishness were over.

"Maggie," he said as she walked past.

"Good Lord!" she gasped, placing a hand over her breast. "Are you trying to frighten me into an early grave?"

"Nay, I thought you saw me."

Suspicion clouded her amber eyes as she looked askance at him. "Saw you skulking there in the shadows like some evil beastie hunting decent souls? Ha! No doubt you were lying in wait for me, Braden MacAllister, and don't you be pretending otherwise."

Braden laughed at her perceptiveness. How did she do it? How was she able to see straight through his ploys?

He smiled the dimpled smile that no woman had ever been able to resist. "Since you seem to know me so well, then tell me what I was thinking."

She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and pegged him again with her astuteness. "I've no idea, but I'm sure it involved a woman lying in a supine position."

Her candor stunned him. But only for a second. He found it refreshing to find a woman who spoke her mind so plainly.

"Not supine," he said, dropping his voice an octave, and leaning close enough to her that he could finally smell the rich scent of wildflowers in her hair.

He reached out and tenderly touched her chin between his thumb and forefinger in a gentle caress designed to send chills the length of her body. And judging by the shuttered look of her amber eyes, he would say it succeeded admirably, even though she tried her best not to let him know it. "I prefer my women to be more active with me than that."

Her eyes darkened as her lips opened ever so slightly in invitation.

Aye, a good kiss was what she needed. His kisses had made women faint in his arms, and had even caused them to climax. One good kiss and all this would end. The women could return to their homes, and Maggie...

Well, he had plans for his little vexation. Plans that included paying her back for that bite she'd given him years ago. Only now he relished the thought of those white teeth of hers sinking into his skin.

He leaned closer, opening his mouth for a taste of her breath.

Just when he was sure she'd accept his kiss, she stepped back, opened her eyes wide, and pinned him with a frigid stare.

"And how many women is that?" she asked out of the blue.

Braden blinked, not quite understanding her question as his senses buzzed from her quick reversal. "I beg your pardon?"

"How many women do you prefer to be active with at one time?" she asked. "From what Meg tells me, you had her and her sister simultaneously the last time you were home."

She shook her head at him like a doddering old maid chastising a child. "Have you no shame at all?"

There was no mistaking the hurt in her gaze. Braden frowned at what he saw, unable to place the source of her emotion. "Now, why would she be telling you that?"

"For the same reason you'd be telling it to your brothers, I'm thinking. For some unholy reason, she's proud of the fact. So proud, she was bragging of the event just yesterday."

Maggie gathered her skirts, then started past him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have duties to be about that don't include being tupped by the likes of you."

Braden's jaw dropped in shock of her words, and he uttered the same phrase he had been uttering at her for as long as he could remember. "Great saints, woman, where have you been that you picked up such language? What does Anghus have to say about that mouth of yours?"

She stopped, her hands clenched tightly in the folds of her skirt, and turned to face him again. A terrible sadness darkened her eyes. He saw the tears an instant before she blinked them back and swallowed hard.

When Maggie spoke, her voice was hoa.r.s.e. "He hasn't much to say about anything since a MacDouglas sword silenced him eternally two months ago."

The unexpected news sliced through his heart and settled painfully in his stomach. For a moment, he could scarce breathe from the sensation.

"Anghus is dead?" he asked.

She nodded, her eyes bright.

"Nay," Braden breathed, his tone betraying his grief. "How could it be? How could a warrior and man so fine be gone?"

A single tear fell down her right cheek. Licking her lips, she quickly wiped it away. "The same way the others perished. Over a senseless feud that should never have been started!"

His heart heavy, Braden tried to come to terms with her news.

After the death of their father when Anghus was but ten-and-six, he had been the sole support for Maggie and her brothers. All the members of the clan had helped the family as best they could, but the ever-prideful Anghus had turned aside the offers: Tismy family, and I'll be the one taking care of them. It's my responsibility and my pleasure to watch over them .

His old friend had been one of the finest warriors he'd ever known. They'd trained together more times than he could count. Had drank and wenched even more.

From as far back as Braden could remember, Anghus MacBlar had been like another brother to him.

"How?" Braden asked.

She spoke, her voice unsteady. "He fell guarding Ian's back."

Braden took a deep breath to stave off the agony he felt. Ian was Maggie's twin brother. The two of them had been complete terrors as small children.

He remembered Anghus tossing Ian over his shoulder as the scamp ran after Maggie intending to torment her.

Lad, if you don't learn to respect your wee sister, I'll be tearing the hide from your bones. How many times had he heard Anghus threaten his baby brother? And how many more times had he seen Anghus wrap his arms around both Maggie and Ian and give them the love they needed?

I'll always be here for you, little Magpie. I'll not let anyone e'er harm you. So long as there's breath in my body, I'll keep you safe. Those were the only other words he'd heard Anghus utter more times than the threat.

"What of Kate?" Braden asked, thinking of Anghus's wife and two small children.

"She's surviving. Barely. Her mother took her in to live with them for a while. And now she alternates between cursing Anghus and begging G.o.d to let all this be a bad dream."

Braden shook his head at the agony he heard in her voice. Dear Lord, the pain Maggie must be feeling now. Anghus had been her one true protector, the one person Maggie had always relied on.

What would become of her now?

Most women would have collapsed from the weight of such grief. For that matter, most men would have as well. And he wondered how she was making do. How she had found the strength to devise such a plan to end the feud that had cost her brother his life?

He saw her in a new light, and a profound respect for her welled up inside him. "And Ian?"

"He survived, just barely." The sadness left her eyes and in its place her rage burned bright. "Now the fool wants to head out to avenge our brother."

Braden could well understand that. Nothing would give him greater pleasure than killing whichever MacDouglas follower had claimed his friend's life.

And in that instant he understood why Maggie had done what she had. "So, that's the reason for all this.

You're here to protect Ian."

"I'm here to protectall the men who are still living. If you men had your way, we'd end up like the MacNachtans, with nothing left save small boys and old men."

He reached out for her. "Maggie-"

"Don't you be touching me," she said, stepping away from his hand. "I'm not about to let you have your way with me so your brother can lead another party out to its death. I'm sick of all this killing. I have four brothers left alive, and by the saints above, I'll keep them safe or die in that effort."

Now, that got his dander up. She acted as if it were Lochlan's fault.

"If you recall," he said, "we didn't start this feud. The MacDouglas did when he led a raid into Ken Hollow. Do you not remember the women and children who were slain?"

"Aye, of course I do. Ifyou remember, my brother Aidan was one of the ones who fell that night. Do you think I could ever forget such a thing?"

"Nay, of course you couldn't."

Braden cupped her face in his hands to offer her comfort. He half expected her to pull away or stiffen.

Instead, she just stared up at him, her amber eyes large.

In that instant, he saw the vulnerability inside her. The uncertainty. And he ached to soothe her in some way. Not just with physical closeness. Nay, he wanted to make her feel better from the inside out.

"I am sorry about Anghus and Aidan, Maggie, truly I am."

She placed her hand over his and looked up at him with tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her eyes. "Then stand with us, Braden, and do what is right. You know the feud canna go on. Help us to end it."

Her courage amazed him. The cunning and determination it had taken her to achieve this standoff. The woman was truly brilliant.

"Tell me, how did you do this?" he asked. "How did you get the MacDouglas lairdess to agree with your plans?"

The right corner of her lips turned up into a beguiling half smile. "I snuck myself over to their lands. Since I was just a woman alone, no man thought to stop me. When I reached the MacDouglas castle, I pretended to be a servant and went to the Lady MacDouglas's solar to wait for her. Once she heard me out, she agreed to help stop this."

He paused in thought, but what played across his mind was not to his liking. Maggie's tale had all the ingredients of a planned betrayal. "And how do you know she's not lying to you? Even now they could be planning a raid on us while Lochlan is occupied with worries over you."

"Nay," she said. "I believe her. She's a good lady and all she wants is her husband to see reason. She wants peace as much as I do."

How Braden wished it were that simple. But he knew it would take more than a few days without s.e.x or food to make Robby MacDouglas back down. The man was out for blood. And not just any blood.

In truth, nothing short of the impossible would cow the man. "Unfortunately, little blossom, it'll never happen."

Maggie frowned at him. "How do you mean?"

Braden dropped his hand from her cheek. It was time he explained the facts of the feud to the la.s.s. Still, he didn't want to see her discouraged. He so enjoyed her spirit that he almost hated to see her give up.

But he had no choice.

And a looming deadline.

"Do you know what started this feud?" he asked.

"You said it yourself, the MacDouglas raided Ken Hollow."

Braden nodded. "And do you ken why he did that?"

She shook her head.

"Do you remember the MacRae's daughter, Isobail?"