Highland Guard by Hannah Howell

She cursed softly at what she had just confessed. “Dinnae heed me. I but had a moment of feeling sorry for myself.”
    “I did hear that your parents were nay here verra often.”
    “The wedding, the birth, and David’s funeral.”
    “Then what did they think to gain from arranging the marriage? So few visits imply they were nay trying to gain much from David.”
    “Oh, they got what they wanted. David’s father got them into the court circles. They had ne’er been able to get there for my mother’s father had angered the wrong people years ago and the whole family was banished. The ruler of the court may change but the ones who dinnae wish to see ye or yours take longer to disappear and the talk of some taint, e’en longer than that. But they are back and from all I hear, they are rarely anywhere else.”
    “So, they didnae really care which son ye married as they had already gained what they sought.”
    “Aye. I was brought here to learn to be the wife of the laird of Glencullaich.”
    “They didnae e’en try to make a new contract when Nigel was cried dead?”
    “Nay, although I think they did get a few wagons of goods from David.” She looked at him. “I think ’tis more embarrassing than aught else. I would thank them for placing me in such a wonderful keep save that I ken weel they didnae care much about that, or e’en about what sort of mon Nigel was.”
    “Ye have sisters or brothers?”
    “Two brothers. One younger and one older.”
    “Why did ye nay ask them to come and help ye with Sir Adam?”
    “Colin is too busy trying to keep our lands making enough coin to support my mother and father. Ah, and Edward has just wed a lass whose father sees him as his heir to his small holding. I do get word from them now and then but I kenned weel that I could find no aid there. That isnae meaning they wouldnae have offered, just that they cannae. I kenned ye were a warrior. My brothers cannae claim that, either.”
    “And that is why ye didnae wish to go home. T’was cold there, aye?”
    She felt the press of his warm lips against the corner of her eye and answered, “Aye. That and my cousins. Evil boys. Men now, but long gone from there. I complained about them once to my mother and got a beating for it. I was too naïve to realize that it was my uncle and aunt who had the money e’en though my father had the land.”
    Harcourt had a fair idea of what those “evil boys” had been trying to do with their very young cousin. He gently tugged her closer but it was not just sympathy for the lonely child she must have been. There was nothing he could do to change the past. What he wanted was a kiss and for some odd reason he was approaching the matter with all the skill of an untried boy.
    Annys realized she was nearly sitting in Harcourt’s lap. The thought made her blush for a large part of her thought that would be a lovely place to be. One look in his amber eyes told her that he was not thinking about comforting her for rousing bad memories at the moment.
    “Harcourt,” she began, trying to put a warning in her voice, which came out sounding a little too welcoming.
    “Just a kiss,” he said and brushed his mouth over hers.
    It was never just a kiss to her but Annys had no intention of confessing that. She told herself to get up and walk away, perhaps even leave him with a few sharp words of rebuke. But his lips were so soft and warm. Even the light touch of them on hers was enough to make the heat of need flow through her body. As she let him draw her more fully into his embrace a little voice told her that she would pay dearly for giving in to such temptation. Annys ignored it.
    Her whole body welcomed his kiss. As his tongue caressed the inside of her mouth her hunger for him grew until she ached. For a moment she tensed when he moved his hands up from her waist. Then he stroked the sides of her breasts with his fingers, making them swell and ache for the feel of his caress, and she