Laird of the Game by Lori Leigh

magnificent, strong, and dazzled her every time he looked at her. Melissa loved him more than she ever thought possible, and had to admit she was proud of all of them. They were fierce, strong, tall, and so handsome.
    She was having an amazing impact on all of them. By the end of the second week, their English had greatly improved, and she could understand them all, even with the burr in their deep, rich voices.
    Evan especially had a knack for picking up languages, she learned, since he could curse louder and longer than all of them, in a variety of languages. He took his position as the Clan bladaire very seriously and hailed their victories to the camp.
    The camp was very quiet one evening, and Alex told her they had lost an important battle. She nearly broke into tears, hugged all his brothers, and gave them some words of encouragement. They were more than willing to lose a few more battles, just for the attention, and Alex had to remain beside her or he was certain she wouldn’t make it back to the cottage.
    Alex softened his directions to the warriors because Melissa was present. When they suffered a defeat, he drilled battle tactics into their heads for hours. Their third defeat brought them dangerously close to losing the game. Alex pressed them harder to think faster while they had the opportunity to turn the battle into a victory.
    Melissa found it was a good time to visit Yorath rather than worry. She adored the magnificent stallion and always saved him a piece of apple or a carrot for a treat. He followed her everywhere she went.
    She didn’t see Alex put his head down and cover his face with his hands, “She’s ruined my warhorse,” he choked, “and I’ll have tae put him ou’ tae stud.”
    “Tis sad tae see a stallion act just like his master,” Gideon clamped a hand on Alex’s shoulder, smirking.
    By the end of the week, Melissa had heard every curse word possible, in two or three different languages. She never berated anyone for cursing and asked Alex to translate the list.
    He took the list from her and spent nearly a half an hour yelling at his brothers for teaching her how to curse in Gaelic, Chinese, and Russian.
    Melissa worried about them all when they went into battle. When Alex walked into the cottage at night she put her arms around him and nearly broke into tears she was so grateful he was still alive. She was so much in love with the man she couldn’t think about anything else. Her previous life and her family were forgotten in the arms of her love. She sensed there was something dreadful that he wasn’t telling her, and the apprehension of what that could be was leaving her a nervous wreck.
    She had also become terrified of the mist. They walked along the Loch one evening and the mist rolled in to the shore. She was nearly hysterical, and dragged Alex back to the cottage. Melissa was torn between going home to her sisters, and the man who loved her so completely. Either way she would lose some part of her heart. She wasn’t ready to return to the future – not yet. The first week had been hell, but she didn’t want to leave unless Alex was going with her.
    Life in a war camp was far different than anything she could ever expect. There was more than one fistfight Alex had to step in and settle. Almost every one of the fistfights were instigated by William, but they were all certain it was just because he had been sober for at least two days in a row and was a little touchy. The warriors feared and respected Alex and Daniel who were also trained in martial arts and were masters with a sword in their hands. A fight would break out in the camp, Alex would barely flinch, and the warrior would crumble to the ground or land five feet away.
    Alex demanded perfection of his warriors. Training in his camp was mandatory, and he personally supervised most of the physical training. The men would train with scimitar swords and then their abilities were tested until they got the moves down where