man.”
This time when Magnus charged him, Alex stepped aside—and stuck his foot out. The Clanranald chieftain crashed to the ground. In an instant, Alex sat astride his opponent’s back and held his head up by his hair. Duncan appeared with a bucket of water and drenched the Clanranald chieftain, who sputtered and coughed.
“Ye can thank me for saving ye from murdering a lass who doesn’t upset ye,” Alex said, still breathing hard. “And by the way, I believe we are cousins of some sort—my mother is a Clanranald.”
“Get off me!”
Alex leaned down to speak in the man’s ear. “Stay away from Glynis MacNeil if ye know what’s good for ye. Next time, I’ll kill ye—and now ye know I can do it.”
Magnus Clanranald was a chieftain and a man of pride. Threatening him was not wise, but it was necessary. Alex left the man with his face in the dirt.
“Let’s go for a swim,” Alex said, as he and Duncan started off the field. “I’d say we’re doing a fine job of following Connor’s orders to make friends among the rebel clans.”
“’Tis good to remind them that we MacDonalds know how to fight,” Duncan said. “Better that they respect us than like us.”
“I did refrain from killing the Clanranald chieftain,” Alex pointed out.
“That was probably a mistake,” Duncan said. “I was watching his clansmen while ye were fighting, and at least half of them were ready to thank ye for doing away with him.”
* * *
Glynis ignored Duncan’s order to go inside the keep and stood transfixed watching the fight through the open gate. Apparently, the MacDonald captain of the guard was used to being obeyed, for he left her without a backward glance.
“Ye don’t want to miss this fight!” someone shouted.
People jostled her as they pushed past to go out into the yard. Fortunately, no one seemed to realize the fight had anything to do with her. A large crowd encircled the two men who were clanking swords ferociously up and down the field.
“I don’t blame ye for watching. Alex MacDonald is sinfully handsome.”
Glynis started at the sound of a woman’s deep, rich voice beside her. She turned to find it belonged to the mysterious beauty, Lady Catherine Campbell, who was Shaggy Maclean’s wife. With her wavy dark hair and voluptuous curves, the woman exuded a sensuality that left men gasping. Catherine was every man’s dream—and she knew it.
Next to her, Glynis felt like a doll her father once made for her from sticks and frayed rope.
“Praise God,” Glynis said when Alex and Duncan left Magnus sprawled on the ground.
“I knew Alex would win,” Catherine said. “He has the twin gifts of skill and the devil’s own luck.”
When Magnus started to get up, Glynis picked up her skirts to go inside before he saw her again. But as she turned, the glint of sun hitting metal caught her eye. Magnus was pulling a short blade from his sleeve.
“Alex!” Glynis shouted.
The warning was unnecessary. Alex had read his man well and was already spinning around in a crouch. He moved so fast that it was difficult to tell exactly how he did it, but his boot met Magnus’s hand with such force that the dirk flew into the air.
A moment later, Magnus’s own men caught him under the arms and dragged him away. Attempting to stab another guest in the back was a serious breach of the rules of Highland hospitality.
Alex wiped his brow on his sleeve and headed down toward the water with Duncan. Glynis watched as the two men waded into the sea and dove under. When Alex emerged after his swim with his shirt clinging to his broad chest, and his hair slicked back and hanging to his shoulders, a small moan escaped her.
She had forgotten Catherine was still standing next to her until she spoke again.
“Save yourself some heartache—don’t set your sights on Alex MacDonald,” Catherine said. “You’re not his sort at all.”
“I’ve set my sights on no man,” Glynis said, feeling unreasonably annoyed by the remark. “And what do ye mean, I’m not his sort?”
“Ye may be twenty, but you’re still a girl,” Catherine said with a laugh in her voice. “A man like Alex needs a woman.”
CHAPTER 7
Alex looked for Glynis when he and Duncan entered the castle, thinking he deserved to collect a kiss from her after that fight. He was ready to risk it—though not in front of her father. But Glynis was not among the crowd congratulating him.
“That was some fine bladework,” Shaggy Maclean said, slapping Alex on his back.
Alex refrained from telling Shaggy to keep his goddamned hands off of him. He hadn’t forgotten Shaggy’s attempt to help Hugh take the chieftainship from Connor.
“I hear the men tested your mettle as well,” Shaggy said, and took his life in his hands by squeezing Duncan’s shoulder. “We need warriors like the two of ye fighting for the rebellion.”
“We’ll discuss it with our chieftain,” Duncan said.
He and Duncan excused themselves to rinse off the salt water from their swim at the well in the castle courtyard. Afterward, Alex climbed the stairs of the keep, looking for an empty chamber where he could stretch out away from the noise in the hall. He should ask his hostess, but he intended to avoid Catherine Campbell for as long as he could.
