Highlander's Guardian (Highlander Heat #4)

Highlander's Guardian (Highlander Heat #4)

Joanne Wadsworth




Chapter 1


Holyrood House, Edinburgh, 1590.



Tension tightened every muscle in Annie MacLeod’s body as she hid behind a tree in the sprawling park near Holyrood House. Clutching the rough bark, she snuck a look around the wide trunk. Twenty feet away, one of her two guardians, Colin MacLean, paced a muddy track between two elm trees, his brow furrowed.

Of all the luck. She’d stumbled upon Colin in this secluded wooded area yesterday after he’d arrived at the king’s palace. If he discovered her outside again without an adequate guard or chaperone, she’d be in twice the trouble. Aye, Colin would believe she was up to old tricks, following him as she’d done throughout her childhood.

Hands bunched in her thick burgundy skirts, she crept back a step and crunched on the thick matting of autumn leaves. Drat. Hardly needing to give her location away, she held perfectly still, then carefully, slowly, she slid her other foot back to join the other. No crunching.

Now, one step at a time and she’d escape without notice.

She eased back again, but her slipper sank into soggy soil at the edge of the trail. Precariously close to a thorny bush, she wobbled. When would she ever—

“Annie MacLeod,” Colin growled as he came out of nowhere, gripped her waist and hauled her back to safety. “What are you doing in the middle of the forest without a guard, yet again?”

“Ah, I was walking, although apparently no’ very well. Thank you for your aid.” Her heart pounded and she covered his hands with hers. His fingers, so big and warm, splayed wide over her waist. Colin could move with such stealth and speed. “Please, dinnae tell Rory you’ve seen me.”

“And why should I do that? Where’s your aunt?”

“I didnae care to wake her, and Rory’s so busy with the king. Interrupting him in order to ask for a guard wasnae something I wished to do.”

“Then you should have interrupted me. I’m your guardian, just as Rory is.”

“As you can see I did.” She smiled, as sweetly as she could in the hope of diverting his attention. “In an indirect sort of way.”

“’Tis just as well I heard you, and dinnae give me that sly smile of yours, you scamp.”

She smiled wider. Colin may be her guardian, but he was also one of her nearest and dearest. “I couldnae help but notice how worried you looked. Is all well?”

“As well as can be considering my chief is in the cells.” He released her and clasped one hand over the hilt of his side sword. The move stretched the fine silk of his black doublet over his broad chest. “Are you aware the MacDonalds of Skye arrived this morn? They remain a distinct threat against your MacLeod and my MacLean kin. You’re no’ to wander about like this again. If aught happened to you, I’d never forgive myself. Every precaution must be taken.”

“The king will never allow the clans to fight while at court.” She touched the frown line slashing his brow and smoothed it out. “I hate to see you worry so.”

“That does no’ mean they willnae take their quarrels outside, and that is where we are.”

“I needed some fresh air and time to think. It isnae easy trying to find a husband amongst the pomp of courtiers who are here.” She’d been hounded of late. Like fresh meat to the market, they’d soon learnt she was here at Rory’s bidding to choose a husband before the king did so for her, and not for the first time, but the second. Her first contracted handfast had failed, and once was enough. This time Rory had given her the choice to find a suitable match, a rare thing allowed for a woman and an offer she’d pounced on and accepted.

“If you wish aid in finding a husband, I’m here.” Colin stroked a finger under her chin, his gaze softening and his touch comforting her. “You need only ask and I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

“You’re here for your chief and I cannae take you away from that duty.” His chief had been captured by the king’s men and tossed into Holyrood’s tower for his part in the current feud between the clans. She’d been surprised to hear of it. Certainly a great chief like Lachlan MacLean didn’t deserve to be treated so.

“I’m here for you as well, and we’re kin.”

Aye, their grandparents had been cousins, their mothers the closest of friends. On the Isle of Mull, she’d grown up traipsing around after Colin like an adoring child. He’d been so much older and wiser, the gap between them a wide six years, although now she’d turned one and twenty, that divide no longer seemed any great distance at all. “I miss roaming around Mull and being young and carefree. With you.”