Excerpt of Highland Heat by Mary Wine

Deirdre gasped, shocked by the revelation. “She said
naught of that.”

Quinton grinned. “Of course she would nae, for ye are no’
unintelligent.” He studied her for a moment. “And ye favor
her in too many ways. It was a stroke of luck that she
encountered ye. I can see why she took advantage of the
opportunity.”

Deirdre didn’t care for the way his words made her feel.
“Ye men may be concerned about matters of politics with good
cause but it does nae change the fact that the queen is a
woman who wants to live her life while she has the chance. I
helped her because…”

“Because ye know what it’s like to be used by men for the
furtherment of their causes.”

She snorted and moved away from him. “Ye do nae ken so
very much about me laird Cameron.”

When she looked back toward him, he was watching her from
the same spot but there was a twinkle of something in his
eyes again that warned her the man was making ready to be
entertained by her once more.

“Well now, since ye’ll be staying here in my home lass,
we’ll be having the chance to learn more about one another.”

“I will nae be staying.”

His lips rose and parted in a smug expression of arrogance.
His gaze traveled down her length once again, stopping at
the hem of her over robe with its trim pulled in several
places from the rugged terrain of the Highlands.

“Well now, those little slippers are suited to walking on
Persian carpets and no much else.”

Her feet agreed, renewing their complaints over how many
sharp stones she had felt jabbing into her unprotected
arches recently. Quinton raised his gaze to her face and her
throat contracted when she looked into his eyes.
Determination blazed there.

“That velvet will nae keep ye warm in the spring rains that
are upon us now. It’s a fact that I believe the queen is
more comfortable in yer undyed nuns robe. Ye’ll freeze if ye
try and cross me land.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

He lifted one finger between them again. “To do that,
ye’ll have to escape me men and I ordered them after ye. I
believe ye’ll find they do what I say because my orders are
most often given for the benefit of every Cameron.”

“Ye sent them after the queen and I am not who ye seek.”

He waved his finger between them. “Ah, but ye allowed them
to assume that ye were the queen.”

“A mistake easily revealed for what it is.”

“Aye.” He nodded agreement. “But me men are Highlanders
lass, they will nae be happy to hear ye duped them. In fact,
I suspect that they just might wait to hear from me on the
matter of whether or not ye are the one I wanted them to
bring to me.” His grin faded. “I doubt they will allow
ye to depart until they have my word upon the matter.”

Shock held her in its grip. Words felt too large to force up
her throat while she stared at the pleased expression on his
face. She opened her mouth twice before managing to form her
thoughts into words.

“Ye…ye must tell yer men that I am not who ye seek.”

He turned his back upon her. Deirdre watched as he returned
to his chair and settled himself without a care for the way
he was tormenting her.

“Ye must Quinton.”

“Ah…now I admit that I do enjoy hearing my name on yer
lips.” His expression became smug once more. “It’s the
truth I am looking forward to having ye here, so we might
get to know each other better.”

“I will not remain here.” She shook her head and her hands
returned to her hips.

“I can nae wait to see how ye plan to outwit me men lass. Ye
began this game and I believe they will be happy to continue
it so that they might score a few points of their own.
Highlanders do like to win.”

“I’m from Highland stock myself sir.”

His eyes narrowed and his attention slipped down her body
once more. “Aye lass, I’ve noticed that, more often than I
should. There are no women like the ones who live in the
Highlands. Ye have more than yer share of boldness and I
find it captivating enough to tell ye I shall nae make it
simple for ye to ride out of here into the hands of men who
might slit yer creamy throat.”

“Ye do nae have the right to keep me here.”

He stood up and came toward her. Deirdre didn’t retreat but
it wasn’t because her pride demanded that she stand and
confront him.

It was worse than that. She felt desperation clawing at her
as the walls seemed to be collapsing inward.

“I will nae clear the way for ye to leave Deirdre, that is
my final word on the matter.”

He stroked the back of his hand across the surface of one
side of her face. It was such a simple touch and yet it
stole her breath for how tender it was. So pleasing, in
every way, somehow she’d forgotten how good it felt to be
touched.

She gasped and made to step away from his touch.

“Quinton—”

He leaned down and sealed her protest beneath his lips. His
hand cupped her nape, pulling gently so that her face rose
and his kiss might become bolder. She jerked, shaking her
head to break the connection but his body moved as fast as a
leather whip, twisting along with her as his other hand
slipped over the curve of her hip and settled on the flat of
her lower back to hold her in place.

She moaned, a tiny sound of panic because she expected his
kiss to turn savage. He soothed her nape with a slow stroke
but he did not release her. His mouth moved against hers,
pressing her to open her jaw until she yielded. He deepened
the kiss but didn’t thrust his tongue inside her mouth as
she expected. Instead he teased her lips with his own,
tasting her mouth like he might a fine glass of French wine.

She discovered that she was drowning in sensation. Her
senses were too full of awareness of him for her thoughts to
penetrate. She raised her hands to push him away but her
fingers became too aware of how hard his body was beneath
his clothing.

How could a man feel so good to only her fingertips?

Her heart was racing and along with it, her lungs labored to
pull more air into her chest. The scent of his skin flooded
her senses, threatening to send another moan past their
joined lips because she enjoyed his scent.

She mustn’t…