Kresley Cole - [MacCarrick Brothers 02] by If You Desire

doorstep. And then me. Have you forgotten my fiancée? It was you who found Sarah’s broken body. Would you expose Jane to a fate like that?”
    Christ, no. Never. “I will no’ consummate the marriage. I will no’ keep her,” he said in a low tone. “It will no’ be a marriage in truth. Besides, I’ve already jeopardized her. Grey will seize on her because of me. I know this. Grey will definitely kill her without me to protect her. I might hurt her.”
    “Even ill in the head, Grey will be deadly. As much as I hate to say it, he has unmatchable instincts.” Ethan caught his gaze. “Why do you no’ let me take Jane away?”
    The thought made Hugh’s blood boil. “Grey will never harm her while I live. Mark me, Ethan. Never.”
    Ethan raised his eyebrows. “Then you’d better hope I get to him before he gets to her. You think to protect her when you’re no’ cold about this? Certainly no’ cold like Grey is. You’re going to get both yourself and the girl killed.”
    “Damn it, I can take care of her—”
    “ And keep your hands off her at the same time?” Ethan gave him an incredulous expression.
    “I have discipline. You ken that I do.” Hugh strode to his wardrobe for a few essentials—a pistol as backup to the one he always wore holstered, and another rifle, second to the one he kept in his saddle holster. He also packed a good deal of ammunition for all of the weapons. “And I’ve stayed away this long, have I no’?”
    “I also know you’ve got years of want stored up. You might seem calm on the outside, but I’ll bet inside you’re seething with it.”
    Seething. The perfect word for how he felt. “Does no’ matter. She hates me.” Especially after this morning. “Hell, she’ll probably balk.” Though he wondered. Weyland always got what he wanted. But then, so did Jane. Surely Weyland couldn’t want him as a son-in-law as much as Jane wanted to have nothing to do with him. “I will no’ keep her,” he insisted again. “And she will no’ want me.”
    Ethan studied him for long moments. Then he exhaled a resigned breath. “Aye, then. That, I can accept. Even if the old man forces her to wed, the chit will want out at the first opportunity.”
    Hugh scowled at Ethan’s tone. As if he were reciting a fact.
    “Is it so bloody inconceivable that she might want me as I want her?”
    Ethan simply said, “Aye.”
    Hugh snatched up his bag, then exited the room to stomp down the stairs.
    “Where’re you taking her?” Ethan asked, following. “No’ to the clan?”
    Hugh shook his head. He’d considered taking her to Carrickliffe, but the people there all knew about the curse. At best, they would be wary around Jane, superstitious and treating her as though she were doomed. At worst, they would try to spirit her away from Hugh, seeking to save them both. He would only go there if there was no other alternative. “I’m taking her north to Ros Creag.”
    “Does Grey know about the lake house?”
    “I never told him about it, but I canna be certain whether he does,” Hugh answered. “If he hasn’t reached England and I only keep us there for a few days—”
    “I’m fast, but I’m no’ that fast.”
    As Hugh reached the front door, he said, “Any suggestions among your various hideaways?”
    “Grey knows of several, and I canna swear by the rest. You should take her to Court’s.”
    Hugh slowed. He hadn’t thought of Court’s property, probably because his brother had owned it for so short a time.
    “Court said the keep was old, but it’s solid and only needs a bit of work,” Ethan said.
    He’d told Hugh the same, and that it was in the middle of thousands of acres. “I’ll go to Ros Creag, and if I haven’t heard anything from you in five days, we’ll journey north to Court’s.”
    “Good. I’ll alert the staff to your arrival,” Ethan said, referring to the skeleton staff that lived just off the property.
    “If Grey follows us, I hope to God