Mark of the Highlander (The MacLomain Series: Next Generation, Book 1) by Sky Purington Page A

lifetime.”
    “Oh, you do bounce back well!”
    Not really. But she wasn’t about to let Caitlin worry about her much longer. With a small smile she said, “‘Tis what we Brouns do, aye?”
    “Give or take,” Caitlin said. “But I still worry about how much you’re really ready for.”
    She was about to respond when another voice overrode hers from the bedroom door.
    “Dinnae worry, lass. She’s now in verra good hands.”
     

Chapter Five
     
    There was never a stranger moment than when a medieval Scottish Highlander walked into her twenty-first century bedroom.
    Trevor…no, Colin, sat slowly in the chair Caitlin had abandoned after she was sure McKayla would be all right alone with him. A long, uncomfortable silence stretched as they eyed one another. He appeared much as he had in her dream. Except now his eyes were even more startling, clearer to her vision somehow. Nowhere near green, as he had assured earlier, they were a sharp almost disconcerting shade of pale bluish green. She supposed they were turquoise. With the same black brows and lashes she remembered from before, his eyes certainly had a way of pinning a person.
    The pure strength radiating off him struck her almost as acutely as his piercing gaze. It was something that he’d never seemed to possess when in the form of Trevor. Or maybe that wasn’t entirely true. Trevor had a strong presence around others. Perhaps he just seemed softer with her because they were so close.
    Trevor…Colin.
    It would take a very long time to wrap her mind around this one.
    When he finally spoke his deep voice and brogue again caught her off guard. “You have a right to hate me, lass. More than I hate myself for how much I’ve deceived you.”
    He was right. She did. Pulling her knees up against her chest, she said, “I don’t think I could ever hate you.” McKayla cast her eyes down, discomforted by looking at a stranger while speaking to her best friend. “But right now I’m feeling a lot of anger…and confusion, even fear. If my cousins hadn’t seen the same things I saw and Ferchar and Caitlin hadn’t confirmed all of this, I’d think I’d gone crazy.”
    “‘Tis a lot to take in all at once,” Colin agreed. “And is only bound to become…”
    When he trailed off she looked up. “Become what?”
    “Far more confusing and mayhap even frightening. But know that I’ll never leave you alone. I’ll protect you with my life if necessary.”
    Alarmed, McKayla eyed his tartan, the build that was clearly a warrior’s. “It’s unlikely I’ll need much protecting. If you haven’t noticed there are no warring clans here. Only in my book.”
    “Aye, in your book. About a time and place that I call home, love. A place that I must return to so that I might face all the havoc I’ve created.”
    Worried, McKayla pulled her knees tighter against her chest. It would be one thing to watch Colin go. She might relax a great deal. But to watch Trevor? The thought made her panic. “What exactly did you do? What are you facing? And again, what does this have to do with protecting me?”
    She pushed back against the headboard when he stood. Upset but determined he said, “McKayla, ‘tis me…Trevor, your best friend, once your lover. Allow me to sit next to you, offer comfort.”
    Sizzling flame erupted beneath her skin when he said lover. It was impossible to imagine she’d lain with… him , the overwhelming Scotsman standing over her. When her eyes started to lower to where they shouldn’t she immediately brought them back to his face, mortified. Damn. There was no doubt that she and Trevor had chemistry. Would the same hold true with Colin? She bit down on her lower lip and did all she could not to envision it. Pretty hard not to considering she’d written love scenes about just such a man.
    He cleared his throat. “McKayla, please. At least let me hold your hand.”
    “You expect too much,” she replied swiftly.
    “Rest assured that this will be