Once Upon A Highland Christmas by Sue-Ellen Welfonder Page A

laird well.
    He also knew that he couldn’t remain at the table a moment longer.
    Not with Breena in the room above, splashing about in steaming, scented water while the night’s wintry chill slipped in through the window shutters to flush her cheeks and pucker her nipples. As for the rest of her, the tantalizing curls at the vee of her thighs…
    Before he could imagine further, Grim shoved back from table, standing.
    “I’m away, men. My lady and I have a long ride ahead of us come the morn.” He didn’t dare glance down, hoped to Thor his mail and the folds of his plaid still hid what Breena did to him. “Fergus”—he turned to his host—“I thank you for your hospitality.
    “Malcolm, I rejoice we met this day.” He clapped a hand on the old warrior’s shoulder, squeezed once. “Your happiness lifts my heart. I am happy for you and Lady Moira.”
    “No more gladdened than we are for you.” Malcolm nodded, reached to set his hand briefly over Grim’s. “Now,” he added, smiling, “dinnae let us keep you.”
    “Och, nae!” Fergus grinned, even winked at him. “Away with you, right enough. Make haste!”
    Fergus and Malcolm exchanged knowing glances, their lips twitching as if with some unspoken secret.
    What a shame Grim knew what it was.
    They thought he was going abovestairs to make love to Breena.
    And wasn’t he a great flat-footed arse for not correcting them?
    He turned away before he did. Such a denial would be yet another lie. He’d already filled his belly with more than enough falsehoods. There wasn’t room for any more, and he was weary of them, besides.
    The gods of Yule
had
spoken to him.
    And as he climbed the creaky wooden stairs to the Munzie guest room, passing garlands of holly and ivy, every bright, red-ribboned bow seeming to wink at him, he knew that as a mere mortal man, he didn’t dare ignore their message.
    Nor did he wish to, for the gods had presented him with three irrefutable truths.
    Through Malcolm, they’d shown him he daren’t waste a moment, not when true love is at stake.
    With this journey, they’d reminded him that he couldn’t abide falsehoods and that he abhorred pretending to be someone he wasn’t.
    Above all, they’d let him realize how much he loved and needed Breena.
    So his burdens lifted as he made for Breena’s door. Before sunrise, they’d no longer be playing a part. When morning came, they’d descend the stairs as a couple, loving, true, and belonging together.
    All the world would know it, and rightly so.
    He was proud to love her.
    And he didn’t care that Fergus and Malcolm knew he meant to have her this night.
    He just hoped she’d have him.
    “Grim! I didn’t hear you come in.”
    At the sight of him, Breena almost dropped the great linen drying cloth she’d just wrapped about her nakedness. Even in the room’s dimness, she could tell something was different about him. Somehow, he looked larger than before, bolder and more fearsome, as if he were going to battle. The change stunned her into breathlessness and she took a step backward, bumping into the linen-lined bathing tub she’d soaked in until only a moment ago.
    She blinked, not sure what else to say, because rather than answer her, he was carefully undoing his plaid’s heavy silver brooch.
    His gaze remained on hers as he did so, even as he pulled off the pin and his plaid, dropping both onto a wooden chest near the door.
    How had he entered the little room so quietly, and why hadn’t she heard the door open and close? Surely such a big man couldn’t move so silently? Yet he had and he was doing so again.
    Somehow he was right before her.
    She hadn’t even blinked, she was sure.
    He looked furious, his brows lowered and his beautiful gray gaze so fierce only her pride, and the lingering soreness from their ride, kept her from nipping behind the half-barrel that was the Munzies’ bathing tub.
    She did feel her eyes widening, and her heart beat so wildly she could hardly