“What?” he asked uncertainly.
“If I hadn’t kidnapped the wrong Highlander that day, we may ne’er ha’e met,” she pointed out.
Conran relaxed, no doubt relieved at the change of subject. But then he asked, “Are ye sorry?”
“That I kidnapped ye and no’ Rory?” she asked.
“Aye. But ’twas no’ kidnapping,” he reminded her. “At least, we’ll ne’er admit ’twas to our children.”
“Really? We can no’ tell them the truth o’ how we met?” she asked with surprise.
“Definitely no’. Especially if they are lasses,” he added grimly, and then said, “Now tell me. Are ye sorry ye kidnapped me and no’ Rory?”
“Nay,” she assured him. “I may have kidnapped the wrong Highlander, but ye were the right man fer me.”
“Oh, lass,” Conran sighed, pulling her into his arms. “I fear I love ye too.”
“And why do ye fear that?” she asked uncertainly as he began to press kisses along her throat.
“Because now I want to show ye just how much,” he murmured, his hands sliding down to cup her bottom and lift her against him until his hardness pressed between her legs.
“Aye, well, Lord Pleasure-Cock, ye’ll have to wait until after the wedding for that,” Aulay growled impatiently from the door. “The entire population o’ Maclean, plus yer brothers, sister and their mates, as well as the Sinclairs, are all waiting at the damned church fer ye and have been fer quite a while now. Get a move on, ye two.”
Sighing, Conran eased her back to the ground. “We’ll have to continue this later.”
Nodding, Evina let him take her arm and urge her toward the door.
“Did I mention how lovely ye look yet?” Conran asked as they stepped out into the hall.
“Nay,” she answered at once.
“Well, ye do. Ye quite take me breath away every time I look at ye, ye’re so lovely,” he assured her.
“Thank ye,” she murmured, and then eyed his face curiously, and asked, “Why are ye smiling so?”
“Aulay called me Lord Pleasure-Cock,” he reminded her, his grin widening.
“And?” she asked uncertainly.
“He’s ne’er going to let me live that down,” he explained.
“Ye do no’ seem upset,” she pointed out.
“Hell, no,” he said on a laugh. “They are all calling Greer Fretting Fiona since hearing Saidh say that about him. But I get Lord Pleasure-Cock. As brotherly torments go, ’tis a damned fine one. Do no’ tell him though. He might stop.”
“As ye wish,” she said with amusement.
“Ah, Evina,” he sighed, scooping her up in his arms to carry her down the stairs, “I kenned the minute I saw yer sword hilt swinging toward me head that ye were the woman fer me.”
“No, ye didn’t,” she protested as they reached the main floor and he headed for the keep doors.
“Aye, I did,” he assured her.
Evina chuckled and shook her head. “Ye’re a strange man, Conran Buchanan.”
“Aye, but I’m yer strange man, Evina soon-to-be Buchanan,” he assured her.
“Aye, ye are,” she agreed softly as he carried her out of the keep, heading for the chapel where the priest waited to marry them.
An Excerpt from The Trouble With Vampires
Keep reading for a sneak peek of
Lynsay Sands’ latest paranormal romance
The Trouble With Vampires
Coming April 2019 from Avon Books
The Trouble With Vampires
“You shot me!”
“Yeahhh,” Pet drew out the word on a wince. “Sorry about that, kiddo. It was an accident. I was shooting at the mutants and your big butt got in my way.”
“Yeah? Well this is an accident too,” Parker snapped, turning his gun on her character.
“Oh, come on!” Pet squawked, quickly moving her character behind the cover of some trees to avoid the rapid-fire spray of bullets. “It was an accident,” she protested. “Gees. I thought we were on the same side.”
“You shot me first,” Parker pointed out, making his character rush after hers.
“Friendly fire. You’ll never make it out of the next level without me, Parker. Just—” A shriek from downstairs caught her ear, and Pet lowered her game controller and glanced toward the bedroom door.
“Is Oksana watching TV or some—?” she began, but stopped when the shriek ended and the housekeeper began shouting, “Home invasion! Home Invasion!”
“Crap!” Dropping her game controller, Pet jumped up from the floor and rushed to the door. Once there, she hesitated though, and then cracked it open to listen. A frown claimed her lips when she heard the deep rumble of an unfamiliar male voice below and then silence.
Reaching for her cell phone, Pet glanced around for Parker and scowled when she saw that her nephew hadn’t moved. The eight-year-old was busily shooting her video game character while she was distracted.
“Parker!” she hissed punching in 911. “Stop that! We have a situation here. Didn’t you hear Oksana yelling home invasion?”
“She always yells home invasion,” Parker said with a shrug. “Oksana forgets to close the front door after checking the mail, grabbing the newspaper, or sweeping the front porch. Everyone from neighbors to delivery guys have come in afraid something was wrong cause the door is open. When they do, she shrieks home invasion every time. She even yelled home invasion when Mr. Purdy’s cat came in yesterday. It’s her thing.”
“Oh,” Pet breathed, relaxing a little. She didn’t hit the call button on her phone, but she didn’t delete the numbers she’d entered on the keypad either. Oksana still hadn’t spoken again. Pet was debating whether she should call out and ask if everything was okay, or keep their presence in the house a secret and tiptoe to the end of the hall to get a look at who was in the entry, when she heard a soft whisper and then a deep male voice boomed, “Hello? Neighbor!”
“That’s not a neighbor.”
Pet jumped a good foot in the air when Parker spoke those solemn words right next to her. Clutching her chest, she briefly closed her eyes before letting out a slow breath and asking, “How do you know?”
“Because no one in the neighborhood has an accent like that. At least I don’t think anyone does,” he added with a frown.
Pet hadn’t noticed an accent. It had only been two words for heaven’s sake. How had he picked up an accent in two words? She gave her head a slight shake. The kid was just . . . different. Super smart and different. Letting her hand drop from her chest she said, “Well, could it be a new neighbor then?”
“I guess,” Parker agreed dubiously.
“But,” Pet added, debating the matter aloud, “it’s hard to imagine Oksana mistaking a neighbor for someone committing a home invasion.”
Parker arched his eyebrows. “You heard the part about Mr. Purdy’s cat, right?”
Pet merely scowled and shifted her feet as she listened anxiously for Oksana to say something. When there was nothing but silence, she glanced to her phone and then hesitated. She didn’t want to call the police only to find out that it really was a new neighbor just checking on them. Sighing, she asked, “Do you have a phone in here?”