“Well then, I will be there to guide ye. If ye need help.”
“Is that allowed?” she asked, wide-eyed.
“Perhaps nae, but they would make an exception for me,” he said with a cocky smirk.
“Well, congratulations once again,” she said, taking his proffered arm to return to the arena.
When they got there, many other women had already taken their places.
She immediately went to take her place, taking slow breaths to calm herself. Then the bell rang, and the game began.
The first woman gripped the hammer and let the head flip around her head before letting go. The hammer traveled a distance, spinning before it stopped. The crowd roared with joy.
Violet felt scared. While Ruaridh had provided a smaller hammer for her, she did not trust that she could spin it without taking her own head off. But she had vowed to participate, so she had to keep her promise.
The last week had been chaos, a mix of pain and happiness as Ruaridh trained Violet. It had been a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, he had an excuse to have her delectable body in his arms. On the other hand, he suffered as he fought to suppress his body’s response to hers.
On many occasions, he had felt the very strong urge to kiss her, except that with the desire that was flaring between them, he did not think he had the control to stop if he gave in.
So, he had come up with the idea to invite Sienna and Keira to serve as chaperones. Not that it helped much. At least their presence stopped him when the urge to make love to her became so unbearable that he shook with it.
But while it helped in the daytime, it did nothing for the sensual dreams he had of her, the ones that had him waking up in a pool of sweat and a raging erection, fighting hard to remind himself of the reasons why he could not creep into her room, seduce and take her until it soothed the ache in his loins.
Except that he knew that one night would not be enough. Touching her the last time had been a mistake that had become fuel for his fantasies. Making love to her would just make it that much more difficult to stay away from her.
So he did the next best thing: he trained every day until he neared exhaustion.
Everyone thought it was dedication to his craft, but he knew better. He was battling lust, plain and simple. At least, when he was so exhausted, he was more likely to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Eventually, the training has paid off with his performance in the caber toss, but even in the midst of the celebration, his eyes still sought her, wanted her to see him, to be proud of him. So when he saw her smiling widely at him and clapping excitedly, his happiness felt complete.
Now, he had to help her perform well, then they could call it a day, and he could go back to planning his wedding.
His wedding.
That was all that made this bearable. Soon, he would have this woman as his wife. She would be his to protect, his to love and make love to. He might finally be able to give in to the desires that rode him without mercy.
Violet took the hammer and widened her stance.
Good. She remembered their lessons. But her grip on the hammer was too tight, so he stepped forward, his arms guiding her.
“Loosen your grip,” he whispered in her ear, doing his best not to get distracted by her intoxicating scent. He adjusted her hands on the hammer before letting go. “Do it as we practiced. Ye will be fine.”
She nodded, looking up at him with a smile of gratitude, her face a little flushed.
She was beautiful at that moment, and she certainly was not immune to him. He had always known that, but it never ceased to please him whenever he confirmed it.
He could not believe she was going to be his. He could not wait for the Highland games to come to an end so that he could have her all to himself.
Even though the Highlands came together in harmony on days like this, he was not unaware that there were lairds who hated him and were willing to attack him with whatever they perceived to be his weakness.
His family and his daughter had always been his weakness, and more often than not, he did all he could to ensure they couldn’t take any of them to spite him. He suspected that one of his enemies would attempt to do the same with Violet.
At that moment, it became clear to him that he might not be levelheaded if she was hurt because of him. She had become the most tender of his weaknesses, and he suspected that losing her would break him in ways he had never imagined.
He loved her.
That realization came with fear, because even though he liked to believe himself strong, he had never been able to protect anyone properly, and he was bringing her into his life, into the danger he constantly lived in.
