For a moment Annie glared at him and then she slashed out. He blocked the move, caught her wrist again, spinning her around, careful not to apply real pressure as he brought her arm behind her. Once again, she was pressed against him. He felt her chest heave. It took every ounce of his willpower not to let the arm encircling her waist creep upward. Damnation. Every time he touched her—
“Ouch!” Niall dropped his hands as he hopped on one foot. Annie had brought her heel down—hard—on his other one.
Annie stepped away, looking a bit triumphant. “I did say I could defend myself.”
“Aye.” Niall put his foot down gingerly, grateful she hadn’t gone for another part of his anatomy. “Well done.”
She worried her lip. “I dinnae hurt ye, did I?”
“Doona fash about hurting your opponent, lass. ’Tis what ye are supposed to do.”
“But I…we…are nae really opponents. I doona want to harm—”
“That kind of thinking can get ye hurt or killed,” Niall said. “If ye are attacked, ye doona have time to think of what the cur’s intentions are. Assume the worst.”
Annie’s eyes widened. “I…hadn’t thought…”
“Exactly,” Niall replied. “Ye need to react quickly, as if ’tis second nature.”
“I am nae a fighter,” Annie said.
“Ye are more fighter than ye think,” Niall answered, “but men will nae be expecting ye to have the skills.” He picked up the stick from where it had dropped. “Now let me show ye the way to thr-, toholdthe knife so ye can do the most damage in the least amount of time.” When she looked doubtful, he added, “The idea is to get away, nae stay and engage.”
Annie looked at the proffered stick, but she didn’t take it. “I am nae sure—”
“Ye have to decide, lass.” Niall grinned. “If ye would rather I increase my presence at your side, I can do that.”
Annie frowned and grabbed the stick.
****
“How many more of them are there?” Kiara asked the next morning as the club gathered outside the cathedral. They’d waited for the church service to begin, since they had nointention of entering, but Annie knew Kiara wasn’t referring to any of the parishioners.
She was referring to the three Highlanders who stood a few yards behind them. Aidan had joined Niall and Owen, all three of them in tartans and armed to the teeth. Annie wouldn’t have been surprised to see Niall wearing the huge claymore that Alasdair had left behind, not that he needed a weapon that would mow down men like a scythe to wheat. This was a Sunday morning in a civilized city, after all.
“Niall says he has seven more brothers at home,” Annie said.
“Mercy,” Kiara answered. “Are they all good-looking?”
“I doona ken. I’ve nae seen them.”
“’Tis a good possibility though,” Nairna said and giggled. “I mean, they all have black hair. Alasdair had green eyes, Niall has gray, and Aidan’s are somewhere in between.”
Kiara giggled too. “And Owen’s are dark as the devil’s.”
Annie glanced at both twins. “Ye seem to have spent a lot of time looking at them.”
“Och, aye. Who would nae?” Kiara asked. “They are all well formed.”
“A fact, for sure, given we can see their muscular legs,” Nairna added, unabashed.
“She does have a point,” Inis said, coming up to them. “I rather feel like Gwinevere, surrounded by knights of the Round Table.”
Fenella, standing with the rest of the group slightly to their left, gave an unladylike snort. “What silly romantic notions ye have. We are nae damsels in distress.”
“She is right,” Aileen said. “We should nae be dependent on men to take care of us.”
“Still.” Inis shrugged. “It does nae hurt to have a bit of protection after what happened Monday night.”
