Page 351 of Wicked Highland Heroes

He leaned into her, his breath fanning the tips of her eyebrows. “Making ye naught but a prisoner?” His voice had grown husky, and his next words were a low whisper, “’Tis war, then?”

“War?”

“Aye, you think to make war with me?” His quiet laughter filled the space between them. “Beware, lassie, it is a fine line between love and hate.”

Victoria shuddered when his arms went around her back and he folded her close.

“Perhaps you do not know one from the other,” he said.

She thought she had forgotten the feel of him, but his lips touched hers and memories rose in greedy haste to the surface. The day at the abbey, his rough handling of her, the night the Fraser men arrived in their camp, and the gentle way he held her after their assault, all mingled now in his embrace.

An unexpected groan from him parted her lips in surprise. Iain wasted no time in exploring her mouth with his tongue. He searched with a slow and thoughtful familiarity that almost buckled her knees. Her fingers curled into the hard muscle of his shoulders as his hands slid down, grasped her buttocks, and pressed her in a circular motion against him. When Victoria sucked in a breath at feel of his arousal, he repeated the motion again and again…and again. His mouth at last broke free of her lips and found her ear.

“Can Johannas do that for you?”

The whispered question broke the spell. Victoria jerked as far away as his grasp would allow. His expression was masked by the shadows, but his heavy breathing gave evidence that he was no less affected than she. Flattening her palms against his chest, she shoved hard. To her surprise, he released her. She whirled in the direction of her cottage.

Iain caught her by the arm. “Nay.” He pulled her through the darkness. “I will no’ leave you to learn this lesson at the hands of another man.”

Victoria’s efforts to free herself became a wobbly walk along the path, and she realized he wasn’t as composed as usual. Upon their arrival at the cottage, he pushed open the door and spun her around to face him.

“Lock this door and do not come out until morning.” He kissed her hard, then shoved her inside. Iain stepped forward and halted in the doorway. Light from sconces on neighboring cottages glinted in his eyes. He reached in and grabbed the door. “And for Christ’s sake, do not open the damn thing for anyone—least of all me.”

Iain yanked it shut. She stared for a heartbeat, then rushed forward to slide the bolt into place.