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“Perchance I did nae wish ye to do that. Did ye nae consider asking first?” she demanded.
He grinned. “Nay. I’ve nae ever met a lass who complains when I kiss or touch her.”
Sorcha gaped at Broch for a moment. “Are all MacLeod men this arrogant?”
Broch cocked his head and scratched at his beard for a moment. “Only those of us who ken we are great warriors and nae too terrible to look upon.” He winked at her, and she could not help but laugh, to which he responded by kissing her hand again.
This time, she jerked her hand away and gave him a stern look. “Dunnae kiss my hand again!” she insisted.
He frowned, looking so truly perplexed that she almost laughed again, but she held it in, not wishing to give him any reason to try to kiss her once more.
“Am I nae pleasing to look upon to ye?” he asked.
“Ye’re made less pleasing by yer boastful nature,” she chided.
He threw his head back and laughed, and when his laughter died, he kissed her on the cheek before she even realized what he was going to do.
She placed her palm against his chest to stop him from kissing her again. “I dunnae wish ye to kiss me, Broch. I dunnae mean to be hurtful, but I—It’s just—”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Ye’re a lady?”
“I may nae be,” she grumbled, irked that she could not remember. “I honestly kinnae say for certain.”
He grinned at her. “Ye seem quite the lady to me, and it makes me want to kiss ye more.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a staying hand. “I’ll nae tonight, but I will nae vow that I won’t try to sway ye to let me kiss ye again in the future.”
She shook her head in dismay. She could not very well tell him that she feared her interest was stuck upon Cameron, and she was glad she did not have to, because the truth would suffice just fine. “The king has designs for me, remember.”
“Aye, if ye be of worthy stock and unmarried he intends to either marry ye or sell ye.”
“I told ye nae to tell me,” she whispered as her heart squeezed with worry over her worsts fears being confirmed and ones she had not imagined being announced.
He shrugged. “Ye did, and I ken ye were trying in yer way to protect me, which pleases me mightily.”
“I would have done that for any honorable man,” she said emphatically, her thoughts whirling around what she had just learned. She had suspected marriage might be on the king’s mind. She may not have her memories, but she didn’t need them to know men used women for their own gain. But to sell her? She inhaled a shaky breath. “Do ye ken when this is to occur?”
“I suspect soon. Cameron’s needing ye for information secured ye some time, but as soon as ye remember yer past…”
“The king will marry me or sell me according to what I remember?” she asked, her tone as shaky as her body.
“Aye,” he replied, his mouth thinning into a grim line. “If ye be a traitor, he’ll sell ye to the worst possible sort of man.”
Her scalp prickled at Broch’s words.
“But if ye be an ally,” he went on, “he’ll reward ye by using ye in marriage.”
“Aye, ’tis quite the reward,” she growled. “Dunnae he care if I am innocent for this marriage? Perchance I’m nae,” she muttered, bitterness edging her tone.
Broch sighed as he shook his head. “Yer innocence will nae matter to any man the king would give ye to,” he said gently. “Though I’m certain the king will wish to ken if ye are innocent or nae. If ye’re nae, a simple reward of land to make up for yer coming to the marriage without yer innocence will do for most men when they look upon yer beauty.”
Broch’s words infuriated her. She was not angry at him, but furious that women were used so. “Ye men seem to think that women should have as much choice in their future as a newborn bairn does,” she bit out.
Broch smiled gently down at her. “Nae me. I believe women should have choices. If ye wish to join with a man ye desire before ye are married or sold to a man ye dunnae want, I’m happy to oblige ye,” he offered with a grin.
It was hard to get cross with a man who was grinning so happily at her. But that did not mean she didn’t need him to understand her. “I dunnae believe I’ll accept that offer, but I thank ye.”
“Ye’re certain?” he asked, his grin still on his face. “The king will likely wed ye to some crotchety clot-heid, nae a warrior.” Broch cocked his eyebrows at her again, and she did laugh then.
“Ye dunnae relent do ye?”
