Susana and the Scot Read Free

cow.
    â€œSo you think to steal cattle from Reay?” Andrew hissed into the thief’s ear.
    The boy turned and stared at him over his shoulder. They were face-to-face. Close. Their gazes locked and something snaked through him. Andrew wasn’t sure what it was, and there was no time to interpret it … because all of a sudden, pain sliced through him as the villain’s sharp teeth bit into his palm. At the same time, the boy gored him with a pointy elbow. Andrew, perforce, released him.
    The boy spun around and his hood fell. A shock of burnished red hair tumbled out in a shimmering fall.
    Andrew froze as a chilling realization washed through him.
    The thief wasn’t a boy. It was a woman.
    And holy hell … what a woman.
    That red hair, flittering in the breeze? That soft body writhing against his? The burn of her glare? And aye. That feeling? The one that had flickered by too quickly for him to capture it?
    Arousal.
    It had been a long time since he’d felt it, far too long, but he should have known. He should have known she was a woman. The moment he spotted her. The second he touched her.
    Certainly when she’d shorn off a lock of his hair.
    A man would never have done something so vindictive. A man would have simply skewered him.
    But vindictive or not, she was magnificent.
    It occurred to him, it was a damn shame he’d just sworn off casual flirtations, because this armful of curves was—
    She hauled off and smacked him.
    It barely registered because she was such a tiny thing, and because he was so befuddled. But he noticed at least.
    â€œYou idiot!” she howled. “You buffoon. You brute! Look what you’ve done!” She stormed over to the shards of her bow and gathered them up.
    There was no reason for him to grin, faced with her wrath as he was, but he did.
    It irritated her more. She smacked him with the bow as well. Or what was left of it. “This was my favorite!”
    â€œYour favorite bow?”
    She gored him with a furious glare. “What the hell are you doing here?”
    â€œIsn’t it obvious?”
    She crossed her arms. “Not precisely.”
    â€œProtecting Reay cattle from thieves.”
    Her expression soured. “Really?”
    â€œAye.”
    â€œYou’re not doing a very good job at it.”
    â€œI caught you.”
    She leaned in, her expression fierce. “What on earth made you think I was a cattle thief?”
    â€œYou came barreling out of the woods, alone, brandishing a weapon on an unarmed farmer—”
    â€œHe wasna unarmed. And he wasna a farmer. That man has been stealing our cattle for weeks—”
    Andrew gulped and set his teeth. “It was only natural to assume you were stealing the cow.”
    â€œHow can I steal my own cow?”
    â€œ Your cow?”
    â€œOf course it’s my cow, you dolt.”
    â€œThe cow belongs to Magnus Dounreay.”
    She growled at him. Growled. “I am his daughter.”
    Andrew froze. Fook. This was Hannah’s sister? But then, now that she mentioned it, there was a haunting familiarity about her. Hannah had the same frown. He was certain of it. He’d seen it often enough.
    â€œWe’ve been tracking the thief for days.” She glanced over at the spot where the farmer had been. “And look what you’ve done. After all that work finding the blighter, you let him go.”
    â€œHe left the cow,” Andrew offered.
    It didn’t help.
    She poked him with a sharp finger. He felt it, even through his leather breastplate. “You, sir, are a nuisance. Keep away from me.”
    Keep away from her? Not a chance. In fact, all of a sudden his assignment in Reay looked all the more intriguing. Andrew tipped his head to the side and grinned at her. “I canna do that,” he said.
    â€œAnd why not?”
    He waved at the troop of men just joining Hamish on the crest of the hill. “Because we’ve been