Hearts of Highland Fire

Chapter 8

8

He was dancing with Gretna. Remy placed his hands on her slim waist and lifted her into the air, watching as her eyes lit with excitement before he settled her on her feet.

“How’s that for dancing?” he taunted, falling back into the step of the dance.

“Not bad,” she answered, a teasing smile on her face. “But tis one move, Remy Wallace. I donna know if ye can handle the rest.”

Oh, he could, very much so. Dancing was something that he had learned at a young age, a means to get the lasses to let him come near them. There was nothing more successful to have a lass allow him to pull her onto the dance floor, knowing he could woo her into his bed before the end of a song.

Of course, that wasn’t what he was trying to do with Gretna. In all fairness, she had asked him to dance, and whatever her motive behind doing so, he didn’t care.

She was letting him touch her with his worn, calloused hands. She was smiling at him and not that arse of a Scot that thought he could handle someone as fiery as Gretna Wallace. It had taken all that Remy had not to storm over there the first time James McCellan had touched Gretna, wanting to caution him about taking such liberties with a laird’s sister.

It had been the look on Gretna’s face that had stopped him, remembering what Ian had told Remy about his sister.

“She wants love,” he had said with a laugh. “Love! If mah sister is not careful, love will have her living in a hovel somewhere with a Scot that canna provide for her.”

Gretna, in Remy’s eyes, deserved a fine keep such as this. She deserved to have the title of Lady and nothing less.

But love? Remy didn’t see the art of love on McCellan’s face.

“Remy?”

Realizing he had been lost in his thoughts, Remy winked at Gretna. “Sorry, lass. I got caught up in the music.” He knew he hadn’t missed a step. He could dance the steps in his sleep.

She eyed him suspiciously but he just swung her around with the other dancers until she was laughing once more. Her laugh. It could take the breath out of him in an instant, make him fall to his knees with want to hear it again.

It could destroy him. “Could ye be happy here, lass?” he asked once they were pulled back together, mere inches from each other.

She searched his eyes. “Why do ye ask?”

“Humor mah,” he told her, giving her a fake grin. Inside, he was miserable to hear what she would say and knew it would affect him.

Gretna looked over his shoulder, her lips pressed together. “I donna know. Tis everything I want.”

An honest answer. Remy gritted his teeth together and swung her around for a final time, knowing that their dance was drawing to a close. “Wot keeps ye from saying yes, lass?”

She snapped her eyes back to his and he saw something he hadn’t anticipated; warring emotion in their depths. If she told him, what could he do? What would he say?

Finally, Gretna opened her mouth and Remy braced himself for her answer. “I donna know him, tis all.”

Remy narrowed his eyes, letting his true emotions bleed through the facade. “Tis not the answer I would have thought ye would have given.”

Her eyes flashed with fire and Remy felt it clear to his soul. “Wot do ye want from mah, Remy?”

What did he want from her? Remy wasn’t sure, but she felt right in his arms. He felt like she belonged to him and it terrified him. Could he stand aside and watch her take her vows with McCellan?

He would have to but, right now, she was in his arms and that was all that mattered. Remy pulled her closer to him, seeing the widening of her eyes. This wasn’t part of the dance, but he didn’t bloody care. “I donna wish tae fight with ye,” he told her, reaching out to tuck a stray curl behind her ear, his fingers brushing over the delicate shell. She shivered and a bolt of lust shot through him at what else he could get her to do under his touch.

She peered up at him. “Then wot do ye want, Remy Wallace?”

He couldn’t tell her. His throat suddenly went dry, the words stuck in his throat. He knew what he wanted and she was right in front of him, in his arms. He could easily sway her to his bed, but Gretna wasn’t an ordinary lass.

She was extraordinary and deserved far better than the likes of him in her bed, taking her innocence and ruining her chances at what she wanted in life, at finding the happiness and love she desperately craved for.

The song ended with a mournful sound and Remy pulled himself together, stepping back before they were seen as such.

“Wot I want,” he told her, “doesna matter, lass. Yer happiness is all that matters in this life.”

It was the truth. If she wasn’t happy here, he would take her away and face the wrath of the McCellan clan and Ian later. He knew that her brother would want her happiness as well. He would never force his sisters to wed anyone they didn’t wish to, which was why Gretna had still remained unwed.

Her lips parted. “Remy.”

“Gretna!”

They both turned to find James standing before them, his hands clasped behind his back. “There ye are. I’m glad ye decided tae rejoin the feast. It would have been lonely without ye.” He looked at Remy. “Ye are dismissed.”

Remy clenched his hands into fists and forced himself to step away from the couple, knowing that Gretna would be appalled if he started something on this night with her suitor. “Good evening.”

Gretna just dipped her head and Remy walked off, heading directly for some whiskey. He was going to need something strong to get through the rest of the evening.

It wasn’t long before he felt a touch on his shoulder, turning to find a buxom redhead standing next to him. “Yer with the Wallace lass, arena ye?”

He downed another whiskey before setting his glass on the table. “Aye.”

She gave him a saucy smile, her fingers brushing down the length of his arm. “I dinna know that ye were so handsome. Care tae dance?”

Remy looked out onto the dance floor, seeing Gretna in the arms of James, her attention on him. The old Remy would have suggested something more, like a visit to a shadowy alcove where he could draw out a husky laugh from his partner. He enjoyed pleasuring his partners, hearing their breathy sighs and his name on their lips.

“Aye,” he finally said, tearing his eyes away from Gretna and back to the lass. “A dance would be fine with mah.”

She held out her hand and led him out amongst the others, staking her claim on him as others watched.

Remy didn’t even bother to see if Gretna saw the dance or the ones thereafter.