She shook her head. “Too tired.”

“All right.” Then he made his claim, unwilling to put it off any longer. “You need a mate.” He kissed her cheek, deciding this once and for all. “And a family. You’ll have both with me.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted.

He knew she would disagree with him for now, but he would sway her one way or another. She needed a family, a pack, him.

She said softly, tears glittering in her eyes, “You’ll vanish before we do it. That’s the way it always happens. A wolf promises me the moon, and then he disappears as if he didn’t have the courage to tell me to my face that it wouldn’t work out between us.”

His jaw dropped. He couldn’t conceal his surprise. She was agreeing to be his mate? He was expecting to work a lot harder at it than that. He was ready.

He had to be sure that she was.

He stood, then pulled her from her chair and into his arms, and hugged her with all his might, relieved as hell that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. At least he believed so. “Not this time, lass. You’re exhausted. I’ll take you up to your guest chamber. I’m not losing you again.”

The way her sweet body called to his, if she hadn’t been so fatigued, he knew they would do a hell of a lot more than talk. Just a touch and his pheromones were stirring, and so were hers, communicating with one another, saying it was way past time to get on with the more primal—and pleasurable—side of wolf business.

“Are you going to prove to me why I should mate you?” She looked at him with such a sweetly devilish look that he wondered if the wine was doing the talking. Yet the challenge was there again: Prove to me you truly want me. Make it happen.

He decided she was being wholly truthful with him, and he was going to ensure she agreed to a mating… when she was well rested in the morning.

He would prove to her that he meant what he said. He was no damned beta wolf. Nor was he an alpha like Rafferty. He would give her all that she deserved and more.

***

Unable to help herself, Elaine yawned, then smiled at Cearnach. She could tell he wasn’t sure if she was ready to be his. She wasn’t. Not until she was feeling more clearheaded. “Sorry.”

After that, no holds barred.

“You’re tired, lass. We’ll decide a course of action tomorrow, once you tell me more about this business transaction between you and your cousin Robert Kilpatrick.”

Hoping to come up with a solution for the situation with her cousins after she had a good night’s sleep and she could think more clearly, Elaine agreed.

Gallant man that he was, and without waiting for her to agree, Cearnach slipped his arms underneath Elaine and lifted her. She let out a little gasp of surprise. As wobbly as she felt from drinking too much wine, she didn’t think she could have stumbled all the way to the castle on her own two feet.

Having told Cearnach so much of her past, she felt drained. She didn’t feel cleansed, as she’d thought she might by finally telling him what had happened to her so long ago. She felt weary.

Some of the tiredness was due to the jet lag and the stress of the day; some of it was the wine. She couldn’t believe she wasn’t staying at the bed and breakfast owned by the Kilpatricks and instead was sleeping in a stone castle owned by an enemy clan.

Yet, Cearnach wasn’t the enemy. He was someone who cheered her even when the situation was dire, gave her hope so she felt she had a new lease on life. Odd thing, that. She hadn’t thought about Kelly for a long time now, but returning to Scotland had brought the memories all back.

She gave in to her fatigue and rested her head against Cearnach’s hard chest as he carried her back to the castle—her braw Highland warrior in a soft lamb’s wool sweater and jeans. She felt more than saw a few people stare in their direction as they entered the castle and made their way to the stairs.

Cearnach nodded at a knot of people seated next to the fire that she noticed out of her peripheral vision.

Was Ian there? His mother?

She had never been the focus of so much attention, and it was somewhat overwhelming. Yet on another level, she felt special.

“Sorry,” she said softly again, snuggling closer to Cearnach as he carried her through the castle.

“For what?” He kissed the top of her head and made his way up the stairs.

“For all the grief you’re going to get over having brought me here.”

“I’ve had worse, lass.”

She laughed at him. She had expected him to disagree.

He smiled down at her, but he didn’t say anything, and she let the issue go.

Cearnach carried Elaine into a guest bedchamber where clothes were stacked on top of a light oak dresser for her use. He set her on her feet, but she still felt a little shaky, gripping his arm to keep her balance. The immense bed sitting center stage immediately captured her attention. Surrounding the bed were heavy burgundy curtains made of velvet and embellished with swirls of gold thread. She walked over to the bed and ran her hand over the soft curtains.

Glancing back at him, she witnessed the curve to his mouth, one raised brow, and his arms folded across his broad chest as he watched her. The sweater was nice, but she kept thinking of his beautiful naked chest when he was wearing only a kilt, and she smiled warmly at the memory.

With such a predatory look on his face, was he envisioning her in the bed? Maybe with him in it while he lay beside her… or on top of her? She thought his smile was more wicked than sweet.

Her cheeks instantly blossomed with heat. “Thank you for everything, Cearnach.” She was drained of all energy after having run and swum as a wolf, not to mention fighting jet lag. She felt she could just as easily curl up on the lovely gold-and-burgundy Turkish hand-knotted rugs covering the floor and fall asleep.

At first Cearnach didn’t move. Then, as if he’d made up his mind about something, he closed the distance between them, and she knew he’d give her another kiss. She wasn’t sure she could handle another of his kisses while she was alone with him in a bedroom.

His large hands took hold of her shoulders, the heat seeping through her shirt, the power of his touch drugging her. He leaned down and said in a wickedly husky voice, “A kiss before you sleep to give you pleasant dreams. I promise you more tomorrow.”

He didn’t ask permission, although at this point, she wouldn’t let him get away before he fulfilled his promise.

He kissed her, leaning against her, sharing his heat and power and interest. His tongue plundered her like a pirate taking possession—and as she devoured him in the same way, she knew this exchange was taking another step closer to making their relationship something more. Permanent. Forever. Giving in to the lust, the sexiness, the wolfish fascination for another of her kind was something new for her.

She was already wet for him, her breasts heavy and achy for his touch, her nipples taut peaks of desire. Needy, craving his mouth, his fingers, his caress.

“I want you.” His voice was dark and fathomless, husky with craving.

Before she was ready to end the kiss or think of where this might lead, he hugged her tight—wrapping his muscled arms around her body, keeping her close as if she was the most precious thing to him—and rested his cheek on the top of her head. She loved the way his body surrounded her, wishing they could take this further.

Then he groaned.

A lusty groan of unfulfilled passion, of regrets and desires that she could so relate to. He was holding back.

Appreciating him and his family, loving that she’d have a chance to sleep in a medieval castle, she hugged him back. She felt the hardness of his erection pressed against her belly, knew he needed release as much as she did, knew he desired more. Yet despite knowing what a mistake that could be if they gave into their primal urges… she wasn’t ready to let him go. She wasn’t thinking clearly, either. She’d had too much wine.

Curbing her own wolfish needs, she finally said, “Good night, Highlander. Until tomorrow, then.”

He sighed deeply and looked into her eyes, his own simmering with lust.

“’Night, lass.” His voice was rough with restrained need. He kissed the top of her head, then moved away from her and winked before he shut the door. When he closed it on his departure, she suddenly felt bereft. She hadn’t realized how seeing a family, a working pack, would affect her. She’d always thought being part of a family was someone else’s dream. Not her own. Not since her parents and uncles had died.

She never felt that way about human families, considering them something different, alien to her. After the disaster with Kelly Rafferty, she’d struck out on her own, avoiding wolf packs wherever she went. What if she’d ended up in another abusive relationship?

Yet unexpectedly, she felt she was missing out after seeing the teasing between members of Cearnach’s clan, the anxiety on the brothers’ faces, the worry for Cearnach, and the concern for her. The gathering of the family to take her in, to counsel her about the apprehension they had about her dealings with her kin. Even his mother’s telling him he should mate Elaine. How Cearnach’s family had treated her like she was one of their pack, their clan.

She couldn’t help being surprised to be accepted into a wolf pack of perfect strangers, when in a human’s world she had kept herself apart. Friendly, but not too much so.

No matter how much she had behaved as a human among their kind, she was always well aware that she wasn’t one. That her senses were so much more attuned, that she could detect emotions and feelings just from their scents. That the wolfish side of her had to be controlled when she got angry, and she’d want to shift and show them her teeth.

That she had to run as a wolf from time to time, to enjoy nature as her other half. The halves were what made her whole—one didn’t exist without the other. She was wolf and human all in one. For the first time in a very long time, she enjoyed being with others of her kind who could understand just how she felt, who could look deep into her soul like she could into theirs. They were equals, not all that different from her.