I never thought I'd bind my fate to the daughter of my bloodiest foe. But clan oaths dragged us to that mist-veiled cairn, her wrists lashed to mine with a handfasting ribbon that burned hotter than any brand. She spat venom at me, all defiant fire and husky barbs, the kind that slice deep into a warrior's pride. I should have crushed her spirit for my kin's slaughtered dead. Instead, her glare hooked something feral in my chest, twisting hatred into a hunger I can't leash.

Every clash pulls us closer to ruin. Hidden passes become our battleground, where loathing shatters into skin-scorching clashes. She fights me with words like daggers, then yields in a sweat-slick tumble across a threadbare tapestry, my hands mapping the curves her clan swore I'd never touch. It's treason in every gasp, her body arching under mine like a bowstring snapped taut. I growl promises against her throat, half-threats of vengeance, half-vows no laird should utter. She's my enemy. My obsession. The one scar I ache to trace.

Peace hangs by our fragile truce, forged in rivers of rival blood. One wrong breath, and war devours us both - her unyielding pride first, then my honor, then whatever twisted trust we've clawed from the hate. I linger over that fallen ribbon in hearth-glow, fingers brushing silk stained with our sweat, wondering if I'll claim her soul before the clans claim our heads.

Or if she'll be the blade that finally fells me.

A full-length Highlander Enemies-to-Lovers Marriage-of-Convenience erotic romance featuring a gruff warrior laird and his defiant enemy bride.