The Highlander’s Demand
Page 27
Besides, there was no way her husband would allow her to. Or any of his Retainers. The Mackenzie had taken to following her everywhere. When she glared at them, they grinned and refused to disperse. One little frown on her face was cause for Fenella to come in a hurry to make sure nothing was wrong.
Buchanan was suddenly beside her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.
“He will come,” he spoke softly.
“Ye cannot be so certain.”
Buchanan gently raised her chin. “Since I allowed Cora to go and be yer brother’s guest while Colum is in my stronghold, yer father had better appear.”
Rhedyn gasped. “Ye allowed Cora to go to Lindsey land?”
Buchanan wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Well now, it was Cora’s suggestion. And it’s the truth I thought I should agree before she took it into her head to go without me permission.”
Rhedyn sent her husband a knowing look. “Yer sister is unbridled.”
“Aye,” Buchanan agreed. “But I have no desire to break her.” He tapped her on the tip of her nose. “Nor do ye, wife. I have a deep affection for yer willfulness in choosing me as yer husband, so I cannot tell me sister to be any different than ye are.”
One of the Retainers up on the walls started to ring a bell. The sound announced the approach of riders. Rhedyn hurried out onto the top step of the great hall doorway. The sound of horses made her clasp her hands together in glee.
Buchanan watched it all from a few paces behind his wife. Everything he’d ever been taught pointed at their union being doomed to fail. Doing wrong shouldn’t have produced such joy.
And yet, it had.
He soaked up the sight of Colum Lindsey riding through the gates of the Mackenzie castle.
Aye, somehow, joy had risen from misdeeds.
He was properly grateful.
*
“Ye are Buchanan’s sister?”
Cora turned and contemplated Vychan Lindsey. He was huge. She was considered tall for a female, but Vychan still topped her by a full head.
“I am,” she answered.
Vychan’s hard gaze swept her from head to toe. “And yer brother sent ye here as a hostage?”
Cora refused to be intimidated. “I suggested it.” She moved to a chair and sat down. “I did not want my sister-in-law to be disappointed. Rhedyn misses her father.”
Vychan chuckled. “Ye are everything the rumors claim ye are, mistress.” He stopped at a small table. Several bottles of different liquors sat on it. He placed his hand on the French wine.
Cora shook her head.
It earned her a half-grin from her host.
His hand moved onto the whiskey.
She rewarded him with a smile.
“Precisely as the rumors say,” Vychan said as he poured her a double measure of the strong liquor.
“Ye are well informed,” Cora remarked as she took the glass from him and inhaled the aroma of the brew.
Vychan didn’t sit in the chair facing hers. He leaned against the wall. Cora sipped at the whiskey and didn’t squirm. She wasn’t going to allow him to rattle her. The man was curious. So, let him look his fill. The gossips did like to talk about her. She didn’t fit into their idea of what a well-behaved girl should.
But then again, it seemed there were plenty of good girls striving to perform to the standards of those same gossips and yet, the tongues wagged away.
What was the point of attempting to embody the ideas of someone else? Cora was herself. To apologize for it seemed a greater sin.
Vychan’s eyes narrowed before he moved forward and sat down. He raised a toast to her before they drank in silence. A sense of ease filled the room. Neither of them felt the need to impress one another which had resulted in both of them succeeding in doing precisely that. Without posturing or grand words.
Cora placed her empty glass on the side table. “So, what will ye do with me Vychan Lindsey?”
He sat his empty glass down as well. “Truth to tell, I’d planned to send ye off to sit with Bree.”
She sat forward. “And now?”
“I’m half afeared ye’ll teach her tricks to use against me if I force ye to sit out the next few days learning stitchery and bread turning.”
“And the gossips said ye were no’ a very sharp-witted man.”
Vychan grunted. “Ye’re unbridled and good at it. God help the man who falls for ye, lass.”
Cora fluttered her eyelashes. “They can fall all they like, but I am not the wife sort of woman.”
And part of her didn’t care for the truth of the matter.
Still, no one had everything. Some girls were fair and others were clever. She? Well Cora was restless. She felt like her spirit was forever attempting to catch the wind. Like a ship as it unfurled its sails. As the wind caught in the canvas, the first jerk forward was marked by creaks in the wood of the masts. In that moment, there was always the possibility that the mast would snap and the ship would be left floating with no way to join the wind, just a wounded creature waiting for its death.
But while the mast held, the wind would carry the vessel far and wide, to places of enchantment and mystery. It was a gamble. A bet against the hand of fate. And she seemed to have been born for it. So, she would live it. And be true to herself.
About the Author
Mary Wine has written over twenty novels that take her readers from the pages of history to the far reaches of space. Recent winner of a 2008 EPPIE Award for erotic western romance, her book LET ME LOVE YOU was quoted “Not to be missed…” by Lora Leigh, New York Times best-selling author.
When she’s not abusing a laptop, she spends time with her sewing machines…all of them! Making historical garments is her second passion. From corsets and knickers to court dresses of Elizabeth I, the most expensive clothes she owns are hundreds of years out of date. She’s also an active student of martial arts, having earned the rank of second degree black belt.