A Taste of Sin Read Online Free PDF Page A

on her plan from the beginning, though she had serious misgivings.
    “Come to my room, Margot. I’ll tell you about this evening while you help me undress.”
    Margot followed Christy into her room, her eyes wide with curiosity. “Does Lord Derby live up to his reputation?”
    “Every bit and more,” came Christy’s muffled reply as Margot lifted the dress over her head. “He didn’t know who I was, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
    “Did ye speak to him? Did he seem interested in ye?”
    “More interested than I could have hoped for. Oh, Margot, he’s every bit as handsome as we heard. I remembered so little about him except for his dark eyes. Those I will never forget.”
    “I recall that ye kicked him during the wedding ceremony and stuck out yer tongue at him. And at the dinner following the ceremony, ye refused to sit beside him. Ye called him a murdering English-Christy groaned. She had forgotten that part. No wonder he’d never returned to Scotland to consummate their marriage.
    “Sinjun actually pursued me tonight,” Christy confided as she climbed into bed. “I suppose it was because I was a new face, someone ripe for seduction.”
    “Did he believe yer lies?”
    Christy nodded solemnly. “I have every reason to believe he did.”
    “So, when does it happen?” Margot asked sourly. “He wants to see ye again, doesn’t he?”
    Christy flushed, unable to conceal the tide of emotions racing through her at the thought of what would happen between her and Sinjun tomorrow night.
    “He’s coming here. Tomorrow night. Aye, he wants to see me again. He’s a creature driven by lust. A hedonist who lives for pleasure. Everything we heard about him pales in comparison to the man himself.”
    “Are ye sure this is what ye want?” Margot asked uncertainly. “ Tis not too late to hie ourselves back to Glenmoor.”
    Christy shook her head, sending a wealth of rich copper curls swirling about her head. “Nay. Tis far too late to turn back now. Would you have me wed Calum Cameron?”
    Margot blanched. “Nay, I would not.”
    “If I petitioned the English courts for an annulment, they might deny my request. I’m not even sure Sinjun would let our marriage end, for he seems to enjoy his marriage of convenience.”
    “Oh, aye,” Margot said with a hint of sarcasm. “And he grows rich from our sweat.”
    “An absentee husband is better than a husband who would rule me with an iron hand. At least Sinjun ignores me and allows me to do as I please.”
    “What about love, Christy? What if ye find someone to love?”
    The glow seemed to leave Christy’s face. “Love. I know not the meaning of the word. Tis unlikely I’ll find love at Glenmoor, and I wouldn’t have another Englishman on a silver platter.”
    “So that’s it then,” Margot said, apparently unconvinced that Christy’s course was the right one.
    “Aye. My marriage will finally be consummated, and no one, not even Calum, can argue the fact when I return with Sinjun’s bairn in my belly.”
    “So be it,” Margot said as she let herself out of the chamber.
    Christy’s bravado departed with Margot. Though she had gone over this countless times in the past months, she still wasn’t convinced she was doing the right thing. It wasn’t as if she were committing a sin, for Sinjun was her legal husband despite the fact that there had been no bedding. The bedding would make it legal and binding. And Glenmoor needed a Macdonald heir.
    Those thoughts led her into dangerous territory. To thoughts of Sinjun, and what would happen tomorrow night. That remorseless rake had made no secret of the fact that he wanted her, that he would pursue her until he had what he wanted from her body.
    Sinjun’s kiss had been her first, and she couldn’t deny that she’d liked it. Too much, maybe. She’d had to remind herself that he was English, that the English had murdered her father and brothers and stolen her land. Christy’s unrelenting fear was