Bride of the Black Scot Read Online Free PDF Page B

learned man . She prayed her
betrothed was such as well. “You read Shakespeare?” she asked.
    “I have been known to indulge. But we are not talking about
me,” he said. “Are you trying to tell me that your father allowed the king to
use you as a pawn simply so your sisters could wed?”
    She nodded. “Yes, I suppose I am, although it sounds far
more cruel when you say it that way.”
    “It is cruel,” he said. “Why did he not simply find you a
suitor in England? You are no great beauty, but you are comely enough to find a
husband.”
    She smiled inwardly. If he thought to provoke her by baiting
her with a comment about her plain looks…well, she was not so vain as to fall
for that old trick. “It is true that I am not the beauty some of my sisters
are,” she said with forced sweetness, “but I had enough good qualities to
attract many offers.”
    “And a large dowry?”
    “It is true that my dowry is large, but according to my
father, it was my intelligence and wit that drew the offers. At most of the
gatherings I would find myself surrounded by men, while many women more
beautiful than I were left alone. I never understood why, but for some strange
reason men seemed to find it challenging to carry on a discussion with me.” She
looked up at him with an impish grin. “Perhaps it was because I am a worthy
opponent in chess. Do you play, m’lord?”
    “Aye.”
    “Then we must have a game sometime.”
    “I have a feeling you would beat me.”
    “I would try,” she said, looking up at him and smiling. For
a moment she thought he might smile in return, but he curbed the inclination,
keeping the discussion on the target he had set earlier: herself.
    “If you had many suitors, why would your father marry you to
a Scot? Surely he knows we are no verra fond of the English?”
    No verra fond… I do love the way he speaks. Faith! I
think I am beginning to love everything about him… Danger… Danger… Danger…
    She ignored her own inner warnings. “I fear I was too particular.
Each time the king suggested a suitor to my father and the poor man came to
call, I found him not to my liking and my father sent him away.”
    “Your father is very indulgent of you, I take it.”
    “Yes, he is. Of course he would like my sisters and myself
to think him gruff and stern, but in truth, he is the kindest of fathers. He
would sooner lop off his own hand than cause one of us grief.”
    “And because of your ease in manipulating your father, the
king became annoyed with you, so he banished you to Scotland.”
    “He made it sound as if he were doing me a great honor,” she
said, turning her head to look at her companion but seeing only the square
thrust of his chin.
    “It is the way of kings.” Stephen looked down at her, and
for a moment he studied her face. He was so close she could feel the moist heat
of his breath, a warm caress against her cheek. For a time she simply stared at
him, her gaze fastened upon his full, sensuous lips. She could not help
wondering what it would be like to kiss him. She could not help herself. She
was attracted to him, and despite the way he acted, she knew he was attracted
to her as well.
    “You talk overmuch.”
    “I know, but there doesn’t seem to be anything else to do,
save look at the backside of Angus’s horse.”
    She heard his soft chuckle. Looking up, she saw the
expression in his eyes and recognized his intention, just as his head came
toward her. Her breath quickened. There were a dozen things she could have,
should have done to dissuade him, but all she did was make a small noise deep
in her throat before her eyes drifted closed. His lips touched hers softly,
then withdrew. It was not a kiss of passion, but merely one of inquiry. When
she did not turn away, he lowered his head again. This time, he kissed her with
slow, lingering thoroughness, tracing her lips with his tongue, then drawing
her lower lip inside his mouth. The sensation made her gasp and she had to