Caelen's Wife: Book One - A Murmur of Providence (Clan McDunnah Series 1) Read Online Free PDF

urge to smile.
    Thatgot their attention.
    “Fi!” Brodie chastised.
    “What the bloody hell?” Kenneth shouted as he stared at the dirk and cloth. “Ye could have bloody well killed me!” he said as he glared down at her.
    Fiona shook her head and rolled her eyes. “If I wanted ye dead ye’d be dead.”
    “Ye promised not to draw arms!” Brodie growled at her.
    “I didn’t draw arms,” she told him, giving her still sheathed sword a pat on the hilt. “But I did draw their attention.”
    Brodie sighed and shook his head.
    Caelen and Kenneth stared at her in wide-eyed astonishment.
    “Now,” Fiona said as she looked directly into Caelen McDunnah’s bloodshot eyes. “Back to the matter at hand.”
    She nodded toward the dirk and cloth. “I believe the evidence is right there. A McDunnah dirk and a bit of McDunnah plaid. ’Twas dropped in a struggle between one of me men and one of yers, whilst yer men were stealin’ me sheep.”
    Caelen swallowed his anger before turning to the dirk. It took both his hands to remove it from the mantel. With a furrowed brow, he studied the two items closely.
    “That dirk has a McDunnah crest on it,” Fiona stated firmly. “Do all yer men carry such a dirk, or just a few?”
    Kenneth took the dirk from Caelen’s hand. “That be one of ours, fer certain.”
    “I thank ye kindly for admittin’ such,” Fiona said. “I’ll go retrieve me sheep now.”
    “Wait,” Caelen said. “This proves nothing.”
    “I think it proves that at least one of yer men were amongst the five that stole seventeen of me sheep last night. And that bit of plaid is more evidence. ’Twas pulled off when me man was attacked.”
    Caelen remained silent, his face unreadable.
    “We’ve come here this day to get our sheep back, McDunnah. And to let ye know that I’ll not yield to yer scare tactics. Ye canna frighten me into marryin’ ye.”

    T he pounding in his head had begun to dull to a tolerable ache until she threw the dirk.
    The woman standing before him, wearing mail and leather, was fascinating and more than a bit frustrating. There was something about her countenance, and those green eyes that sparkled with nearly perfect hidden anger, that intrigued him.
    When she threw the dirk and claimed Kenneth would be dead if she truly wanted him dead, something began to happen to Caelen McDunnah. Something that hadn’t happened in a good number of years. His manhood woke up in the blink of an eye.
    Now, ’twasn’t as though he were impotent. He was far from that. He had no problem in that regard. He had bedded plenty of women over the years.
    ’Twas just the fact that he hadn’t felt an instantarousal since he was a young lad.
    No woman since his beloved Fiona had affected him like this. And there had been manywomen over the years.
    He began to question his sanity, cursed his male member to bloody yield before anyone in the near vicinity took notice.
    The male member in question shriveled up and yielded to his good sense the moment Fiona said, Ye canna frighten me into marryin’ ye.
    The suggestion of marriage was like icy water to his ardor.
    It took a few moments for him to find his voice. “I have no’ asked fer yer hand,” he told her.
    Fiona cocked her head to one side. From the expression on her face, he could see she thought him daft. Mayhap he was.
    “Then whydid ye steal me sheep?”
    “I didna steal yer sheep and I do no’ appreciate bein’ accused of such.”
    Fiona took a step forward, her hand going to the hilt of her sword. The sparkle in her eyes seemed to grow. His male member started to wake again.
    “The evidence points to ye, or yer men.” Her voice was firm and unwavering. “I’m no’ one to go about accusin’ anyone of anythin’ without evidence.”
    Caelen crossed his arms over his chest and spread his legs apart. “And yet, here ye stand before me doin’ just that.”
    “Can ye explain the dirk and plaid and me stolen sheep?” Fiona asked.
    Caelen