Lyon's Gift Read Online Free PDF

of
it—och, but it was the sort of face that tied a girl’s tongue into
knots and made her heart leap like an exultant dancer.
    And his voice... it was the voice of an
angel... soothing like warm honeyed mead. It made her belly flutter
and her breast burn with longing. Oh, what she wouldn’t give to
hear him whisper in her ear.
    Resting her chin upon her hand and her
elbows upon her knees, she thought about his eyes... clearest blue,
they were... like the reflection of a bright-blue summer sky upon a
glass pond.
    Aye, Colin Mac Brodie was a beautiful,
beautiful man...
    But he didn’t know she existed.
    Her wistful smile faded.
    She’d come upon him here this morn in the
arms of another woman, the two of them stealing kisses and laughing
together. And oh, how it had made Alison’s heart ache to watch
them! How she wished it could have been her!
    But alas, it was not.
    She sighed heavily, knowing very well that
Colin had a great fondness for women; it was obvious. He was with a
new one every time she saw him. Usually, it didn’t bother Alison so
much, because she hoped he would take his fill of them all, and
wished with all her might he would someday see her as someone more
than simply Meggie’s little friend. But this morn it had been
different. Alison hadn’t yet been able to dispel the heaviness from
her heart over seeing the two of them together. It had taken all
her resolve to approach him and ask after Meghan with the two of
them laughing and carrying on so.
    Perhaps it had been harder than ever because
she knew Colin was like to loathe her once he discovered what she’d
done—och, but she couldn’t bear that!
    She stared at the lamb, wishing there were
more she could give... more she could do... there must be
something...
    The Brodies still had possession of the
original goat she’d stolen from Montgomerie, but she could scarcely
count that a boon... because that rotten little beast had prompted
Montgomerie to steal two of the Brodies’ sheep before the spring
shearing.
    To which the Brodies had responded by
thieving his cow.
    To which Montgomerie had responded by
thieving a horse.
    To which the Brodies had responded by taking
four more goats.
    And then Montgomerie had taken two more
cows.
    Alison sighed wearily at the thought of so
much stubborn male pride.
    The Brodies had then stolen seven of
Montgomerie’s sheep—and Montgomerie had responded by thieving them
all back, and then some! In fact, he’d left them with none at all!
And this one poor lambkins wasn’t nearly enough to compensate for
the loss of so many.
    Good lord! What did she think she could
possibly say to the Brodies to set things right?
    God’s truth, there was nothing at all!
    She could confess to Meghan, aye! But what
could Meghan do? Nothing, and then her dear friend would surely
feel compelled to tell her brothers—Colin included. After all, how
could they possibly think to put an end to a feud without having
someone else to blame for it?
    That someone would be Alison, of course.
    And then her father would discover her
perfidy and take a strap to her bottom.
    And the English Lyon would feast upon
whatever remained of her thereafter!
    And worst of all, Colin would know. And he’d
cast her hateful glances instead of looking right through her as he
did now. While she could scarcely bear his present disinterest, the
thought of his enmity was tragic!
    She nibbled contemplatively at her thumbnail
as she deliberated the possible consequences of coming forward.
    What should she do?
    Stay and confess to Meghan?
    Or go?
    Her sense of obligation vied with fear.
    What to do... what to do...
    Och, but she should simply let these silly
men carry on their feud. To fight amongst themselves was what they
loved to do, after all. Although what would be its conclusion?
She’d heard of these things outlasting even the memory of their
origin.
    Foolish men!
    Would the Lyon feud with honor? she
worried.
    Or would he resort to
bloodshed? Sweet lord, but