One Hot Scot Read Online Free PDF Page A

Elizabeth.”
    “Ye shouldnae have to manage it at all. None of this was yer doing, for St. Bridget’s sake.”
    “That, Duncan, doesn’t really matter. Thank you for saying it, though.” She picked up a black knight and showed it to him. “Did you think this would be you today?”
    He chuckled. “A black knight? Nae a white knight?”
    She grinned back at him. “Well, you were naked.”
    “Aye. That I was.” Meeting her gaze, he shifted another chess piece. In all honesty, he wasn’t certain which one it was or if the move was even legal.
    The door behind him rattled, the entire wall shuddering beneath a hard fist.
    Christ in heaven . He jumped, and Julia sucked in a breath as though she thought it might be her last. “It’s barred,” he reminded her, scooping the chess pieces up and tossing them back into their box. Grabbing both them and the board he strode to the bed and pushed it aside, then lifted the trap door and tossed the game pieces into the hole. “In with ye,” he whispered, taking her fingers to help her down. They shook in his big paw, and he squeezed a little. He handed down her nearly empty bowl of stew and her teacup, then smiled encouragingly at her.
    The sight of large brown eyes gazing up at him as he closed her into the darkness would stay with him forever, he thought, scattering straw and moving the bed back. As a louder, more insistent pounding began at the door, he shoved back the bedcovers, stripped out of his shirt, and dumped it into the chair Julia had occupied a moment ago. Then he pulled off one boot, ruffled his hair, and stomped to the door.
    “Dooley, I told ye to…” He trailed off as Hugh Fersen, the Earl of Bellamy, glared at him. “Bellamy? What the devil are ye doing here?”
    “We saw your light,” the earl stated, swiping rain from his face. “May we come in?”
    Duncan frowned. “Who’s ‘we’?” he asked, moving a step to the right so he blocked the entrance completely with his body. The figure behind Bellamy stepped forward, and a whisper of uneasiness curled down Duncan’s spine. “Orville,” he said, nodding.
    Orville Fersen, Bellamy’s cousin, smiled coolly, the expression fractured by a nose that had been broken at least twice. “We passed by Lenox House a bit ago,” he said in his low, scratched voice. “They said ye were out here.”
    They’d been by Lenox House . Where his sisters would be sleeping. And he’d been here, three miles away. “Why are ye looking for me?” he asked, not budging from his place. “It must be near midnight.”
    “It’s raining, Lenox. May we come in?” Bellamy repeated.
    “I’m nae a friend of yers, Bellamy. Either of ye. And as I’m here hunting after someaught that’s killing my animals, and I’ve half a suspicion it’s ye and yer dogs, Orville, ye can damned well stand oot in the rain until lightning strikes ye dead.”
    “Care to wager on that, Duncan?” Orville moved in closer, his hand going to his waist. A dagger, no doubt. And his own was in the hole with Julia.
    “That’s enough, cousin. We’re here for Lenox’s aid, after all.”
    “Is that so?” Duncan retorted. “How might that be?”
    “It’s a bit embarrassing, actually,” Bellamy said, his faded accent telling Duncan the earl had only recently returned from England—even if he hadn’t been fairly aware of Hugh’s comings and goings. “I seem to have misplaced something of mine.”
    “Aye? I may have a stray sheep or two of yourn, but I dunnae think that would bring ye here. Orville could see to yer sheep. And in the daylight.”
    “Seems that sheep would be yer interest, Lenox,” Orville Fersen retorted, snickering.
    “Never mind that,” his cousin cut in. “I … Well, I’m married. And the young lady is—”
    “Ye’re married? My congratulations, Bellamy. I’d no idea.”
    “Yes, well, it was arranged, and I’m afraid my bride is quite … sheltered. Shy. She fled Bellamy Park this afternoon, and I’m