Skye O'Malley Read Online Free PDF Page A

at the MacWilliam’s table so that the lord of Mid-Connaught could oversee her diet. The baby’s nursery was kept well warmed in the winter and dry in the damp weather. No child had ever been so well taken care of. Even his sleep was overseen by a night nurse who sat first by his cradle, and later by his bedside, monitoring his every breath.
    Despite it all, the boy flourished. Convinced that he had a lively heir, the MacWilliam finally eased his stranglehold. Intelligent, Niall was educated first by the priests and then sent to England for polish at Cambridge. In sports there was no one to touch him, and because he could not be bested in any field, he was called Ironman.
    He could run faster than any man in Ireland, was unbeaten in wrestling from the time he was twelve, was both an excellentswordsman and an excellent falconer. He swam as though born to water, rode like a centaur, and could follow a stag’s trail better than most hounds.
    Niall proved a lusty animal between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. There wasn’t a serving wench in his father’s castle, or a girl in the surrounding countryside, who was safe from his attentions. Gradually, however, he calmed down and became more discerning.
    Rory Burke adored his only son. And in the number of Niall’s bastards scattered about the countryside, the father saw a resurgence of his branch of the Burke family.
    Rory now wanted his heir safely wed to a suitable young woman. Niall, however, had preferred to remain free.
    But today had changed that. He had fallen instantly in love with Skye O’Malley. Never having been denied anything in his entire life, Niall fully expected to have her.
    On Niall’s right sat Eibhlin O’Malley, and throughout dinner he devoted himself to the nun, much to Eibhlin’s secret amusement. Like her perceptive stepmother, she had seen the sudden, powerful attraction between Skye and Lord Burke. She pitied them both.
    After dinner, O’Malley suggested that Skye show the O’Malley rose garden to Lord Burke. It wasn’t an unusual request, for Dubhdara was proud of his youngest daughter’s beauty, wit, and manners. He enjoyed impressing his guests with her. Anne could only hope to God that Lord Burke remembered Skye was to be wed in a few days.
    Niall and Skye walked slowly from the hall, down the steps to the entry, and across the lowered drawbridge. Neither spoke. The mauve and golden twilight of the early Irish summer gave more than enough light. The air was cool, with an occasional slight breeze that carried to them the sensuous fragrance of the roses.
    “My mother planned this garden for years,” murmured Skye. “She loved roses. It was the one thing Da indulged her in. He had bushes brought in from all over the world. It’s a beautiful garden, isn’t it?”
    “It is most charming,” replied Lord Burke gravely.
    “Thank you.”
    They walked a bit farther, in silence once more. As they came to the end of the roses, Skye turned to go back to the castle, but Lord Burke touched her shoulder and she stopped, her face upturned. His strong arms wrapped about her. A flame of fierce joy shot through her. She had known this would happen! She hadwanted it to happen! His dark head dipped, and Skye O’Malley’s lips parted slightly like an opening rosebud as she received her very first kiss.
    To her great surprise his lips were soft. She hadn’t expected that in a man. Then he was drawing her even closer, and the mouth on hers became demanding. Instinctively she answered that demand, freeing her arms and sliding them around his neck so that their bodies touched. For a brief moment she was floating. Then suddenly, abruptly, he released her mouth. His eyes were dark with passion. Looking down on her, he muttered huskily, “I knew it! I knew it would be this way with you!”
    For the briefest moment reason returned, and she began to tremble. Concern filled his eyes and, catching her face between his thumb and forefinger, he whispered,