The Border Hostage Read Online Free PDF Page A

half a dozen grooms wounded. Ada wouldn't let me tend them.”
    “I should think not, in your condition,” the tall, slim serving woman declared dryly. “We spent half the night scrubbing blood from your bedchamber floor!”
    “That does it, Tina! Ye go back tae Douglas where it's safe. I never should have let ye come with me this close tae the Borders.”
    Tina knew better than to contradict Black Ram Douglas before his men, but she would have plenty to say when they were alone. She shrugged a pretty shoulder and looked up into her brother's warm brown eyes. “Blood of God, I feared they would hang you.”
    He grinned down at her. “Rope costs money.” Suddenly, Heath looked at Tina intently. “Are you all right, sweeting?” Her aura had changed. His sister always gave off a golden light, which had not dimmed, but now there was a double ring around her head.
    Tina's hand went to her swollen belly beneath her loose cloak. “I am big as a pig full of figs, if that's what you mean!”
    “Ye are lovely and lush and more tempting than any married woman has a right tae be,” Ram assured her, slipping an arm about her possessively and escorting her to the castle.
    “Are you truly all right, Heath?” Ada asked low. She had seen how slowly he had dismounted. Heath and the attractive widow who served his sister had been good friends for years. He brushed his lips across her brow. “I'm fine, Ada; it's Tina we have to worry about. I think she might be carrying twins!”
    Ada hurried into the castle as Heath took Ram's mount, along with his own and the Border pony he had “borrowed,”to the stables. She caught up with the couple before they reached their bedchamber in the Master Tower, because Tina climbed the stairs slowly. Ada shook her head in disbelief, for already the two strong-willed lovers were arguing.
    “The answer is no! Ye'll do as ye're told, Vixen.”
    “Devil-eyed Douglas, you're not back five bloody minutes and you are tossing your orders about as if you rule the world!”
    They entered their bedchamber and stood facing each other like combatants unprepared to give an inch. “I do rule
your
world, Vixen. There is no earthly reason ye can give me that would convince me tae let ye stay here in the Borders.”
    “How about twins?” Ada interjected.
    Ram gave Ada a quelling glance. “Ye've never respected our privacy before, so I suppose it's too much tae expect it now,” he said with heavy sarcasm.
    “Twins?” Tina said, her hands going protectively to her belly and her golden eyes widening in wonder. “Ada, I think you may be right! Oh, that would explain so many things.”
    “Twins?” Ramsay's gut knotted with anxiety for his beautiful wife, yet at the same time hope soared in his heart.
    Tina threw off her cloak and began to unfasten her loose gown. “Help me off with this damn dress,” she bade them. “When I lie quietly in bed, I can hear and feel two heartbeats, but I thought one of them was mine.”
    Ada removed Tina's gown and Ramsay placed his callused hands on his wife's swollen midsection. His dark brows drew together in concentration, then he took Tina's hands and placed them on her belly. “What do ye think, my honey lamb?”
    Tina first shook her head, then smiled and nodded.
    “Ada?”
    Ada, who was not only Tina's serving woman but herdearest friend, placed her palms on the thin material of Tina's shift covering her mounded belly and moved them all around. “Either you're carrying twins or it's a three-legged milking stool!”
    Tina whooped with joy and laughter. “Oh, I'm so clever and cunning; I have really outdone myself!”
    “You? I am the author of this grand production,” Ram asserted, his heart overflowing with tenderness and adoration for his beloved. He picked her up gently and laid her on their bed. Then he cupped her face and touched his lips to hers.
    “Cocksure devil,” she murmured happily, “there'll be no living with you now. Of course, this means I