The Marriage Contract Read Online Free PDF

the consummation of our union. I have agreed to be a wife to you in every way. I will do whatever you ask of me—” She paused, as if abruptly realizing her own boldness. “Whatever you ask,” she forced herself to repeat, lowering her head, the gesture feminine and submissive.
    Suddenly, Aidan wasn’t so cocky. In fact, he was intrigued. Sexually intrigued.
    Dear Lord, she was obviously a virgin. Alpina wouldn’t have sent him anything else, and Aidan had to sit upright lest Anne noticed he was fully aroused.
    Darkness was close. Twilight shadows stretched around them. He didn’t know where Hugh and Deacon had gone off to, and he didn’t care. For a moment, he could imagine the two of them alone in the world.
    Aidan Black and a London debutante —and not even one who was cream of the crop. Aidan had spent his time in the drawing rooms and ballrooms of the ton. He knew someone like Anne must have been desperate for a husband, else she wouldn’t have accepted such a bargain as Alpina had offered. There had to be something wrong with her, although he’d be hard pressed to see what it was.
    Still, it pricked his male pride.
    Years ago, he’d been a tongue-tied, awkward scholar pushed into Society by Alpina to search for a bride. Fresh from school and a life lost in books, he’d no idea of how to go about wooing a woman, especially the lovely young debutantes paraded before him, dewy and fresh, and well aware of their own self-worth.
    They’d made fun of his awkwardness. He’d overheard a group of them mocking him at a garden party when he’d become lost in a maze.
    He’d actually been searching for Louise Tarleton, one of the group. He’d been infatuated with her almost to the point of madness. Hearing her disdain over what a love-sick fool he was had been one of the most humiliating experiences of his life. Worse, he’d been expected to dance with her that very evening. He’d tripped over his own feet. Made a complete ass of himself.
    It was the last Society function he’d ever attended. A week later, he’d kicked the dust of London from his heels and left for the Highlands to discover his heritage and to become a man.
    No one laughed at him now. Hard work and agehad filled him out. He’d never looked back or even had a desire to…until this moment.
    Deacon had been right. Alpina had known what she was doing. This innocent young debutante was more of a threat to Aidan’s senses than the whole English army.
    “I’m not ready to marry,” he said bluntly.
    She blinked. “But you must. You are. It is your responsibility. You owe it to your title.”
    Aidan frowned. “How cold you are. And here I thought women were the ones given to the finer emotions.”
    She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
    “Love, Anne.” He said her name deliberately. It felt good on his tongue. Too good. “You’ve heard of love, haven’t you? The singing of birds, the cry of angels, the lament of poets.”
    “I understand what love is,” she informed him tartly. “I’ve just never heard a man speak of it.”
    “Well, we are poets at heart here in the Highlands.” He paused before adding, “And lovers.”
    She did not mistake his meaning. Her face glowed, it turned so bright red, but she did not back down. “I repeat. I have agreed to the terms of the marriage.”
    “Yes, yes, yes, and you will be dutiful. Well, I don’t need a dutiful wife—especially in bed. I am a passionate man,” he said almost brutally. “I have plenty of lovers who please me well enough.”
    That set her back. She groped for words and then blurted out, “You can still have them. I understand men must have their distractions.”
    “Distractions?” He couldn’t imagine Bonnie Mowat or Kathleen Keith or any number of the happily married wives in his clan telling their husbands they could keep “distractions.” But he could see them angrily chasing their spouses with butcher knives.
    Her