TemptationinTartan Read Online Free

Ye didnae ken? P’raps they kept the
information secret, or your cousin Colonel Swann didnae want to sully your
ears. But if I’d been at Culloden I’d likely be ashes in a mass grave like my
father, the old laird, and my brother, his heir. That’s why I’m chieftain. I
was left at home to mind the fort until their return. They never came back.”
    She laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”
    “Aye, lass. So am I. But not entirely, not this eve. For it
has brought ye to me.” With Swann watching, Kieran resisted touching her hair,
her face, or kissing that lush mouth.
    “Then, yes, we’re a match.” She smiled, and his heart turned
over.
    Taking her arm again, he increased the length of his stride.
When they reached the doors, he said to the Swann, “Post the banns.”
    “’Tis already done.”
    Kieran turned, brows raised.
    “You had both agreed.”
    “What if the lady had disliked me?”
    “There’s nothing to dislike,” Lydia intervened. Evidently
the lass did not want an argument.
    Kieran laughed. “Och, lass, in a year or two or ten I
warrant ye’ll find plenty to dislike, but for now, I’ll take your fondness and
run with it, and ye, all the way to the Highlands.”
    “When’s the wedding?” Lydia asked, still holding his arm.
    “I’ll manage that.” A tall woman in gray spoke with the
certainty of God bringing forth light. Lydia’s mam, Kieran guessed.
    He gave her a courtly bow. “I thank ye, ma’am.”
    He stood with what he hoped was a calm smile and allowed her
to peruse him. At last a smile flitted over her features. Lydia’s grip eased.
She was attached to her mam, he realized, and hoped his wife wouldn’t be
heartsick for her family. The distance between his castle and England was such
that visits would be quite rare.
    He said, “I hope ye’ll allow me to consult with the
preacher?”
    “Certainly.” The lady favored him with a regal smile. “The
ceremony will take place at Castle Kirk at Sunday noon. Daughter?”
    As Lydia left with her family, she turned and gave him a
flirtatious wink. Yes, the lassie was indeed a quick study.

Chapter Three
     
    Lydia awoke on the morning of her wedding with an
unaccustomed anxiety churning in her belly. She didn’t understand why. This
was, after all, her second marriage. Because both she and her groom were so far
from their respective homes, the event was to be a simple noontime ceremony in
a nearby chapel, rather than the grand public display she’d endured when
marrying William.
    Nay, ’twasn’t the wedding that troubled her, but what would
happen afterward. Since their first meeting at the Menhardie musicale, she and
her intended had exchanged p’raps two words, and neither of them in private.
Instead, her cousin, her fiancé and their representatives had pursued tiresome
discussions about dowries and bride-prices, contract terms and property
transfers. Though she was supposedly the focus of the matter, the effect was to
reduce her to a commodity…again.
    With some astonishment, she realized she needed to see
Kieran. How was that possible? She’d spent only a few minutes in his presence.
    She told herself that her desire to further acquaint herself
with her affianced husband was natural. But she knew she was lying to herself.
The memory of his sweet kisses, wicked hands and lustful words haunted her. His
image had ghosted through her dreams as though he visited her in bed at
midnight, seducing her with his touch, his body hard against hers, with his
sleek, strong fingers drawing forth her arousal with a skill she’d never before
experienced. And she’d reacted to those dreams with entirely wanton behavior,
her eyes closed to better imagine that it was Kieran who rubbed her womanhood
with a slippery finger instead of her own smaller, softer digit.
    How could she long for him so desperately? She didn’t know
him.
    She couldn’t truly yearn for her fiancé, she admonished
herself. She’d met him only once!
    She prayed the