Moon Awakening

Lachlan stared at her and she blushed, realizing how her words sounded.

'I wasn't thinking about that.'

'What?' he asked, a devilish glint in his dark eyes.

'That... you know. The bedding.'

'What else did you think might happen to her on her wedding night?'

'She might have refused him.'

'She didn't. You saw how she responded to his kiss on the boat. The lass wanted him.'

Emily's hand flew up to cover his mouth. 'Don't say such things. It isn't seemly.'

He kissed her palm and she jerked her hand away as if burned. Worse, she felt marked… as if his kiss had seared her palm with the imprint of his lips.

He smiled. 'You watched them. You know I speak the truth.'

'I didn't watch,' she lied.

'You did and it excited you.'

'It didn't!'

'It did and that made me hot.'

'Hot?' She shook her head, unable to believe they were having this conversation.

He nodded. 'Oh, yes. Your lips parted as if you were ready to be kissed yourself.'

'I did no such thing.'

'You did. And I liked it.'

'You shouldn't have noticed. It was rude.'

'You think I'm a barbarian.'

'A barbarian who speaks Latin,' she said wryly.

'I am interested in many things.'

'Well, I am interested in my friend's welfare. Will you allow me to visit her?'

'There is no need. You will trust me when I tell you she is content to be with my warrior and you will stop worrying. Drustan gave his word he would not hurt her.'

'As you gave your word you would not hurt me?'

'Yes.'

Then she had plenty to worry about.

Her opinion must have shown on her face because he said, 'You will cease believing my choice of reparation for insult is some horrible fate that has befallen your friend. Cait is unharmed.'

Emily laughed. She couldn't help it. The man was daft. 'It is a horrible fate.'

'No more so than any other woman given in marriage.'

'She had no choice!'

'Most women have little choice in who they wed.'

'This is different, you must see that.'

'How?'

'You chose for her.'

'And was she allowed to select her first husband?' he asked in a tone that implied such a thing highly unlikely. 'Were you allowed a choice in whether or not you were sent to marry Talorc?'

There had been no choice… not if she wanted to spare her sister. 'No.' Sighing, Emily also remembered what Cait had told her about her first marriage. 'Cait's brother decided on her first husband.'

'Ah,' Lachlan said with satisfaction. 'Her first marriage was arranged by her brother who was also her laird and now her new laird has chosen her second husband. It is no different.'

'It's different all right.' How could he be too stubborn to see that? 'She didn't choose to be a member of this clan.'

'Did she choose to be a Sinclair?'

'She was born a Sinclair.'

'And now she has been made a Balmoral.'

Implying neither had been her friend's choice. Looked at in that light, she could see his reasoning, but it was flawed. Only she did not know how to explain that fact. 'You are trying to confuse me.'

'No. I'm only trying to make you see the truth.'

'What truth?'

'That I have done nothing reprehensible in commanding this marriage take place.'

'You said my opinion did not matter.'

'I have changed my mind. I want you to stop thinking I am some kind of monster.'

'Why?'

He glared at her. 'You did not eat your dinner last night, and this morning you have not touched your porridge.'

'What does that have to do with anything?'

'You will eat. I command it.'

'And if I don't… what threat will you use against me to make me obey? Will you take me like a whore to your bed?' She couldn't believe she had asked that, but he certainly didn't hesitate to discuss issues best left unmentioned.

'To warm my bed would not make you a whore,' he growled.

'Wouldn't it? What do Highlanders call women who share their bodies with men who are not their husbands?'

'Accommodating.'

Emily gasped, unable to believe her ears. 'You did not just say that.'

'I did. I am no Englishman to say one thing and mean another.'

'How dare you?'

'I dare anything I like. I am laird here.' And according to him, that made him tantamount to being a king.

Well, he wasn't her king and that was that. With a huff, she spun away.

'If you want to see Cait, you must eat.'

'So that is to be the threat?' Not that he needed to threaten her to eat. She'd only been waiting for him to leave before she ate her porridge, but he was right. It was going to be stone cold if she didn't eat it soon.

'If that is what it takes to make you act reasonably, then yes.'

'I did not realize that prisoners were expected to be reasonable.' Because she wanted to anyway, she sat on her bed and began to eat.

He moved to stand near her, propping one foot on the bed frame. 'You are not a prisoner.'

She tried not to look at the muscular leg so close to her, but could not keep her gaze from straying to it. Englishmen covered their legs, but she did not think it would matter if he wore hose and a long tunic. Lachlan was so very masculine that he called to everything feminine in her even when she was angry enough to throw her porridge right at his head.

'So the door is not barred on the other side when the servants leave?' she asked with faint mockery. 'I must have imagined hearing it slide into place then.'

'I warned you that you would be locked in a tower if you ran from me again yesterday. You ran.'

'And you followed through on your threat, but you didn't tell me you were going to torture me with boredom.'

Chapter 9

Lachlan watched Emily eat, lascivious thoughts that would send her running if she could read them going through his mind. He wanted that mouth on him, not the spoon. When he had threatened to keep her in his bed the night before, he had known it would convince Cait to speak her vows. That did not mean he had not wished for the opposite outcome.