glittering rubies.?The jeweled hair ornament was to be put aside until she wore her?hair up, but she slipped on the earrings, bracelet, and ring. Sliding?her feet into red velvet shoes, she stood.
“Lor’, mistress,” breathed Molly reverently. “I never seen you?look so beautiful! What a pity Master Dom’s not here now to see?you. You could drive a man to madness!”
Skye laughed, pleased. “Do you really think so, Molly?” Secretly?she was wondering whether Lord Burke could be driven to madness.
Her insides fluttered with fearful, delicious anticipation. She almost?flew out the door, bumping into her pretty stepmother as she did so.
“Gracious, Skye,” laughed Anne O’Malley. “If you would impress the hall, then you must not rush so. Make a grand?entrance… slowly gliding… thusly, my love.” She demonstrated?prettily.
“Your pardon, Anne. I did not hurt you, did I?
“No, love, but stop so I may look at you. Dear heaven; how?lovely you are, and not yet grown. If young Dom could but see you?now…”
Skye made a face. “I don’t want to marry him, Anne!” The words?tumbled out all by themselves.
Anne O’Malley was suddenly serious and fully sympathetic. “I?know, love. I know, and I do understand.”
“Please, Anne,
“Oh, Skye, I’ll try. You know I will. But it will do no good.?Your father is a man of his word, and he has given his word on this?marriage. You’re the last of his girls, and he wants you well settled.?Young O’FIaherty is a very good match for an O’Malley of Innisfana.”
“I hate him!” came the whispered reply. “He’s always undressing?me with his eyes.”
“Perhaps it will be different when you’re wed,” soothed Anne,?though in her heart she knew it wouldn’t. “Maidens are often fearful?of the unknown. But really, there is no cause for alarm, my love.?Tomorrow I will come and explain it all to you, Skye.”
“Speak to Da, Anne! Please, promise me you will!”
“I will, Skye. I promise I will.”
The two women moved down the steps to the main hall of the?castle, and all the while Anne was aware that Niall Burke’s eyes?were fastened to her beautiful stepdaughter. At the bottom of the?steps he was there, tucking Skye’s small hand in his arm, wordlessly?sweeping her away while Anne watched helplessly. No one else saw?the dangerous, hopeless attraction between the two. She
The floor beneath Skye’s feet seemed to have disappeared. She?was floating. Shyly she glanced down at the hand covering hers. It?was big, and square, and brown. It was magically warm, and she?could feel the strength hidden deep within it. Her heart was pounding.?Why did he affect her this way?
They walked over to the great fireplace, which was flanked by?enormous stone lions. It was red with the oak logs that now burned?merrily with an occasional crackle and snap. They stopped and observed the leaping flames for a moment. They did not look at each other, but merely stood side by side.
Finally he spoke. “Why do you tremble when I touch you?”
“I am not used to the attentions of men,” she answered him?breathlessly.
Turning her so that she faced him, he looked down at her. “I do?not understand that, Skye O’Malley, for you are outrageously fair.?Has no man, even your betrothed, whispered sweet words of love?into your little shell ear?”
“No.” Her cheeks were softly pink now, and her voice was so?low that he had to bend to hear her.
Niall Burke was enchanted. He felt something strange sweeping?over him, possessing him, rushing him onward to something his?inner voice warned against. “Look at me, sweetheart,” he com-?manded her. “I promise not to bite you, though God knows you’re?a tempting morsel.”
Shyly she raised her blue eyes to his silvery gray ones, and for?a moment Skye felt as if she were drowning. She realized he felt?it too! Neither could tear their gaze away. They were suspended in?time, their souls flowing back and forth between their bodies, twining?into one perfect being.
A great guffaw of laughter from the other side of the hall broke?the spell. With shock, Niall swore, “Christ! What is it you do to?me, little witch?” He was astounded by himself. “Turn your eyes?from me, Skye darling, before I shame us both.” He signaled a?servant bearing a tray of wine goblets and, snatching two, gave one?to Skye. He gulped down the other, welcoming the burning sensation?that spread through his stomach. It gave him something to concen-?trate on, to prevent himself from carrying this girl away from the?hall forever.
When dinner was announced, Lord Burke, as the highest-ranking?guest, was seated next to the bride-to-be. He was artful enough to?hide his troubled emotions, but the meal tasted like sawdust to him.?He was a man of the world, experienced beyond most, but the girl?had affected him as no other female had ever done. He admitted to? himself that he desperately wanted to bed the wench, but there was?a great deal more to it than that, something he had never felt before.?It had all come on him so quickly that be couldn’t understand it
Niall Burke was the only son of Rory Burke, the MacWilliam of?Middle Connaught. The MacWilliam had almost despaired of ever?having an heir. All three of his wives had died in childbirth. The?last of them, Maerid O’Brien, had given him his only child. From?the moment of his birth Niall had been a strong and healthy lad, but?the MacWilliam anxiously protected him.
His wet nurse ate 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 bream.
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 excellent swords-?man and an excellent falconer. He swam as though bom 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 had wanted it?to happen!
