Free His Bonnie Bride by Hannah Howell Page B

was little he could do.
    "Phelan," she began hesitantly, needing to speak her thoughts to someone, " 'tis not really rape I fear."
    "I know. Nor dishonor. 'Tis your own feelings for Tavis MacLagan. Am I right?"
    "Ye are too perceptive for a lad. Aye, 'tis exactly what I fear. I have ne'er felt drawn to a man before. Ah, Lord, 'tis my wicked luck to be drawn to a MacLagan. 'Twas just a fear 'til the man kissed me. 'Tis still a fear, but now I cannot ignore it for 'tis a fact as well. All of which means that if he comes to me, is gentle and loving, I am lost. In all honesty, I'll not be able to cry rape, and my dishonor will all be upon my shoulders, for what man pulls away from a willing maid?"
    "Nary a one that I have heard of."
    "Mayhaps he would take ye to wife."
    " 'Tis not to be thought upon, Phelan. I am an Eldon and he is a MacLagan. The families have fought each other for too many years. Then, too, I get the feeling that Tavis can be a lover, but that he does not love. He would be all a woman could want until his desire was spent, and then he will coldly discard her for another. I may be able to suffer dishonor and the loss of my virtues outside of marriage, which is a sin, but I could not bear to watch my lover's passion wane, his heart harden and his arms reach for another. 'Twould kill me."
    "Then I must see that he does not come near ye, cousin."
    "Ah, Phelan, 'tis good of ye, but nay. There is little telling how a man will act when his blood is hot. I will not have ye harmed trying to save something that most all at home will have thought lost to me ere now. An he does come to my chambers, ye are not to argue overmuch with the man. Leave that to me." She swallowed her pain as she added, "We may speak on a problem that will ne'er arise. He has his mistress now."
    "She did not stir him enough to make him leave go of ye," Phelan said quietly.
    "He was not expecting her," Storm argued, ignoring her own increasing nervousness. "Now to sleep," she commanded, knowing it was easier said than done, especially when her mind kept drifting to Tavis.
* * * * *
    Thoughts of Storm kept whirling through Tavis's increasingly muddled mind. Drinking and jesting with his brothers and the other men did little to keep his desire for Storm at bay. It had been his hope to drink enough to enable himself to pass into a deep, dreamless sleep, but that plan seemed to be failing. All that was happening was that his mind was turning more and more to Storm, conjuring up images that made him close his eyes against his need. She was a fever in his blood and he was already at the crisis point.
    "Ah, Tavis, ye are a lucky bastard," teased a none too sober Sholto, "with twa lovelies to choose from."
    "Care an I comfort the one ye dinnae visit?" queried Iain with a grin.
    "Nay. Ye ken where Kate usually sleeps."
    "Och, weel, I was hoping 'twould be the other," sighed Iain, his turquoise eyes alight with laughter.
    "Mayhaps I'll take them both," mused Tavis, his laughter blending with that of the others.
    "Ye would ne'er see the dawn. One o' the lasses would kill ye for being with the other."
    "Sholto's right," Donald laughed, a burly man who was their first cousin. "I would put my coin on the wee lass from Hagaleah. She be a feisty bit o' woman. 'Tis the hair, I ken."
    Refilling his tankard, Sholto sighed heartily. "I would fair love to see it down and free, out o' those neat braids. I wager 'twould be a glorious sight for a man to see."
    "I'll remember to tell ye how it looks," remarked Tavis as he finished his drink and stood up.
    In a low voice, so that the others could not hear, Iain said, "Recall, ye swore nay to touch the lass unless she be willing. 'Tis a small thing Father asks, a small pleasure to give him when he's ailing so."
    "Aye, she'll be willing." Tavis frowned. "What do ye think ails our father? He grows even weaker."
    Iain nodded. "Aye, aye, he does, but there seems naught to do but watch him fade. God's wounds, but it makes a man