Free Her Outlaw by Geralyn Dawson Page B

called from somewhere beyond a hedge.
    Dair appeared deaf to the interruption, blind to all but her as he took her mouth in a kiss that bordered on desperate.
    Kimball called again, louder this time. “Miss McBride has come looking for her sister.”
    Emma wanted to scream in frustration. Kat. Leave it to Kat. She was so darn tired of Kat interfering in her life.
    She placed her hand against Dair’s chest and applied gentle pressure that didn’t budge him a bit. “My sister…”
    “Is a pain in the ass,” he muttered.
    The sentiment shocked a laugh out of Emma. “If you only knew.”
    A long, suspenseful moment passed while he waited, watching her intently, a predator over his prey. Then he rolled them onto their sides, not breaking eye contact with Emma, a finger combing her unbound hair away from her face as he called out, “I owe you one for this, Kimball.”
    He gave her one last hard kiss before releasing her and standing. He watched her closely, regret filling his eyes as Emma began to cover herself. He interrupted her efforts when he reached for her pendant. “This looks familiar.”
    Annoyed at Kat and momentarily heedless of their mission to Chatham Park, Emma said, “You’ve probably seen my sister’s necklace. Jake Kimball has it.”
    Dair nodded. “It’s emerald. But that stone isn’t carved, yours is. It’s the engraving I’m referring to.”
    So Kat was right. Kimball did have her necklace. “Engraving? I’ve never noticed any engraving.”
    He held the pendant in one hand and pointed out the carving with his finger. “It’s easier to see when the stone is nestled between your breasts. I saw it best when both of us had contact with it. Perhaps body heat makes the stone glow.”
    Emma was amazed. She’d worn this necklace for over a decade. She couldn’t believe she’d never noticed the marks on the stone before. “It’s writing, but I don’t recognize the language.”
    “It’s words and a figure of sorts.” His brow furrowed. “I swear I’ve seen something similar before.”
    Kat McBride’s voice called, “Emmaline Suzanne!”
    “I’m going to kill her,” Emma muttered.
    Dair chuckled, released the ruby, and stepped back. “Another time, Texas. This was interrupted. Not ended.”
    He had that right. Sexual frustration had her jumpy as a cat on ice. A cat with claws ready for a fight. “Damn you, Kat. Couldn’t you just leave me be for a while?”
    Emma did her best to put herself to rights before exiting the temple, but she knew she’d failed the moment her sister spied her. Kat’s accusatory stare swept her from head to toe, then her mouth set in a grim smile. “Emma, I need to speak with you.”
    Emma didn’t like her sister’s look. How dare she! Who did she think she was? Emma’s conscience? Her bodyguard? The morality sheriff? As if Kat had any room to talk. “It couldn’t wait?”
    “It appears to me that I’ve waited too long as it is,” Kat fired back. “We’ve had a message from Monique. I’ll give you one guess as to what our grandmother has done now.”
    Monique Day was their grandmother, their mother Jenny’s outrageous mother. Knowing her grandmother’s history, Emma asked, “She’s remarried? Again?”
    “To an earl this time! She’s off on another honeymoon trip. Will you come upstairs with me, Emma? Please? We have some decisions to make.”
    Emma sighed heavily and muttered, “Family.”
     
    W ITH A SCOWL ON HIS FACE , an ache in his loins, and the threat of a headache beginning to gnaw at his brain, Dair watched the women climb the steps and disappear inside Chatham Park. Standing beside him, Jake didn’t appear any happier.
    “Will Kat McBride marry you?” Dair asked his friend.
    “I don’t know.” Jake rubbed the back of his neck. “The children are a true stumbling block. More so than I’d realized. I’m beginning to wonder if I’d be better off letting her go and choosing one of the others.”
    Then he leveled a frown