Free Stealing the Bride by Mary Wine Page A

emerald green silk. The candlelight illuminated the fabric, making it look like emerald fire. Elspeth reached out to run a single fingertip over the costly fabric.
    “To think that there are women wearing such things beneath their somber black velvet court dresses …”
    Daracha snickered. “An interesting idea, is it not?” She began to lace the stays into place around Elspeth. They lifted her breasts up and the neckline was lower than her practical linen ones. Now her breasts looked in danger of spilling out if she leaned over too far. But it was a clever deception because the garment held just enough of her breasts when she put them to the test.
    Now wouldn’t that be the way to shave Hayden …
    The silk of the chemise only partially veiled her thighs, and the curls growing on her mons were a teasing hint behind the fabric.
    “Now what are you thinking?” Tavia sounded almost hungry for the answer to her question.
    “Hayden Monroe was set on me shaving his whiskers away and I was thinking …”
    Daracha clapped her hands together, interrupting her with a gleeful laugh.
    “Oh, you must wear this and do as he commands. What a punishment that will be for him to bear.”
    “Does that mean ye agree to help me escape this fortress?” Elspeth lowered her voice so that it remained between them. Daracha cast a look at her sister, the pair of them gazing at each other for a long moment. It felt like an hour but Daracha finally sighed and nodded.
    “Pherson will be horribly cross with me for near a month. Possibly longer.” Instead of sounding fearful, the girl’s voice held a great deal of merriment.
    “Unless he admires your craftiness. Yer brother looks the type to enjoy being trumped in grand style.”
    Tavia smothered a giggle behind a hand. “Maybe you should stay, Elspeth Leask. I believe it might be entertaining to watch ye twist our dear brother around yer whim.”
    Elspeth felt her hope sputtering and threatening to die, but Tavia giggled once again behind her palm.
    “Oh, look at you. I was but teasing. I wouldn’t be, mind you, if I didn’t think yer heart was already taken.” Tavia’s voice became deeper and more somber. “Pherson so very desperately needs a woman who will love him.”
    “Ye would keep me here if ye didn’t think I was in love with another?”
    “Of course.” Daracha laid a hand on her shoulder. “We may enjoy playing but we would never waste something he brought home unless there was love involved.”
    Pirates.
    The sisters were very much like the brother. They both offered her unrepentant smiles while they went to searching through the trunks for more clothing. Elspeth bit her lip because she didn’t need to chastise them when they were going to give her what she wanted.
    What she wanted … Now that was what she truly needed to ponder. If she wanted Hayden Monroe, it was a sure bet that she would have to stop running from him.
    And soon.
    Other clans were willing to tie their female relations up in ribbons for him but all that idea did was make her more stubborn. She didn’t want him because he was Laird Monroe. That would make her as much a pirate as Pherson and his sisters.
    But you do want him …
    Her cheeks heated with a blush while the sisters brought her more common wool clothing to cover the decadent undergarments. But the silk was still there against her skin, reminding her of how much she could feel. It made her mind wander to the whispered tales she’d heard of lovers and the way they touched. Hayden’s hands left trails of fire across her neck and cheeks. How much more intense would it be to have those same strong hands beneath her skirts and against her bare thighs?
    She had to bite her lip once again to contain a soft sound of need from escaping.
    “There. Ye look … quite boring.”
    Tavia smiled with her judgment. They had even brought her an arisaid, a length of fabric that was belted across the back of her waist and pulled up over her shoulder. At