Free Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor Page A

to give her.
    “I see no way to avoid it,” she said quietly. “Do you?”
    He smiled at the hopeful note in her voice. “Nay, lady, I don’t. But I am working on it.”
    The smile on her face bedazzled him. “In that case, good luck. I wish you much success.”
    Sin shook his head at her. She was a rare treat. One he would love to take a bite of and see if she was as saucy in his mouth as she was in his lap.
    Strangely enough, he couldn’t resist playing with her. “Should I be offended?”
    Callie bit her lower lip. He was teasing her. The light in his eyes said as much. Charmed by his uncharacteristic behavior, she teased back. “Nay, no offense intended. You’re actually very nice when you’re not trying to be frightening.”
    “Nice?” He asked in disbelief. “That is probably the only title no one has ever heaped upon my head.”
    “No one?”
    “No one.”
    Callie pulled back to look up at him. “It must scare you, then, to know I know the truth of you when no one else does.”
    Lord Sin arched a brow at her. “Who says that is the truth of me?”
    “I do, and unless you have a horn to pull out and show me otherwise, I shall never believe anything else of you.”
    Sin cleared his throat at her words. The woman need do no more than glance down and she would see proof enough of a horn that desired only to be naughty with the nymph in his lap.
    Oh, the spirit of this wench and the education he would kill to give her. He could just imagine her lying naked in his arms, her breasts pressed up against him. The taste of her flesh on his tongue.
    She was a temptress without equal.
    “Tell me,” he whispered, “why it is you alone hold no fear of me?”
    “I can’t imagine. Surely I am foolish. Aelfa assures me you eat small children every morn to break your fast. Do you?”
    “Nay, I find them to be too harsh on the belly. Allthat moving around once they’re swallowed. Not worth the effort, really.”
    She laughed, and it was a truly enchanting sound. This had to be the most peculiar conversation he’d ever had in his life.
    She pushed a stray piece of copper hair back beneath her veil. “Does anyone other than me know you can be playful?”
    Sin scoffed. “Playful? Milady, your fire is missing a few logs if you think that of me.”
    “More’s the pity, then.”
    “How so?”
    “We all need to play from time to time. Is that not right, Simon?”
    Sin glanced over to see Simon eavesdropping. The man nodded. “Indeed it is, milady. But I can attest, Sin has never known a moment’s worth of it. Not even as a child.”
    A deep frown crossed her brow as she regarded Sin. “Is that true?”
    “Not entirely. I did have a few years of fun with my brothers and a moment or two with Simon in our youth.”
    Her frown lightened, putting a sudden glow into her light green eyes. “You have brothers?”
    “Aye. I had four of them.”
    “Had?”
    “One died a few years back.”
    The joy left her face, and to his amazement, she gently patted his arm in sympathy. “I’m very sorry for the loss. You must miss him much.”
    In truth, he did. Though he hadn’t seen Kieran since Kieran was Jamie’s age, Sin still held fond memories of his younger brother. The knowledge that his brothers had all been home and were being cared for was the only thing that had made his hell bearable growing up. As he had suffered at the hands of Harold and the others, he had reminded himself that if not for him, one of his brothers would have been tortured in his place.
    Better he should be beaten and humiliated than any of them. They were good and decent, and they deserved only the best that life could provide for them.
    “We have a brother, too,” Jamie said. “Dermot the doormat.”
    “Jamie!” Caledonia snapped. “He would have your head for that.”
    “It’s better than what he calls me.”
    “Your older brother?” Sin asked her.
    “Nay. I am the eldest.”
    He nodded. “That explains much.”
    “Much of