Page 59 of The Wrong Bride
Maggie coughed on the wine she’d just sipped, drawing the attention of those at the dais.
“Shall I send for something different to drink, Mistress Maggie?” Riona called.
“Please, I’m just Maggie, and nay, I simply swallowed wrong, I did.”
Hugh noticed that Maggie couldn’t even meet Riona’s gaze. “Your face is red. If ye start laughing—”
“I won’t, I won’t. Just . . . just give me a moment.” She took another sip of her wine, a smaller one this time, then wiped the tears from her eyes. “Och, Hugh, ye always make me laugh.”
“’Tis a serious thing, Maggie. Riona and I don’t know each other, and I spend my days learning to be chief since Father kept tight hold of the reins.”
“Aye, and ye weren’t here either, don’t forget. Not by our own say at first, of course. That was all Mother.”
They both briefly sobered, and again, he caught his sister’s curious glance.
“Riona and I have no time alone together, and I thought . . . bundling is an old custom. Why should I not try it when nothing else seemed to work?”
She leaned toward him and asked eagerly, “And has it worked?”
He cleared his throat uncomfortably.
“And the rope—that helps ye talk rather than kiss?”
“Well, the point is, ye can kiss. Ye just cannot . . . This is far too uncomfortable to discuss with my own sister.”
“But ’tis something I should allow if I were to decide to marry?”
“That’s not necessary—”
She arched a brow with interest. “Truly? Ye’re saying ’tis fine for you, but not for me?”
“I shouldn’t be discussing it—’tis a private matter.”
Maggie smothered her giggles behind her hand, and Riona glanced at them with interest. He nodded to his betrothed and didn’t mind so much when she returned to her conversation with Dermot.
Hugh had hoped his sister would use her gift to confirm he was doing the right thing wooing Riona; instead, he only had his own judgment to go by, and if that was true—
The bundling wasn’t about to stop. He thought about it all day, imagined what he was going to do to her, and how she was going to respond. He felt like a youth pursuing his first love.
But Riona wasn’t the first girl he’d tried to marry; he refused to allow a relationship to end that badly ever again.
CHAPTER 16
When Hugh came to her room that night, Riona told herself she would be ready. She had a half-dozen questions to ask—even though she knew coming up with them was partly a distraction just for herself. She’d spent the evening in the great hall watching Hugh with his sister, and had been far too fascinated. She’d never seen him so talkative and cheerful and expressive. Before tonight, he’d seemed a man very restrained in his emotions from long practice. And that might still be true, but beneath, he was a man who’d once known how to laugh, who’d been an excellent brother, who knew how to treat his mother with some respect, even though something had clearly happened to alter things between them.
Thinking about this helped her forget the last time he tied her up, but nothing could distract her for long. Her body craved that experience again;she’d lain awake each night when the gentlemen had monopolized Hugh and regretted that he would not be coming to her. She was wanton, she was wicked, she was losing the battle with her conscience. This would only bring her misery—she could never be Hugh’s bride.
But when he arrived, all those thoughts fled, and the hot yearning seemed to pool in the depths of her belly and make her tremble. He stared at her like he was starving and she was his only food. As if in a dream, he came across the room toward her, pulling off his shirt and dropping it. The expanse of his chest made her breath catch. He’d replaced the plaid he’d worn earlier with breeches, so he’d taken some care against the risks. She had to do the same.
“So—I like your sister,” she said brightly, breathlessly.
He came to a stop a foot away from the bed, and his focused stare faded. “What?”
He sounded as dazed as she felt, which she tried to take strength from. She had to keep control, because he was under no such constraint. He wanted her to lose herself in him, to deny him the need for the ropes, to make her his wife even with a trial marriage.
“You and Maggie seem like you’ve always been close,” she continued.
“Aye. Ye have a sister; ye understand. I’d do anything for her.”
