Caelen's Wife: Book One - A Murmur of Providence (Clan McDunnah Series 1) by Suzan Tisdale Read Free Book Online Page A

might no’ have too many days left on this earth?”
    The auld woman was going to drive him to an early grave.

Chapter 7
    “ T wenty-five ?” Fiona asked with barely concealed fury as she paced back and forth in her private study. “Twenty-five more sheep?”
    Collin McCray stood patiently in front of the hearth. Having drawn the short straw, it was up to him to tell Fiona the news. Twenty-five sheep had been stolen in the middle of the night and this time, a message was left.
    “Aye, Fi,” he said. “And this time, there was a message.”
    Fiona stopped pacing. “A message?”
    Reluctantly, he recounted what had been told to him by Seamus, who had been told the story by Dudley McFarland, one of the men in charge of guarding the sheep at night. After the first reiving, they had increased patrols and guards to watch over the sheep. “The McDunnah sends his regards.”
    Seldom did Fiona ever lose her temper. ’Twas a rarity and one of the things that her clan admired about her. Publicly, she would have remained calm and reserved, not allowing anyone to see how angry she was.
    Today, she was not in public and she let loose her frustration with a slew of curses that made even Collin blush.
    Within the hour, Fiona McPherson, three of her brothers, and ten of her best men, were mounted and heading for McDunnah lands.

    T hree days had passed since Fiona McPherson had visited Caelen’s keep.
    Caelen couldn’t get the image of beautiful woman out of his mind.
    It vexed him.
    He had tried drinking the thoughts and images away. He had tried sparring them away.
    This morning, he thought he would make another attempt by leaving the keep and hunting, with the hope that, for a few hours at least, he could be rid of the lustful thoughts that plagued him. For a few hours, at least, it had worked.
    Hunting with him were his cousin and second in command, Kenneth, and seven other men. Things had been going along splendidly all the day long. They’d managed to catch half a dozen rabbits, several pheasant, and even a nice-sized stag. Caelen’s mouth watered when he thought of what his cook, Jinny McDunnah, would do with the deer meat.
    They were camped in a small clearing miles from their keep. Caelen and Kenneth had just finished tying the buck to the branch of a large tree and bleeding it, when the sound of horses approaching broke through the chatter of male laughter. Later, years later when Kenneth would recount what happened next, he would swear that a cold wind had blown in, a forewarning of what was to come.
    Caelen had seen the riders first.
    McPhersons.
    A quick scan of the group was all it took to spot Fiona. In the images and dreams that had bedeviled him, he had envisioned her riding naked atop a snow-white mare, her hair billowing in the wind behind her, her green eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
    She was far from naked this day. Resplendent, nonetheless, as she rode a big bay. Dressed for battle it seemed, what with her chainmail, leather armor and trews, and full face helm. He knew it was her, for she was the smallest of all the riders and her brothers and men rode on either side of her. Naked or dressed in full battle regalia, the effect on his person was the same. Desire didn’t just flicker in his groin. It burned, and were he a less experienced man, it might very well have exploded.
    Caelen felt his chest tighten, not with dread or fear, but of want and desire. Realizing what those sensations werewas what made him want to run and hide like a lad not yet old enough to grow a beard. That, in turn, made him feel like a fool, which quickly made him quite angry with himself.
    It amazed him to no end how a woman — this particular woman — could crack open the old, thick wall he had built around his heart. But crack it she had. Ever hopeful he could mend that crack before any real damage was done, he swallowed hard and pretended he hadn’t seen her.
    “Bloody hell,” Kenneth muttered when he saw who approached.