Highland Wedding by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online

deter Lord Fraser from trying anything else but Iain decided to keep a close watch upon the man.
    Breathing a sigh of relief, Islaen hurried inside her chambers when Iain stopped before her door. She knew she had not fooled him for a moment with her elusive answers concerning what had happened between herself and Lord Fraser, but fortunately he had not pressed the matter. If he kept a closer eye on the man that could only be for the best. She decided to forget Lord Fraser and concentrate on her faltering campaign to impress Sir Iain MacLagan with her worthiness as a bride.
     
    Contemplating the move that would checkmate Iain, Islaen wondered if she should make it. She had clearly impressed him with her ability at chess, a game he evidently liked very well, but she wondered if beating him at the game was going too far. Her brothers had never liked it. The last thing she wished to do was hurt his pride.
    “Islaen, I swear I shallnae sulk.”
    Hearing the laughter in his voice, she grimaced and made her move, muttering, “Checkmate.”
    Seeing her pained look Iain could not restrain a soft laugh. “I think that hurt ye more than it did me, lass.”
    “Aye, she does look pained,” said a deep seductive voice.
    Glancing up as Iain rose to greet the man, Islaen gaped. Never had she seen such a beautiful man. From his thick golden hair to his long, elegant and graceful body there appeared no flaw. It no longer surprised her that a voice could send shivers down her spine. As Iain introduced her to Alexander MacDubh, Islaen decided that such a voice suited a man like Alexander to perfection.
    Subtly watching Islaen’s reaction to Alexander, Iain suddenly understood why his brother Tavis, even after ten years of marriage to Storm, hated to have the man within feet of his wife. Islaen watched Alexander as if the man fascinated her. It struck Iain as highly contradictory that he did not want to be wed yet he did not want her to be drawn to any other man. Ignoring Alexander’s amusement, Iain rather hastily agreed with Meg when the woman arrived to say that Islaen ought to take some time to view the preparations for the wedding.
    “I hear the king arranged the marriage,” Alexander remarked as soon as Islaen had left.
    “As he neatly arranged yours.”
    “True, but I think ye got a better bargain. Howbeit, I hear that many wish the bond broken ere it is e’en made.”
    “Ye have heard a lot for a mon who has but now arrived at court.”
    “Ah, weel, I had a talk with the Lady Constance.”
    “A talk, hmmm?”
    “A short one followed by a kind lady’s consolation for a lonely widower.”
    “Ye have been a widower for twa years. Ye bleed that ploy dry.”
    “And ye tell me naught. Have ye no words about the wedding or the wee sweet child to be your wife?”
    “That child is nineteen.” He almost smiled at Alexander’s surprise. “Lord Fraser and your cousin Ronald MacDubh wished to gain her hand. Neither is pleased that I now gain the dowry they hungered for. Aye and the lass. She has eleven brothers and a fither who would kill me in an instant if I cannae keep her weel and happy. Aye, I am to be wed but best ye not raise your tankard in salute unless ’tis to wish me the luck to live ’til the year’s end.”
    “Especially with MacLennon still lurking about. Ye have stepped into a mire, have ye not.”
    “Aye and I am sinking fast.”
    “She seems a sweet lass. There could be some good to be found.”
    “Aye there could be, but I willnae seek it. She could wake up to find herself a widow but hours after she has become a bride. T’would be most cruel to play with her affections in any way when my life is in such danger.”
    “True and mayhaps ye run from the wrong things, Iain, my friend.”
    “I ken weel what I flee, Alexander.”
    “Do ye ken what ye can lose? I had no chance in my brief marriage. I wed a woman whose heart belonged to none, but whose body was given to all. The only good I gained was my