Knight In My Bed by Sue-Ellen Welfonder Read Free Book Online

wishes. "And if the MacLean proves he can abstain from insults and is not rough with me, I want him unchained from my bed. That, too, I find unsettling."
    Both men stared, twin looks of incredulity on their faces. So much so, Isolde felt a wee twinge of guilt. Even after two years, she was not yet comfortable exerting her authority as chieftain, but the gravity of her present predicament gave her no choice but to do so.
    Without further objections, both men nodded and moved away. Isolde winced at the injured looks they'd given her. Niels and Rory were among the few able-armed men left beneath her roof. But an audience of listeners during her ... encounters ... with Donall the Bold would only heighten her ill ease.
    The silence returned, a deafening quiet so loud she could hear the rainwater coursing down the castle stonework. Silence loomed on the far side of her closed bedchamber door, too.
    A strange silence, for she suddenly realized that in her haste to exit the room, she'd unwittingly shut in poor Bodo.
    Her little dog was inside the room with the MacLean.
    And Bodo wasn't barking.
    Bodo!
    All else forgotten, she pushed open the door and rushed inside. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight before her. The MacLean knelt beside her bed, his handsome face relaxed and smiling as he rubbed Bodo's belly.
    The wee dog lay sprawled on his back, completely at ease, whilst he trailed the backs of his fingers down Bodo's white-furred tummy.
    And the little traitor appeared to enjoy the man's touch.
    As if only now becoming aware she'd just burst into the room, fully prepared to rescue him from the MacLean's clutches, Bodo turned his head to stare at her. Jaws open, and tongue lolling out one side of his mouth, he appeared to be laughing at her.
    But attuned to her emotions as he always seemed to be, his comical expression quickly changed to one of contrition. He leaped up at once, shook himself, then scrambled across the rush-strewn floor to his bed by the hearth. Looking duly chastised, he circled a few times, then curled up in a ball, his back to the room's two occupants.
    Isolde returned her gaze to the MacLean, only to find he, too, stared at the dog, a shadow of a smile still playing across his too-sensuous lips.
    As if he knew the instant she glanced his way, he pushed to his feet and turned toward her, the look on his handsome face so compelling she couldn't have moved if her life depended on it.
    His gaze flickered briefly to Bodo. "I could see you well content, too, my lady," he drawled.
    His smile turned wicked and something akin to amusement gleamed in the depths of his deep brown eyes. But then al] traces of merriment faded and his expression grew cold, hard, and angry. "Aye, I could pleasure you," he said. " If I was wont to ... which I am not. "
    Isolde swallowed hard. Embarrassment dampened her palms, and mortification rode hard on her shoulders, while her heart threatened to gallop out of all restraint and bounds.
    “Your being here has naught to do with pleasure," she snapped, amazed the words hadn't stuck to her tongue.
    Donall the Bold merely arched a brow.
    Heat crept up Isolde's neck. "I would have words with you."
    "Words that make you blush?" His lips curved in another cold smile.
    A knowing smile .
    He knew what she wanted of him.
    He knew and was making sport of her.
    "Private words of great import." She met his mocking gaze with another interpretation of her da's laird's look.
    "I can scarce wait to hear them." One corner of Donall the Bold's lips quirked with what she hoped wasn't amusement.
    "I've ordered a repast brought up," she blurted, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction.
    Anywhere but into the realm of what must happen between them.
    What had to happen, and would, if ever she could embolden herself to seduce him.
    Not yet ready to be so daring, she wet her lips and hoped the layers of her chemise and skirt concealed her trembling knees. "I've also arranged to have