Tangled Hearts by Heather McCollum Read Free Book Online Page B

ran through her as she swallowed and touched her lips. They felt full, warm. She turned to peer into the polished looking glass. Aye, she did look tussled, just like a girl reeling from her very first kiss.
    …
    Ewan paused in the corridor, his hand against the rough rock of the wall. He’d meant to steal the kiss from her, had wanted to since he’d watched her climb the dark stairwell at Rosewood. After tricking him into helping her, he deserved a kiss. Despite her biting words and glares, her beauty intrigued him, and he’d wanted to know what she tasted like. When he’d seen her golden brown hair in the light of day, he’d wanted to bury his face in it. And now he knew how silky those gentle waves felt slipping through his fingers.
    He swallowed. She tasted like warm, sultry woman, but more than that. She was wild adventure, free spirit, and clever wit all rolled up into one exquisite package. He inhaled with smooth control. To talk about being wed with a lass should have sent off a battle cry in his mind. Instead he’d bantered about it. Bloody hell!
    He ran a hand along his stubbled chin. What at first seemed like his deserved prize had turned into something dangerous. Instead of satisfying his curiosity, the damn kiss just made him want more. That was dangerous, because she was trouble. From head to toe, Pandora Wyatt or Rebecca Wellington or Dory Mereworth, she was beyond complicated and right into full on danger. And he’d just jested with her and then kissed her.
    So soft. She was the spawn of Boswell. Yielding. She was raised by pirates! Delicious. She wanted to break into the Tower! Tantalizing. She was a bloody witch!
    Ewan growled low and strode down the hall toward Wulfhall’s great hall that adjoined the entryway. He should make certain Searc was out of trouble. If anything happened to the lad, Rachel Munro would have his entrails for breakfast. Searc was her last surviving son and heir to the Munro clan. His father had suggested he accompany Ewan to give the lad some experience in the world. Then Rachel had taken Ewan aside and told him just what she’d do to him if her sixteen-year-old son gained too much experience.
    Ewan was about to round the corner and stopped.
    “We were quite right to send the moneys back to him. If we want her to be queen she cannot come across as a royal whore.”
    Ewan recognized the voice of the man who’d questioned him when Jane brought them home. Edward Seymour, her brother.
    “Of course not, but he is so volatile since he injured his leg and then Queen Anne lost a son. I swear but it shouldn’t take much more for him to rid himself of her.”
    “Sending the moneys back may just be the impetus to do it. Thomas, he knows now that Jane’s price is marriage, and that she’s certainly interested. I reviewed her return note.”
    “Oh, that our dear sister would give him an heir.”
    “I will certainly drink to that.”
    “And pray.”
    “No doubt.”
    Ewan turned silently back the way he’d come. He’d find another exit to the stables. His mind tucked away the important snatch of conversation. Not only were they in the home of English aristocrats, they were sitting among potential royals that may or may not have King Henry’s ear. If Dory helped the young Jane, she could win the gratitude of the most powerful man in the English realm. There may be no need to scale the Tower’s walls if what he’d heard was true and not some overly ambitious brother.
    He found Searc napping in a pile of hay in the stables with the tabby cat curled under one arm. The dog jumped up and trotted around Ewan while he petted her. Ewan kicked the lad’s boot. Searc opened one eye and closed it again.
    “Since we seem to be here for the night and I’ve been demoted to stable boy,” the lad said, “I figured I’d catch up on the sleep I missed last night.”
    “Rest, but be ready to leave.”
    Searc opened his eyes. “Something amiss?”
    Ewan looked back toward the large manor