Taming His Rebel Lady by Jane Godman

Author:Jane Godman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Georgian, highlander, romance, 1745 rising, historical, Scottish, marriage of convenience
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2015-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

It was impossible to fathom what was going on behind the inscrutable darkness of Edwin’s eyes. And Iona was forced to concede that now was probably not the best time to try. After the night they had shared, her every instinct craved his nearness. She wanted to be held by him, to analyse what had occurred between them, to unpick what he felt for her. Most of all, she needed reassurance that it was going to happen again…and again. His abrupt dismissal this morning had dismayed her. Then she reminded herself how little she knew of men. Perhaps it was always this way.

He looked up, as if sensing her eyes upon him, and he smiled. God, the things he could do to her insides with that smile! More than anything else, she wanted to grab his hand and drag him off to a quiet corner and slide her hand inside those tight breeches… Since they were in a church, and she was supposed to be performing her duties as godmother to her new nephew, she should probably stop looking at her husband and concentrate on the task in hand.

The baptism was a mix of Christian ceremony and folk ritual. Fraser and Martha, accompanied by their guests, had brought their newborn son the short distance from the castle to the loch-side kirk. Birth was considered a time of great peril. Mother and child were regarded by those such as Cora who clung steadfastly to the old beliefs, as vulnerable to attack by witches, fairies and other malevolent spirits. Before Martha and baby Jack entered the church, a fiery peat torch was passed three times around them. Fraser threw a burning coal into a bowl of water held by Iona and Jack’s godfather, one of the neighbouring lairds. The godparents used this water to wash the baby’s face. The minister broke fresh-baked bannocks and distributed these with cheese to the guests as they entered the kirk. Extra portions were placed in a basket and left outside to appease the ever-watchful fairies.

Now, as the minister completed his blessing and the congregation rose to say a prayer, Iona pinned an iron brooch onto Jack’s shawl. This was a special pin, fastened to the clothing of a baby as a talisman against witches. It had belonged to Iona when she was a baby and had been her mother’s before her. Martha pressed Iona’s hand in thanks when the task was completed.

Back at the castle, the festivities began in earnest, and Cora had excelled herself with a banquet that would have shamed the English court in its variety and quantity. Iona had unaccountably lost her appetite. As the other guests ate their way through courses including pureed chestnut soup, hare stew, wild salmon and candied fruit, all she could think about was the man at her side. Her eyes lingered on Edwin’s hands as he cut his food and remembered how they felt as they probed the most intimate parts of her body. She watched in fascination as he sipped his wine and thought of how his lips tasted on hers.

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