The Knight before Christmas by Jackie Ivie

Author:Jackie Ivie [Ivie, Jackie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Medieval
Published: 2011-01-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

« ^ »

Myles had been invited to attend to the laird of Eschoncan in the chieftain room before their banquet. He knew why. He was to present himself to his future father-by-law, commit to the wedding and documents giving him ownership of Rocky Fells and leadership of Clan Eschon. They’d also be making him owner and chief executor of this drafty, badly constructed, and even more poorly maintained keep. He hoped there wasn’t anyone in the clan who would fight it when he sent for enough men to raze the castle to the ground. Myles’s lips twisted at the thought. He’d keep that plan to himself. There would also be the gift he had of gold coin, the lengthy listing of his assets—prime among them being eldest son and heir to Donal—and there was every chance Kendran would be there, too.

There was no need of hurrying, although everything on his body seemed of a differing opinion. He couldn’t wait to see her again. It felt like months had passed, rather than the course of days. And each moment that was prolonged made seeing her again that much more desirable, alluring, and craved.

His entire being craved her. He hadn’t known it happened that way. None at Castle Donal spoke of a love like he must feel for her. None. In the whole of his lands, none had even whispered about the existence of an emotion akin to this. All they spoke of—and chided each other over—was carnality, lust, and a play love that felt cheap and tawdry in comparison. None told him of the hard knot that was forming where his heart was supposed to be, making it a thumping ache, sending more of the same into his limbs rather than blood, just from being apart from her. And from not knowing. That was the worst. Such a love clouded his senses, took over his form, and compelled his every motion. It was heady. Powerful. Draining. He couldn’t concentrate. He couldn’t move smoothly when he needed to, and he couldn’t comprehend why. Myles forced himself to calm—to stop the tremble of his frame, the increase of his pulse, the shallowness of his breaths—yet each bit of time that passed made it harder to accomplish any of it.

He probably shouldn’t have left her as he had, but he’d thought it the best move at the time. He hadn’t known how much time they had before her clan would come for her… and he’d wanted to surprise her. He wanted to see her face when she found out the truth: that the man she detested wedding was her very own croft partner. He hoped she liked the bean gesture, too.

They had their banquet scheduled for late. Near midnight. Myles assumed it was so they could get the proper cooking time to the game they’d decided to roast, but all he had to go by was the undercooked fare Beggin had procured for him. It was a feast of poorly seasoned, undercooked venison,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.