Read Online A Stockingful of Joy by Susan King Justine Dare Mary Jo Putney Jill Barnett - Free Book Online

He's a smart lad, and nearly a man."
    She nodded and sipped the brose. The thick, sweet stuff slipped down her throat like fire and honey, warming her despite the pervasive chill in the hut. The wind shrieked past the house, but the blazing hearth and the presence of the man beside her were vastly comforting.
    Kenneth stood to toss a few sticks of kindling over the peat chunks, and used the iron poker to coax a bright, leaping fire.
    "Do you see those little blue flames?" she asked. "Those are the spirits of the hearth."
    "Good omens, I hope," he said as he sat beside her again.
    "Quite good. That square bit of peat, there, foretells wealth coming into a house. And that long, round shape means a stranger will come into the house."
    "Ah," he said. "I told you I was lucky for you."
    She rolled her eyes. "That remains to be seen."
    He smiled. "You will be surrounded with luck, Catriona MacDonald. A dark-haired man fell across your doorstep, loaded down with good fortune and goodwill." She laughed softly at his gentle teasing. "Ah, look," he said. "More square chunks in the fire. They predict much wealth for you this year. What does that fat little chunk of peat mean?"
    "That?" She frowned. "A birth within the year, I think."
    "Ah. Well," he said, "perhaps your cow will calf."
    "Perhaps." She wrinkled her nose. "It is beginning to smell like a stable in here."
    He chuckled. "I will have to shovel out the straw sooner than I thought, if we are to share this place with them."
    "This will help." Catriona grabbed a slender juniper branch from the kindling pile, and tossed it on the fire. Soon the smoky evergreen fragrance of the juniper began to counter some of the animals' pungency. She climbed back into the warm nest of the bed and sat beside Kenneth; they both welcomed
Cù there when he slid out from his hiding place to curl between them.
    Kenneth smoothed his hand over the cat's sleekness, as did Catriona, and their fingers touched. His hand moved past hers slowly. She shivered, but knew it was not from the chill, and remained silent, as he did, both of them stroking the cat.
    She listened to the thrust and whine of the storm, and the purring cat, watched the fire and sensed the peacefulness of Kenneth's silence. Delicious currents of heat and contentment poured through her, and she sighed. She felt truly sheltered, while bitterness raged outside.
    "The storm is fierce. The cold and the ice could last for days," Kenneth murmured.
    "It could," she agreed. Then this heaven of peace would continue, she thought dreamily.
    "I should leave soon," he said.
    "But you planned to stay," she said, looking up at him.
    "Tomorrow my horse should be able to manage the hills, and I will ride out to see the children. Then I must return to Glenran. My cousins will be wondering what happened to me." He smiled at her. "But I am not leaving just yet."
    "I am glad," she whispered.
    "Are you?" His gaze was steady and deep.
    She nodded. "And I am glad you set first-foot in my house. You have brought me good fortune after all. You saved the animals from the cold, and cleared the ice on the roof. It was good luck that brought you here in that storm. I might have been alone here, to deal with the ice."
    His fingers covered hers over the cat's back. "Perhaps I shall be your first-foot next year," he murmured, "if you like."
    "I would like that," she whispered. He leaned closer, and she tilted her head toward him, hoping suddenly.
    The first touch of his lips was soft and tentative, but the next kiss, deep and full, swept her breath away. She circled her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Kenneth pushed the cat gently out of the way and wrapped her in his arms.
    His mouth delved over hers with such strength and heat that she seemed to melt, like butter in hot brose. She felt the light caress of his tongue across the seam of her lips, and she sighed, loving the strange new intimacy of it.
    She leaned back and let him take her down to the pile of