Read Online Enraptured by Candace Camp - Free Book Online Page A

it to her. Reflexively Coll touched the sgian-dubh he carried at the back of his belt, wondering if it, too, was indeed Malcolm’s.
    It was easy for Coll to get lost in a book, especially one such as this that held old secrets, but tonight he had difficulty concentrating. His thoughts kept turning to Violet, somewhere in the rooms above him. He wondered which bedchamber was hers. Was she curled up in a chair by the fire, reading as he was? She was sure to be a bookish woman. Or was she asleep, tucked up in one of the great monstrosities of a bed that Duncally offered, sheltered by looming headboards and canopies and heavy draperies? He shifted restlessly in his chair, thinking of her nestled among the pillows, dark lashes casting shadows on her cheeks, a doubtlessly chaste white nightgown covering the soft swell of her breasts.
    Sharp, rapid footsteps in the hall roused him from his wandering thoughts. Coll lifted his head, pulse quickening, as Violet Thornhill strode through the door. She stopped abruptly when she saw him, letting out a little gasp, but recovered her composure quickly.
    â€œMr. Munro.”
    â€œLady Violet.” He rose to his feet, his blood pumping through him in a hot, hard rhythm.
    She was dressed for bed, soft slippers on her feet and a brocade dressing gown belted around her. The heavy robe concealed her body more than any frock would, but something about the knowledge that she was dressed for bed was inherently arousing. Between the lapels of her robe, he could see a small V of that white cotton gown he had imagined a moment earlier. And her hair—ah, her hair, thick and dark and lustrous, spilling over her shoulders and down her back—was enough to make him weak in the knees.
    â€œI’m sorry.” Her voice was quick and a trifle breathless. “I did not expect to see you here.”
    â€œAmazingly, I am able to read, despite my low birth.”
    â€œI didn’t mean that!” Color rose in her cheeks. “I just—I was unaware you were in the house. You are uncommonly quick to take offense.”
    â€œMm. You should know about that.”
    She lifted her chin, but then, surprising him, she dropped her pugnacious pose, looking faintly embarrassed. “I know I can appear somewhat, um, prickly.”
    â€œCan you now?” He widened his eyes dramatically.
    Violet gave him a dark look. “Yes; I am well aware what people think of me. However, I do not mean to give offense.”
    â€œThen I shall strive not to take it.” Coll smiled. “As long as you will promise to do the same for me.”
    â€œI will.” She extended her hand.
    He had no choice but to take it. In truth, though he suspected it was not wise, he wanted to take it. Her hand in his was small and soft and feminine despite the firmness of her handshake. He would have liked to slide his fingers up onto her wrist, discovering the steady beat of her pulse, the tenderness of her skin. And higher, under the full, loose sleeve of her dressing gown.
    Coll dropped her hand and stepped back. “I trust you found everything at the ruins to your satisfaction.” He cleared his throat. “I told two of the gardening staff to report to you tomorrow morning. I sent a message to Dougal as well.”
    â€œThank you.” She gazed at him in her disconcertingly level, candid manner.
    â€œYou’re welcome. I was rude earlier, and I apologize.”
    Violet smiled, her face lighting in a way that made his chest tighten. She had, he saw, a most alluring dimple in her cheek. “No, do not apologize. We have agreed upon a general truce, have we not?”
    â€œYes.” He smiled back at her. “That we have.”
    He cast about for something else to say, something that would keep her here and talking with him in this easy way. It turned out he did not need to.
    â€œI went by the barrow when I started home,” Violet told him. “By the circle of standing