Read Online In the Laird's Bed by Joanne Rock - Free Book Online Page A

until the end of spring. “Now that the Danes have given up on the coast, the sea is very safe for travelers.”
    She had turned toward him in her excitement and for a moment, she thought he considered it. But then he let out a ripe bark of laughter and handed back her herbs.
    “Edwina, those eyes of yours are enough to drive a man to almost consider it.” He grinned and shook his head. “I will wait until you come to your senses. But I will wait for you, my sweet.”
    His tender words didn’t begin to penetrate her cold anger, but she did her best to appear only mildly miffed. She would need Henry and his protection yet. How else would she return to Domhnaill without her father’s approval or her own coin?
    Soon, she would slip out of her bed one night and put her wiles to work. Poor Henry’s honor was about to be tested to the fullest.

Chapter Five
    “I don’t know why I have to wait with you,” Keane grumbled later that week as he stood beside Cristiana in the great hall. “Can you not wait for the young Culcanon and bring him to your da’s chamber when he arrives?”
    “No.” She gripped the old adviser’s wrist, unwilling to meet Duncan alone for even a moment.
    Although he’d been a gentleman the past three days, she had not dismissed the warning he’d given her outside her chamber. She would not be foolish enough to tempt fate and cross paths with him unaccompanied. In the past, she’d been sorely tempted by his stolen kisses. How great might the allure become if he applied all his efforts toward seduction?
    She was ashamed to admit how much time she had devoted toward considering the topic. Her body stillburned with the memory of what had happened on the staircase leading to her chamber.
    “Well, I don’t know how you expect your da to scare off the man when the laird has not been reminded what you hope to gain from this meeting.” Keane scrubbed the matted fur atop one of the hounds’ heads as the older man paced in front of the hearth. “He gets confused. He will not know to let me do the talking.”
    They had already moved the appointment once, as the laird had been particularly unwell the day they first intended to speak. Cristiana had begged Keane to send Duncan a note using her father’s seal, since she had not wanted to broach the topic with him herself. She had decided her safest course of action was to keep her distance and do whatever she could to encourage a speedy leave-taking.
    “I went to his chamber earlier to remind him.” Cristiana had not let her father forget that a Culcanon touched Edwina without the protection of marriage. And while her father did not know about the babe that resulted from the union, he had stormed about the keep threatening war for days afterward. Cristiana felt certain he would recall their enmity for a few hours at least. “He knows we hope do drive Duncan away and get back to the business of choosing a viable successor to—”
    “My lady. Keane.” Duncan’s low tone rolled through the hall, his voice touching a nerve withher. He stood in the door and gave a shallow bow in greeting. His high color and damp hair gave him the appearance of a man who’d already been out of doors. “Shall we?”
    Keane gave the hound a last scratch and hurried over.
    “Aye.” The word croaked from her lips as if she hadn’t spoken in a sennight. She’d been silent beside him at sup the past few days, eating quickly and then rising from her seat to make merry with other guests.
    Keane did not seem to notice any awkwardness, however. He hurried toward the doors while the matted hound barked at his retreat.
    “This way, then.” He waved Duncan to follow him. “The laird expects us, but he has much to do today and will not have a great deal of time.”
    Cristiana heard the nervousness in the counselor’s voice as they sought the back stairs leading directly from the hall to the laird’s chamber. Would Duncan detect the anxiousness, too?
    For the first time,