Read Online Victoria Roberts - [Bad Boys of the Highlands 03] by To Wed a Wicked Highlander - Free Book Online

admit that she was strangely flattered by his interest.
    “Wife, ’tis still too early to seek our marriage bed. We must return to the celebration.” His voice was low and alluring.
    An unwelcome blush crept onto Sybella’s cheeks as she tried to swallow the lump that lingered in her throat. She was humiliatingly conscious of her husband’s scrutiny. She was perfectly aware that she needed to gain his trust, but surely Alexander must think his new wife some type of harlot for kissing him so wantonly in broad daylight.
    She was an idiot.

Six
    Sybella donned her nightrail and sat in the chair in her bedchamber. Should she be sitting? Maybe she should be standing. She rose and started to pace. Perhaps she should be still. She folded her hands together and then crossed her arms over her chest. What was she supposed to be doing? She felt like a daft fool. When Alexander did not walk through the adjoining door, she sat down on the bed. She sure wasn’t going to appear as though she was waiting for the man to grace her with his presence.
    When her husband finally walked through the door, he was dressed in his tunic and kilt. His warm eyes were full of something she could not quite identify, and although what he expected was not clear, there was something captivating in his look. Since Alexander still wore his clothes, maybe he had decided not to consummate the marriage this eve. If that was true, Sybella felt completely underdressed for the occasion.
    He placed a tankard down on the bedside table. “Wife.”
    “Alexander.”
    His gaze lowered, as did his voice. “Ye have yet to call me husband or Alex.”
    “We barely know one another,” she said quietly.
    “Now that simply isnae true. We have known each other since the day at the waterfall.” His tone was laced with subtle amusement.
    Her mouth dropped open. “The waterfall ? We hardly spoke.”
    He gave her a roguish grin and Sybella cast her eyes downward. All too quickly, she had run out of diversions. How much longer could she postpone the inevitable? She tried to force her confused emotions into order and couldn’t stand the unwelcome tension. Praise the saints. There was no sense worrying about what could not be changed. One way or another, after tonight, she would no longer be an innocent woman.
    She took a deep breath and consciously masked her inner turmoil with deceptive calmness. But when the silence began to grate on her nerves, she decided to address the subject head on.
    “Is there something we need to do first?” She waved her hand in a nervous gesture.
    Alexander was momentarily speechless in his surprise. “I was going to speak with ye and offer ye a wee bit of ale, but if ye wish to have me in your bed…” When his eyes darkened with an unreadable emotion, Sybella flopped back onto the bed and adjusted her pillow.
    “I am nervous enough. This prolonged torture doesnae benefit anyone. Can ye please do what ye need to do?” She bit her lip in a nervous gesture.
    A gentle chuckle answered her as her husband stood perfectly still beside the bed. “Do what I need to do?” He dropped down beside her, facing her, while she continued to stare at the ceiling. Draping his arm over her waist, he shook his head. “Ye donna want any wooing words before we—”
    “Why would ye need to give me wooing words when I am already your wife?” she asked dryly.
    “Look at me.” When she turned her head, she saw a suggestion of annoyance in his eyes. “Ye are far too tense. Ye need to relax and calm yourself. This doesnae have to be unpleasant.”
    “Speaks the man with the…” Sybella gestured toward her husband’s manhood and quickly added, “ cluigean. ” Hanging thing.
    Her husband stared at her and then burst out laughing. When she started to grind her teeth, the amusement left his eyes. “Sybella, I only try to speak with ye to calm ye.”
    She huffed. “Ye have been doing naught but speaking. I donna think your words will change the end