Read Online When a Laird Loves a Lady (Highlander Vows: Entangled Hearts Book 1) by Julie Johnstone - Free Book Online Page B

ever been in love?” she
blurted.
    He started at her question. “Aye.”
The word throbbed with suppressed pain that made Marion instantly curious about
what had happened and completely relieved that he could feel for another with
such depth. “What happened to the woman you loved?”
    “She died,” he replied, the words
catching in his throat.
    Marion bit her lip at how awful it
was to lose someone you loved. She’d never been in love, but she had loved her
mother greatly and lost her. “I’m so sorry,” she offered lamely. “How did she
die?” Sometimes it helped to talk of it. At least it had helped her to talk to
Angus about the unfairness of her mother’s passing.
    “She was sick,” he replied, his
voice like a blast of cold air. “Dunnae ask me of my wife again. Ken?”
    “Your wife?” she gasped, unable to
control her reaction. “I didn’t know you’d been married before.”
    “There was no reason ye would,” he
said, his tone still chilly as if her words had opened a wound and he was now
irritated. She struggled to find something to say to put him at ease when he
clicked his tongue again and his horse began to move.
    In the distance, she could see her
father’s castle, and her thoughts shifted from Iain to Angus. She clutched
Iain’s hard thigh before she realized what she was doing. When she felt the
muscles tense under her touch, she released him, her cheeks flaming.
    “We need a plot to get Angus out of
the castle,” she said, turning to the subject that most needed to be addressed.
    “I already have one,” he replied dismissively.
    She clenched her teeth and inhaled
a long steady breath. “I wish to be part of the plot.”
    “It’s best ye learn now, Marion,
that ye’ll nae always get what ye wish,” Iain said, pulling his horse to a stop next to some large trees where Rory Mac was already helping Neil off the horse.
Iain dismounted quickly and assisted Marion down. Once her feet hit the ground,
she turned toward him, her temper flaring that he too seemed to think her
spoiled and pampered.
    “I’ve learned well enough that I’ll
not always get what I want, but in this, I must demand.”
    Iain shook his head, his jaw set in
obvious determination. “I’ve spoken, and that is that.”
    That was that!? He’d spoken!?
    She turned away from him before she
said some rather unladylike things. She learned in dealing with her
hard-hearted father that sometimes it was better to simply do what you wanted rather
than ask and be denied. And she wanted to help rescue Angus. It made perfect
sense. She knew her father’s castle and Iain did not.
     

     
    Iain may not know Marion de Lacy
very well yet, but he knew she was angry. Any clot-heid who could see would
recognize it from her narrowed eyes and high color. Plus, she turned swiftly
away from him and her back was stiff and her foot tapping. He knew she wanted
to help, but the best way she could help him was to ensure he did not worry
about keeping her safe.
    “Marion, turn around,” he
commanded. When she didn’t budge, he stifled the annoyance that threatened to
overflow and decided to try a gentler approach. She didn’t know the way of the
Highlands, after all. Maybe she didn’t understand that she should obey him
without command, yet given his meeting with her father, he suspected de Lacy
had demanded obedience without question. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe
Marion thought he was going to be as cruel to her as her father must have been.
    “Marion,” he tried again. When she
didn’t turn toward him, he decided he could waste no more time. He grasped her
by the shoulders and spun her around. She stubbornly kept her gaze down. He
suppressed an unexpected desire to smile. He wasn’t used to being defied, and
he should be angry, but instead, he was impressed at her bravery. He hooked a
finger under her chin and tipped her face to his until she had no choice but to
look at him. “When I’m talking to ye, I’d like to ken