His Bonnie Bride by Hannah Howell (the beginning after the end read novel .TXT) 📕

ye draw a sword upon the man ye trusted to run your lands ere he had drawn one upon you? Nay, I thought not. My father would expect no threat from that quarter. Being an honorable man, my father would ne'er expect a knife in the back, and I fear that is my stepmother's way." Storm shook her head, a sadness settling upon her face. "I did not see her plan until 'twas too late to warn my father. She will do her best to see that he and Drew do not return."

"And ye?" Tavis asked, his mind on the fact that the ransom had been refused, so he need not go softly with her any longer, could at last indulge in more than a gentle wooing.

"She would rejoice to be free of me as well. The woman detests me. Has always done so. I made matters worse by aiding Mistress Bailey, a widow who would no doubt be the next Lady Eldon if Lady Mary died. Mistress Bailey has been my father's mistress and the wife of his heart for five years now. She has given him two children. Lady Mary had a plan to be rid of the woman as soon as my father was gone. She hired men to attack Mistress Bailey and the babes as they traveled to relatives. I was able to get warning to her so that the plan failed, but I fear Lady Mary found out what I had done."

"Hagaleah sounds a right bed of intrigue," Iain said with a shake of his head. "I cannae believe a woman could kill a man like your father. A woman isnae made for plotting a murder so coldly."

"Is she not? I mean no faulting of my sex for we, as men, have our good and our bad, but I think a woman is very much capable of it. A woman is a creature of strong emotion and has not been filled from birth with ideals of honor. I know men feel we have none, do not understand it. Have none of you gentlemen found yourself the victim of some female machination, some ploy you failed to see until she had gained her end?" She nodded when she saw uncomfortable recollection flicker over many a man's face. "A woman can have cunning, and her very softness makes it more effective. Aye, a woman can plot a murder, mayhaps better than a man, for I believe she can hate better, hate with a cold clarity that oft eludes a man."

"Ye really believe she'll not send the ransom for ye," Colin commented. "I will try again, ye ken."

"Aye, ye can try all ye like, but I think the lady will delay until she feels sure that my father will ne'er return or, mayhaps, until Sir Hugh urges her to fetch me. She will not honor the usual way of ransoming, I am thinking. The woman will be loathe to hand over a bag of rotten meal for me and Phelan." She looked at Colin, one shapely brow quirked in question. "So, m'lord, what plan ye for us if I prove right?"

"Ye'll stay here," Tavis replied, cutting off any reply his father could have made.

Storm noticed the sudden silence at the table and frowned. From the various expressions and the pointed lack of such on the faces around her she knew they were aware of something she was not. For a brief instant she feared death, but the fear was quick to fade, for she felt sure the MacLagans would not kill a helpless woman and child. Without a chance of ransom, however, she saw no point in them keeping her and Phelan at Caraidland. She could not see them keeping her and Phelan until her father returned either, for his return was uncertain at best. It was a very large puzzle to her, and growing larger.

Tavis watched the confusion flash across her lovely face. He thought wryly that he must have behaved himself very well indeed if he had left her with no idea of what he wanted or, at least, so little one that it was not the first to come to mind. It would soon be the first thought upon her mind, however, for now that the ransom had been more or less refused and would probably not be forthcoming at all, he no longer felt bound to go gently as he had promised his father. She could look upon it as a ransom of sorts. He would have her and it would be soon.

"What is the point if I can bring ye no ransom?" she queried in bewilderment.

"Ye'll stay here, ransom or nay, 'til I say ye may leave," he said softly, turning to look fully at her where she sat at his side. "So I'll hear no more questions about it."

His autocratic tone put fire in her eyes, her precarious position as a prisoner forgotten for the moment. " 'Tis my right to know what ye want with me, why ye insist that I stay here when there can be no profit in it for ye."

"So ye wish to ken what I want with ye," Tavis drawled as he grasped her by the shoulders. "Allow me to demonstrate," he purred, yanking her into his arms as he had wanted to for days.

At first Storm was so surprised that she was still in his arms. It was when his warm, soft lips began to stir a heat within her that she came to life. She quickly found that it was not easy to fight a man's hold while sitting down. Despite the fact that fury, a fury increased by the audible amusement of the others at the table, gave her added strength, Storm also discovered that trying to fight Tavis was akin to beating her head against a wall. Although being kissed before an audience was not at all to her liking, most of her fight came from a fright of the response her body