Page 60 of A Highland Bride Taken
Laird Fraser had refused to leave his wife’s side and kept stealing glances at her bosom, even though his wife was standing right beside them. He felt as glum as Lady Fraser looked.
The woman had been a beauty in her youth, but age and the six sons she had given her old husband had taken their toll on her.
“I never thought the day would come when I would see ye so enamored with a woman,” Kian said with a smug smile.
“I am nae enamored,” Campbell gritted out. “I just dinnae like seeing men lusting after me wife.”
“Still, ye would have hardly cared if she were any other lass,” Kian argued. “Ye havenae felt jealous over any of yer mistresses.”
“I should never have bought her that accursed dress,” Campbell hissed. “It is driving me mad.”
“With lust?” Kian supplied, earning a glare from him.
Campbell would never admit it, but that was another thing that ate at him, fueling the flames of irritation in his blood.
Since he had seen Mabel in that dress, he had wanted to forget that he was not supposed to be touching her and take her back to his chambers.
Every lush curve was highlighted, and her beautiful bosom was hugged and put on display like ripe apples ready for the picking. And oh, how he wanted to spend time worshipping those glorious globes. But he would endure the torture and go swimming in the loch later to cool his heated flesh.
“Ye bought her a dress?” Kian asked incredulously. “What has happened to ye, mate? Ye dinnae seem like the man I ken.”
Campbell hated how his friend was pointing out every single thing that he never wanted to voice. His little wife was making him behave in ways he had never thought he would, and he did not know how to stop.
Seeing her smile and charm everyone that came to pay their respects should have satisfied him, but he felt nothing but jealousy.
He did not want anyone else to see her beauty. She was for his eyes only.
“Dinnae tell me the obvious, Crawford,” he warned. “I am incensed as it is.”
“Ye really have gone mad, and I cannae understand why,” Kian said, wrinkling his nose. “Have ye fallen in love with her? That can be the only logical explanation, even though I can hardly understand it.”
“Love?” Campbell scoffed. “Now ye’re the one who is mad. Aye, I feel lust for her and dinnae want to see her suffer, but that hardly means I love her. We married for the boys, and she is fulfilling her role well. ‘Tis only proper that I reward her.”
He shook his head at his friend’s absurd deduction. How could he conclude so quickly that he was in love?
“Why do ye feel so strongly against it?” Kian asked. “‘Tis only natural for it to happen between married couples. Do ye ken if she feels the same for ye? Yer kind gestures might be interpreted differently.”
“Ye seem so knowledgeable on the matter, yet ye dinnae seem any closer to yer own wife,” Campbell shot back, earning a glare.
“Me marriage is different, and ye ken why,” Kian said through gritted teeth.
Campbell did not care that he had angered his friend. That would at least teach him to choose his words wisely.
That accusation of love had rubbed him in a way he did not like, and the thought of being perceived as someone so weak irritated him.
“Perhaps ye should try winning yer wife’s affection,” he suggested. “Ye might?—”
“We arenae discussing me marital struggles, but yers, Muir.” Kian arched an eyebrow. “Dinnae be a coward and change the subject.”
“I am nae a coward,” Campbell retorted.
“Yet ye run from the mention of love, even if ye act besotted. What is yer reason for opposing what ye are likely feeling?”
“Love means weakness and mistakes,” he answered honestly, not seeing the need to lie to his friend. “I dinnae want to make mistakes and end up with children. I already have heirs—Aidan’s bairns.”
“They arenae?—”
“‘Tis a good thing to see ye doing well, Campbell,” a familiar voice suddenly cut in.
