Page 16 of The Highlander's Auctioned Wife
In fact, Ididcare for the way he danced, the way he just lifted me up and turned me around and around. As for what he whispered to me…She shook off the thought, feeling her skinbegin to flush again, as if she’d just brushed past a thicket of nettles.
“If it’s nae Laird Lyall, then what’s botherin’ ye?” Jackson pressed.
Anna puffed out a breath, bringing her knees up to her chest. Resting her chin in the dip between the peaks of those knees, she met her brother’s eye and, seeing the gentle encouragement on his face, no longer wanted to keep swallowing the truth, in case she choked on it.
“It’s nae obvious?” she said flatly.
“This whole auction thing?”
She nodded hesitantly. “Iwashavin’ an entertainin’ evenin’, for the most part, but… then I started to think, and those thoughts were nae good thoughts.” She cleared her dry throat. “See, even if I do have an amusin’ time with these Lairds, there’s a… shadow over the entire arrangement and it willnae go away.”
“What sort of shadow?” Jackson prompted, when she didn’t speak again.
He would have been a fool not to know what it was she was referring to, and her brother was no fool, but he was letting her say it. Giving her the time and patience she needed to put her fears and worries out into the open, where they might bevanquished or exacerbated, depending on how the conversation went.
“The truth of why they’re here,” she answered in a quiet, small voice. “They only want me for the bairns I might bear them. Iamthe last lass of this blessed line, after all. Och, they must be as obsessed with legacy as Faither is, or they wouldnae have responded to his invitation. And I daenae want to be this… piece of meat they’re all fightin’ and slobberin’ over. It… repulses me.”
Jackson nodded slowly. “Ye daenae want bairns of yer own?”
“I want the choice, Jackson,” she replied with some urgency in her voice, her arms wrapping around her knees. “Mercy, how I pray that Elinor has nay daughters, and our niece is spared this. Truly, it keeps me awake at night. I long for this ‘magic’ fertility to end with us, just as I long to be allowed to… choose someone I like. And if that man never appears, that I be allowed to choose that, too—to have nay husband or bairns at all.”
Sitting up, hugging the cushion to him as if he were a boy again, Jackson offered an apologetic smile. “There are only two Lairds here so far. Perhaps, when the rest come, there’ll be one or two who are nae here for the sole purpose of gainin’ an heir. There might even be a few that ye like.”
Anna closed her eyes and expelled a strained breath, heartbroken that her dear brother had missed her point entirely. It was the entire charade that appalled her. It was the cattle-market feeling of the thing that made her heart sore. Not to mention, it was naïve of Jackson to think that any of the Lairdswere there for anything other than the progression of their bloodline.
“I’m three-and-twenty, Brother,” she said tightly. “They areallcomin’ here with one purpose and one alone. If I like them or I daenae is of little importance; they areallcomin’ here with the motivation of gaining a broodmare to secure their future. Kennin’ that all I am is a… vessel to them would sour even the most hopeful heart, Jackson. And it’s already exhaustin’, nae to be seen or heard, but to be assessed for what me body is capable of givin’ a man.”
Jackson frowned, tilting his head to one side. For a short while, he didn’t say anything, deep in thought. She could almost see the cogs turning in his head as he decided what to say, while she prayed that it would not be another ill-judged response that told her thathewasn’t hearing her, either.
“I reckon the Devil saw ye well enough,” he said, his lips curving into an encouraging smile. “From what I ken of him, he’s nay someone who does anythin’ he doesnae want to, even if it’d be of benefit to him. Yet, he danced with ye when ye asked, though it was clear he wasnae keen to, at first. And he wasnae simperin’ over ye like Laird Glendenning.”
Anna frowned back at him, puzzled by his words. As far as she was aware, Gordon Shaw had shown no indication that he favored her, or that he saw her as anything other than a fertile prize to be attained. She had assumed that he’d danced with her for the same reason that Laird Glendenning would have, if she’d asked him instead.
“I daenaelike bein’ told what to do.”The memory of Gordon’s whisper tickled her ear once more, bringing with it a seed of doubt.
But if he dinnaedo it to win me favor, then why did he?She scrunched her face to try and force an answer to come, but it evaded her.
“Maybe, ye can save yerself the misery of the auction and just marry him,” Jackson continued, perhaps taking her silence for consideration of his words. “The Devil is one of the most powerful Lairds in the Highlands. He holds lands to the east of us, like Faither wanted, and he has the sort of army under his control that anyone would kill or give most of their fortune for. Our clan would become untouchable if we were tied to him by marriage. Faither couldnae argue with that.”
Anna gulped, blurring her vision as she attempted to imagine what a future with Gordon would look like. She couldn’t imagine him being a tender or considerate husband, she couldn’t imagine him doing little things to please her, she couldn’t imagine him falling in love with her, and her with him, like her mother and father had eventually done.
“But… what about all those stories?” she murmured, remembering how her entire being had responded to the intense exploration of his gaze, how keenly she had felt like he’d put her in a trance.
Absently, she touched her neck, wondering what it would feel like to be bitten, to have the blood sucked from her virgin veins.According to the castle gossips, that was how he did it, feeding from those helpless damsels where the pulse of life ticked in one’s throat.
To her astonishment, her skin began to tingle again, warming to a simmering heat as she imagined his lips on her neck, sipping from her as he’d sipped from his cup of spiced wine.
“Honestly, I’ve seen enough Lairds and lads to be a good judge,” Jackson said, oblivious to his sister’s flustered blushing. “He dinnae look as bloodthirsty as they say, and I’d wager he saves his violence for the battlefield—it’s common enough that the fiercest, most terrifyin’ warriors are also the calmest and quietest when they’re nae fightin’. Besides, ye shouldnae listen to the stories and gossip of bored folks who’ll say anythin’ to get a gasp and a thrill from those who are listenin’.”
Anna resisted the urge to hide her entire, flushed face beneath her blankets. “So, ye daenae think he’d eat me alive?”
“Nae in the literal sense,” Jackson replied, grinning. “But, now that ye mention it, he did look a little hungry… which isnae necessarily a bad thing. Nae a bad thing at all, some might say, between a husband and wife.”
He flashed his sister a wink, but she just stared back at him, completely at a loss. Perhaps it was the visions swirling in her head, conjured by those unnatural tales, but she couldn’t envision Jackson’s words as anythingbutliteral. She certainly couldn’t think of any other reason why Gordon would be hungry.Indeed, if she remembered rightly, he’d eaten his entire bowl of broth at supper and half a loaf of bread.
She said as much to her brother, who burst out laughing.
“I’ll leave it up to ye to figure out what I mean,” he said, getting up and making his way to the door. “Get some rest, Sister. And consider what I’ve said—ye could save yerself a good deal of trouble if ye just choose him. But if ye decide that ye want to chase off all the Lairds instead, ye can count on me for that, too.”
