Page 128 of Seduced By the Reckless Highlanders
Worse still, Gowan would have to find a wife too, and her heart broke anew as she thought of him making love to another woman who would bear his children.
While she was thinking about these matters, her face was as composed as a marble statue. She was becoming rather good at hiding her feelings, she thought.
Andrew Darroch looked from one to the other suspiciously. There was something they were not telling him, and he meant to find out what it was. Friends? Friends did not kiss each other on the lips unless they were sisters, or two female cousins, or mother and daughter. Were they lovers? As he looked at the way they engaged with each other, he thought they very well might be.
“However, your brother is a criminal,” Andrew went on. “And the clan has a few punishments for the wrongs he has done to the villagers and tenants. “I will take him to Dundee with me and he can be tried there.”
“Will he be executed?” Minna asked fearfully. Strangely, although she felt nothing but contempt for Jamie, Minna was repelled by the idea of him being hanged.
“There is no evidence of him having actually killed anyone,” Andrew mused, frowning. “Despite your suspicion of your father’s poisoning, there is no way to prove such a thing. The court will decide his fate, although you may come to add your voice and possibly sway them.”
Minna nodded slowly, and passed her hand over her eyes. It had been an exhausting day, emotionally and physically, and it was still only late afternoon. She did not want to do any more talking. She wanted to lie down, close her eyes and sink into a dreamless sleep.
Andrew continued to talk, but Gowan could sense that Minna was not listening. She was staring at the carpet and had ceased even pretending to be interested. Presently Andrew stopped speaking, and she looked up.
“You must prepare to leave now, Minna,” he announced. While talking, he had sat down opposite them. Now he stood up, and Gowan stood with him.
“It is too late for you to leave today,” he said firmly. “You and your people may stay until tomorrow. Anyway, there is still much to discuss.”
“I will make arrangements,” Minna said, before hurrying away, leaving the two men alone in the room.
“Congratulations, M’Laird,” Andrew said drily, raising his glass in a toast. “Now you have everything you want. I wish you the best of health and good fortune.”
Gowan stood up. “Not everything,” he said grimly.
“Not yet, but I will soon.” Then he marched out of the room.
CHAPTER 21
After a few minutes of searching, he found Minna talking to the housekeeper, making arrangements for his accommodation. When she had finished, she looked up to find him watching her, and she smiled at him a little too brightly.
“I have assigned you a room,” she told him. “The bed is a little softer than the one you usually sleep in. I will have one of the maids show you where it is.”
“Can you show me?” His voice was husky, and as Minna looked up into the deep brown of his eyes, she felt as though she could have gazed into them forever.
“You should remember every inch of this place,” she replied softly. “I am sending the maid with you in case you need anything.” Minna dropped her gaze from his and nodded slightly. “But I will take you if you wish.”
Gowan wanted to sprint upstairs in front of Minna, but he made himself go at a leisurely pace. He hoped that they would have all evening to spend together, to talk, perhaps to kiss and fondle, but he would not allow his mind to go any further than that.
He followed her upstairs, admiring the graceful sway of her hips as she walked in her tattered breeches, which were nowabsolutely filthy. Gowan’s body was responding as it always did, and he was glad that his shirt had been pulled out from the waistband of his breeches to hang down over the front of him. He loved being a man - he had never been anything else - but sometimes, such as now, it was inconvenient!
Minna entered one of the best bedrooms, which she always reserved for important guests. It was a big room, lavishly decorated with beautifully framed oil paintings on every wall and hand-woven silk rugs on the floor. The bed, with its carved posts and cream silk drapes and bedclothes, was a work of art, as were the matching silk brocade curtains.
Gowan laughed when he saw it, and shook his head in wonder. “This room is exactly as I remember it.” There was a catch in his voice as he spoke. “It used to be the room my grandparents slept in when they came to visit. They liked the big bed because their collie dog Sammy could sleep in between them.”
Minna frowned. “On the silk coverlets?”
Gowan chuckled. “He had his own hand-woven woolen one. It was about two inches thick, but the silken ones were always dirty after he slept there anyway. I loved that dog, and my grandparents.”
His voice sounded so sad and wistful that Minna felt wretched. Her family had ripped all this away from him.
“You have so many good memories,” she remarked. “I am sorry my family took your home. It will be yours again now, and you can make more happy memories.”
“Did you not have good times here?” Gowan asked. “Surely you had friends?”
“Only amongst the servants, villagers and tenants. I never liked people of my own class. Anyway, they always thought of us as usurpers and would not associate themselves with us.” She sighed, then became brisk. “Is there anything else you need?”
“Yes.” His voice was husky. “I need you.” Then Minna found herself being swept against a hard, muscular chest as a pair of firm masculine lips descended on hers.
