Page 2 of Tempting the Highland Devil
Duncan sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “Nay all marriages of convenience are loveless, Yvaine,” he explained softly to her while stealing a glance at his own wife.
Arran felt the knot in his gut tighten further as the discussion carried on. The thought of Yvaine with another man instantly knocked a blinding rage through him, and the twist in his insides proved he could not settle with the idea.
She would need to move away from MacLennan…Probably too far away to visit often.
“Duncan…” Arran began, aiming to stop his friend from making this decision.
“I married me wife because I thought she’d be a convenient match, and she ended up being the love of me life,” Duncan continued before Arran could speak up.
“Amelia chose ye,” Yvaine argued and stepped forward again. “Braither, please dinnae do this to me…”
“I did choose ye,” Amelia offered. “It is nay the same thin’.”
Duncan’s chin hardened as everyone voiced their opinions on the matter all at the same time again.
“Duncan, think about how unhappy she might be,” Lily was saying.
“Ye all married for love; why do I nay get the chance to experience the same?” Yvaine kept pleading.
Killian too had something to say, and Arran suddenly felt his head pound. His chest tightened as air gradually seeped out of his lungs.
What is this feeling?He calmed himself with deep breaths and looked to Yvaine, who was still white as snow and struggling to have her voice heard. What was once a peaceful afternoon now turned to a battle of words.
“This is for yer safety, Yvaine…I am doin’ this for ye…”
“This is nay for me! This is so you do not have to worry about me. But yer wife had a choice…She chose ye durin’ a competition. And ye chose her. Ye cannae take that away from me; it isnae fair…”
“Duncan, she does have a point,” Amelia chimed in again, and a smile played out on her lips. “We chose to love each other. I chose ye when ye came to England for the competition.”
Arran saw Duncan’s lips suddenly lift into a smile as his wife spoke, and a second later, his announcement shocked everyone into silence. “That’s it!”
The silence stretched, and Duncan walked around his table to get closer to them. “Me father-in-law was very wise when he announced a competition for Amelia’s hand. That way, she would end up with the best possible choice. Me wife chose me durin’ that competition, and we shall do the same thin’. I will send word out to the Highland clans. Every eligible gentleman intendin’ for a wife shall compete for yer hand.”
“What?” Yvaine cut in sharply. “Ye think biddin’ me off to whichever lad can throw the log farthest away is better?”
“Yvaine, please make this easy on all of us!” Duncan snapped at her in a silencing tone, and Yvaine gasped from the shock of his outburst.
“I worry about ye all the time, and I need to ken that someone is takin’ care of ye when I am away. It is also time ye start yer own family and perform yer duties to yer clan. Yeneedto marry.”
Yvaine shrunk further and further away from her brother as he spoke to her. When Duncan turned his back, Arran felt the urge to go to Yvaine and comfort her grow strongly in him.
“If this is for her protection, then ye should ken that she is well protected here, Duncan,” Lily spoke up again, and Arran finally got his chance to go to Yvaine when Duncan faced Lily.
Her scent hit him once he drew closer from behind her and lowered his lips towards her ear slowly. The hint of lavender and roses that clung to her always tormented him. The surge of flutters he felt in the pit of his stomach now was nothing new.
Arran had found a way to control them a long time ago.
“Run,” he whispered to her when he heard her sharp intake of air from his nearness. “Nay one will notice yer absence, so just…run. Go someplace where ye can think. The moors maybe.”
Yvaine only nodded and he watched her take backward steps towards the door and sneak out.
Arran cleared his throat once she was gone and stilled his own revolting feelings at the news.
How could Duncan come up with this so suddenly?
“I need to speak to Duncan alone,” he said in his steadiest voice to get everyone’s attention. Killian and Lily both turned to him at the same time, and Duncan stopped talking too.
They left the study after that. Lily led Amelia out, and the door closed after them.
