Bride of the Beast Read Free

would speak with you alone, now before the others stir."
    Sir Marmaduke peered intently at his liege lord's lady wife. Her lovely face appeared more pale than it should and lest the vision in his good eye was failing him, she bore faint purple shadows beneath her eyes.
    Nor did he care for the rapid rise and fall of her chest. That she'd overtaxed herself in seeking him out was painfully obvious.
    "Lady, you should be abed," he admonished, trying to sound firm but unable to be duly stern with her. "Does your husband know you are about?"
    The two bright spots of pink that bloomed on her cheeks gave him his answer.
    "I must speak with you," she said again and placed a cold hand on his forearm.
    "Then let us adjourn into the chapel." Closing his fingers over her hand, Marmaduke led her toward Eilean Creag's small stone oratory. "It is closer than the great hall, and private." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I would know you warm before I hear what troubles you."
    He'd scarce ushered her inside when the oratory's heavy wooden door burst open behind them. With a resounding crash, it slammed against the whitewashed wall.
    "Saints, Maria, and Joseph!" Duncan MacKenzie fumed, ignoring the sanctity of the holy place. Ill-humor swirling round him like a dark cloak, he made straight for his wife. "Have you taken leave of your senses, woman? 'Tis in your bed you should be. The entire household is searching for you."
    Bracing fisted hands on his hips, he tossed a dark glance at Marmaduke. "Why am I not surprised to find her with you?"
    "Becalm yourself, my friend," Sir Marmaduke urged, his smooth baritone voice unruffled by the other man's bluster. "No harm has befallen her."
    "Were she your lady, I vow you would want to know her safe, too, Strongbow." Duncan ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
    "I care for her as if she were my lady, as you know." Marmaduke placed his own hands on his hips. "Her well-being is of equal import to me. There is naught I would not do for her."
    "My lords, please." Linnet leaned back against the recumbent stone effigy of a former MacKenzie warrior, one hand still resting upon her midsection. "I have told you naught will go wrong this time. I know it. My gift has shown me."
    Duncan MacKenzie peered hard at her, his handsome features as set-faced as his stone-carved ancestor. After casting another dark look in Marmaduke's direction, he swung about and strode across the oratory.
    Dropping to one knee, he busied himself lighting a small brazier in the corner near the altar. "Have you told him?" he asked his wife when he stood.
    "Told me what?" Marmaduke quirked a brow. "My lady would ask a favor of you." Duncan slanted a glance at Linnet. "A great favor."
    Sir Marmaduke did not care for the way his friend spoke the last three words, nor the ghost of a half-smile suddenly twitching the corners of Duncan 's mouth, but such reservations scarce mattered. He'd championed the lady Linnet since her arrival at
Eilean
Creag
Castle
five years ago, and she'd repaid his gallantry a thousandfold and then some.
    In her presence, he could almost imagine himself rid of the scar that marred his once-handsome face and believe that, once more, his looks and not his well-practiced charm could turn female heads.
    Indeed, he revered her greatly.
    "No request Lady Linnet may ask of me is too great," Marmaduke vowed. Turning to her, he made her a slight bow. "How may I serve you, my lady?"
    Rather than answer him, Linnet cast her gaze downward and began scuffing her toe against the stone flagging of the chapel floor.
    Ignoring his friend's ill-concealed bemusement, Marmaduke lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Name your desire and it is yours," he sought to encourage her.
    She met his gaze but kept her silence. After a moment, she moistened her lips and said, "Now that I stand before you, I fear it is too much to ask."
    Marmaduke shot a glance at Duncan then immediately wished he hadn't. His handsome friend now wore a