Skye O'Malley

Skye O'Malley Read Free Page A

Book: Skye O'Malley Read Free
Author: Bertrice Small
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immodest for a maiden to ride astride a beast! My God, Skye! That horse of yours! When we’re married I will see that you’re more suitably mounted upon a palfrey. What ever possessed your father to let you ride that big, black brute, I’ll never know!”
    “You lost, Dom,” came the infuriatingly cool reply. “You lost the race to me, and as you always did when we were children, you try to retaliate by clouding the issue. Well, let me tell you what you can do with your bloody palfrey!”
    “Skye!” Anne O’Malley’s voice was sharp with warning.
    The girl looked to her stepmother, then laughed. “Oh, all right, Annie,” she acquiesced prettily, “I will try to behave myself. But ,Dom O’Flaherty … hear me well. Finn is my horse. I have raised him from a colt, and I love him. If we’re to be happily married, you must accept that, for I have no intention of exchanging him for a rocking horse just to soothe your male pride.”
    And while her bridegroom fumed, Skye signaled to a servant to bring some wine. As if in afterthought, she ordered some for Dom as well. Flinging himself into a chair, he glowered at her, but all the while his eyes roamed her body and he thought how beautiful she was in her dark-green silk riding habit. The skirt was divided, and the neckline open, plunging into the valley of her young breasts. Tiny beads of moisture had gathered on her chest and the sight excited him. He realized that he longed to possess this lovely young woman.
    At fifteen Skye O’Malley was well on the way to fulfilling the promise of unequaled beauty that she had shown at birth. She stood every bit as tall as her betrothed. Like him, she was beautifully proportioned, with a slim waist that moved into softly rounded hips. Her breasts were small but full. She had a heart-shaped face. Her eyes were still the color of the seas off the Kerry coast, sometimes pure blue, sometimes dark, sometimes azure with a faint hint of green. They were fringed in thick ebony lashes that brushed tender pink cheeks. Her nose was slim, turning up just slightly at the tip. And if you looked carefully you could see a few soft, golden freckles across the bridge of her nose. The red mouth was surprisingly seductive with a full lower lip, and when she laughed she revealed small, perfect white teeth. Her skin was the color of cream and seemed even fairer by the contrasting mass of blue-black hair that tumbled about her shoulders.
    She excited Dom very much, although he, it seemed, did not interest her. She far preferred galloping that great black stallion of hers at breakneck speed about the countryside, or sailing off with her father on some piratical adventure. The realization was quite a shock to his pride.
    Dom O’Flaherty was not used to indifference from the fair sex. Women ordinarily made fools of themselves over him, and he was very proud of his sexual prowess.
    Dom tried to console himself with the thought that once he bedded her she would soon be tamed. Hot-tempered virgins usually turned out to be passionate lovers. He licked his thin lips in anticipation, and quaffed his goblet of wine. He was not aware that his betrothed was eying him with disgust. Dom O’Flaherty would run to fat in his middle years, Skye decided.
    Again from the entry below came the noises of arrival. Anne O’Malley rose to her feet with a smile. “Your father is back,” she said, “and it sounds like he brings guests.”
    Two large wolfhounds, several setters, and a large terrier all bounded into the hall. One of the wolfhounds trotted up to Anne and dropped two small velvet bags at her feet. Bending, Lady O’Malley picked up the bags and, loosening the strings, poured the contents of one bag into her cupped hand. She stared at the sapphire-and-diamond necklace that nestled in her palm. “Holy Mary!” she gasped.
    Dubhdara O’Malley chuckled with pleasure from the doorway. “Then you like it, lovey? There’s earbobs, and a ring to match in the

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