Untamed Hearts (A Highland Hearts Novella) (Entangled Edge) Read Free Page B

“We’ve missed you,” she said and kissed him loudly. A snap of thunder sounded in the mountains behind Druim, making Jonet jump and several ladies scream as they hurried after their little ones.
    Ewan caught her hands and took a full step back. He glanced over his shoulder. “They are just greeting me, Dory.” Jonet noticed a beautiful, slender, yet shapely woman with long, curling, blondish hair glaring like she wanted to slice her open.
    “Dory,” Will said from behind Jonet, the name drawn out in a warning. Jonet thought she saw a small sghian dubh in the girl’s hand, but then it was gone.
    God Lord, was she armed?
    Ewan stepped back to the woman and pulled her into his side. “They are my friends, nearly like sisters.”
    Sisters? Well, they hadn’t been tupping friends, true, but she and Ewan had been a little more than brother and sister.
    “Jonet, Ann, this is Dory Wyatt Brody, my wife.”
    “I figured that from her last name being Brody,” Ann said and frowned. She’d had her heart set on wedding Ewan one day. Instead, it seemed he’d off and wed a foreign beauty who carried a hidden dagger and had a brother that could kiss a lass’s good sense clean out of her head.
    Jonet smiled. “It’s good to see ye whole, Ewan. Caden wasn’t sure when ye’d be back and who,” her gaze shifted to Dory, “ye’d return with.” She bobbed her head. “Welcome to Druim, Dory Wyatt Brody.”
    Dory’s face relaxed somewhat. “’Tis beautiful here.”
    “Aye, ye’ve caught the Highlands on a bright day,” Jonet said, and silence sat for several heartbeats.
    “So Will,” Ewan said, “been making friends?”
    Several of the men watching the drama and introductions snorted. “He was becoming quite friendly with Jonet,” Donald said.
    “And then yer new brother was making a friend out of Eric Douglas,” Gavin said and laughed. He pointed to Eric, trudging back by himself across the open meadow to the village.
    Caden’s frown matched the one Ewan was giving Will.
    Will shrugged. “I don’t stand for men forcing themselves on helpless maids.”
    “Helpless?” Jonet said, her eyebrows rising.
    Will shrugged. “You weren’t armed, and he was stronger than you and without discipline enough to let go.” He met her gaze evenly. “Helpless.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “I was not—”
    “I think,” Meg chimed in, “that the good men of Druim should work on the orphans’ home without the need for Jonet and Ann to provide them with kisses.” She squeezed onto Caden’s arm.
    “Aye,” Caden agreed and glanced over the crowd. His voice boomed. “If ye haven’t already signed up for a day’s work, get yer name on there. No more kisses today.” Meg whispered in his ear, and he straightened. “That is,” he said loudly, “unless both parties want to.” He swooped down to seal his lips over Meg’s. The crowd hooted and laughed.
    “I’m sorry,” Jonet whispered to Ann as they eyed Ewan’s bride. She hugged her friend when she noticed Ann’s eyes looking watery. “And sorry no more kissing today.”
    Ann laughed a little as they walked arm in arm to the parchment at the table. Jonet tried not to listen to see if Will Wyatt would follow. “Aye,” Ann said. “’Twas the only time Donald would let anyone get close to me.”
    “I wish I had a brother that looked out for me so,” Jonet said, and Ann snorted.
    “Ye can have him for a spell.”
    Jonet turned and nearly smacked into the mountain of male standing before her. The sea pirate had indeed followed. The thought sparked her pulse into another race. She looked up into his face, his chin-length hair a drape around his features as he studied her.
    “I did not mean to put an end to all your kisses,” he said. Och, that voice, that deep, rumbling voice like pebbles under velvet. “But he wasn’t letting you go.”
    “And I was helpless,” she replied, an annoyed nip to her words. She turned back to Ann, who gave her a wide-eyed look.