Highland Grace by K. E. Saxon Page B

wrong with me. I’m usually much more reserved.”
    Bao lifted his hand to her cheek and held her
chin in the palm of his hand. “‘Tis the babe. I understand. And, I
beg you, don’t fret over it a moment longer.”
    Her eyes darkened and then she surprised the
hell out of him when she looped her arm around the back of his head
and brought him down to meet her open mouth. She kissed him
ravenously, tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth and then
soothing it with her tongue. God, how he wanted to take this to its
natural conclusion. But ‘twas too soon, and she needed her
rest.
    By an act of pure will, he managed to draw
his lips from hers. Breathing hard, he pressed his cheek to her
forehead. “That was incredible,” he said gruffly. “But mayhap I
should brush your hair now.”
    She nodded and he turned her back around.
After he grabbed the brush off of the table next to the bed, he
said, “Move forward a bit so I have room to work.”
    She nodded again and did as he requested.
    Bao leaned forward and kissed the back of her
head, running his hand down her arm. “You are so…”—he breathed her
in—“lovely.” Setting the brush to the side a moment he wrapped his
arms around her and pulled her back to rest against his chest once
more, pressing his cheek to her crown. “I will never hurt you
again, Jesslyn.”
    “I’m beginning to believe that.” She sighed.
“Just a bit more time...all right?”
    Bao nodded, rubbing his cheek against the
soft hair on top of her head. “Aye, whatever you need.”
    * * *

CHAPTER 8

    Callum and his bride, Lara, arrived the day
before the Hogmanay feast. Jesslyn was the only one in the
great hall at the time of their arrival, having awakened later than
usual. She had just finished breaking her fast when the guests were
announced. Rising to her feet she stepped off the dais and moved to
the center of the room facing the entrance as she watched her
auburn-haired ex-betrothed escort his bride into the hall.
    “‘Tis good to see you again, Jesslyn,” Callum
said, a twinkle in his emerald-green eyes. Taking both her hands in
his, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
    Smiling with pleasure, Jesslyn replied, “Aye,
‘tis good seeing you as well.” She stood back a bit and looked from
one end of his shoulders to the other. “Lord, but you’re broader
now than you were the last we saw each other. Why, your shoulders
are the size of Daniel’s now, I trow!—have the MacGregors been
working you hard, then?”
    Callum’s grin turned sheepish. He shrugged.
“I enjoy the exercise.”
    “Ahhh,” she replied with a nod and a wink,
“that’s good.” Turning then to his bride, she said, “And you are
Lara. You’re as beautiful as Daniel and Bao told us you were.” The
lady was of medium height and several years older than Jesslyn,
mayhap twenty-five summers. But her skin was clear and white, with
just the right amount of color to her cheeks. She’d forgone wearing
a veil, simply placing a gold filet over the crown of her
chestnut-colored curls. A vanity of hers, it seemed. Her eyes were
almond-shaped and a darker hue of blue than Jesslyn’s, her features
delicate. Tho’ she was older than her husband by several years, her
beauty matched his own fine looks quite well. They made a pretty
pair, Jesslyn decided.
    “My thanks, you are kind to say so,” Lara
replied stiltedly, removing her mantle and handing it to a
servant.
    Jesslyn’s gaze dipped momentarily to Lara’s
quite-rounded stomach and her eyes widened in shock. She quickly
composed her features before lifting her gaze once more to the
lady’s countenance. She shouldn’t be further along than Jesslyn was
herself, Callum having only met and wed her around the same time as
Jesslyn and Bao had had their tryst, yet she looked to be a good
seven moons into her childing state.
    * * *
    Lara smirked at the flaxen-haired beauty
Callum had been waxing lyrical about for many days now. Evidently,
she had no knowledge