A Woman Made for Pleasure (41 page)

BOOK: A Woman Made for Pleasure

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“I must admit to being surprised. I really thought you two cared for each other.”

Meriel briefly glanced back as her sister walked up to her side before returning her gaze to Craig. “We do care for each other.”

“You know how I mean. The first time Crevan kissed me like that I wanted to tear his clothes off, and I can assure you the feeling was mutual.” Raelynd waved her hand at Craig’s departing figure. “That man is not acting like someone who just experienced an incredibly sensual kiss. But then, neither are you,” she finished, looking both perplexed and disappointed.

Meriel swallowed at the implication. Fact was, she wasn’t
acting
like it, but inwardly her senses were reeling. Outwardly she forced herself to appear calm, but she felt as if she had been ravaged, and worse—she craved more. Maybe Craig was also hiding his reaction to what happened. His overly jocular departure was atypically dramatic, even for him. The more she thought about it the more Meriel was convinced. Craig McTiernay was definitely covering up some kind of emotional response to what had occurred between them. But what? Then again, what was her response?

Meriel bit the inside of her cheek and made a decision. Until she was able to comprehend her own emotional state, she was not going to tackle the onerous work of guessing at Craig’s. Usually the man paraded his feelings for all to see and hear. He kept them private only when they were raw, undefined, extremely personal, and involved someone he loved. During those rare times, to keep people from detecting his true thoughts, Craig tended to become excessively cheerful, just like he had tonight.

Raelynd grasped her arm and swung her around to head back to the main table. “Tomorrow you can admonish me severely, but tonight we are celebrating Marymass, and soon Father will be offering the first bread. Come and think on nothing else but this year’s harvest and all the good things that are to follow.”

Meriel let her sister direct her back to the main table. Tonight she would enjoy the upcoming activities to honor the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tomorrow, however, she would give earnest thought about what had just happened between her and Craig.

“Don’t deny it. You were part of that display of lust we just witnessed,” Conor McTiernay growled at his wife.

Laurel licked her lips and refused to look into her husband’s accusing silver eyes. “Perhaps marginally.”

She was doing it again. Flicking her pale gold hair behind her shoulder to catch his eye. Moistening her lips with her tongue. Taking a deep breath so that her chest swelled, giving him a delicious view—all in an effort to distract him from knowing her true focus. And it was working.

As the eldest of the McTiernay brothers, Conor had spent years studying the behavior of his clansmen in an effort to become a better chieftain. He prided himself on being able to predict most of his people’s needs, anticipate their reactions to certain events, and prevent problems before they arose. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not transfer such knowledge and power to better his understanding of his own wife. He was just glad that he was starting to be able to tell when she was in the middle of a plan so he could carefully extricate himself from it.

He let himself enjoy the sights for a few more seconds before pushing for more information—an absolute requirement for knowing just how to duck and avoid getting caught in whatever trap she was weaving. “And did you get the outcome you were looking for?”

Laurel was not sure how to answer as she studied the scene. Craig was cleverly making his exit while Raelynd was talking to Meriel absent-mindedly.

When Raelynd revealed her plan to have the two winners of the sword dance kiss, Laurel had been quick to realize that the idea was rather ingenious, but highly improbable. Aye, both Craig and Meriel were competitive and likely to win, but not if they suspected a setup. And despite Laurel’s quick intervention—persuading the other participating men and women to voluntarily lose—it almost did not happen. Meriel had quickly grasped the situation and almost quit before the last woman could drop out. But it had worked, and Craig and Meriel had definitely kissed as planned. But if that kiss had changed anything in their attitudes toward each other, Laurel could not discern it.

The fact that the two of them were in love was not in question. Most were not sure, but Laurel had no doubts. It came down to whether the long and passionate kiss that all had witnessed tonight would prompt two of the most stubborn people in Scotland to admit it. Not to the their family and clansmen . . . but to themselves.

“You should feel ashamed, forcing them to prove their friendship in such a way,” Conor admonished halfheartedly.

“Why? Either way it serves their purpose. If there
was
more between them, they would have been thankful for the act of kindness. If not, then Raelynd and I gave them the opportunity to end all rumors otherwise.”

“I give up.” Conor sighed, grabbing a mug of ale and downing it. “Just make sure that your efforts to find and foster a love match for my brother don’t affect me.”

“They shouldn’t,” Laurel said and then added under her breath, “but no promises.”

The kiss Craig and Meriel shared had practically heated up the room, confirming what she knew to be true. Raelynd had believed her sister might be falling for Craig and that Meriel was too afraid to admit her feelings. But Raelynd had been wrong. Meriel and Craig had fallen in love long before, soon after they had first met. Unfortunately, both of them were so savvy to the ways of love and how to avoid it, they had been able to avoid it with each other. Laurel abhorred the idea of an arranged marriage or forcing two people together, but Craig and Meriel had already been together a year, and she felt she had no choice but to agree to help Raelynd execute her plan.

But Conor’s question troubled her. Had she secured the outcome she was looking for? With any normal couple, a kiss like that would have resulted in a wedding. But getting a Schellden, let alone a McTiernay, to admit their feelings? That took patience.

It had happened once, between their siblings Raelynd and Crevan, but both Craig and Meriel were unbelievably strong willed and stubborn. And for some reason they each felt incredibly resolute about keeping their friendship
only
as a friendship. If what transpired tonight did not convince either of them otherwise, Laurel was not sure any outside influence could. It would take far more than patience to change their minds.

It would take a miracle.

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ISBN: 978-1-4201-2854-3