Strian (Viking Glory Book 4)
Page 26
Their Bonnie Highland Beginning
BOOK 6 SNEAK PEEK
“Da, it's nae too late to call this off. I dinna have to marry some Sutherland chit to end the feud. We cede them that rocky patch near the border Grandfather won from the Gunns. They gain the plot, and we call it a day. Or better yet, we call Dugan home from fostering, and ma baby brother can marry her."
"Ye ken the contracts have been signed by both me and the lass's father. Laird Sutherland wouldnae stand for ye setting her aside, and I willna either. I dinna understand yer objection. Ye're of an age to wed, and ye must have heirs the same as I did. She may vera well surprise ye. Yer mother did."
"Ye and Mama were a love match. It wasna a surprise to anyone when ye wed. Or that I arrived nearly nine moons later to the day."
"Dinna be cheeky. Ye're nae too old or too big for me to skelp yer arse. "
That should have been enough of a warning for Liam Sinclair, heir to his father, Laird Donnell Sinclair. But on this day, he had his dander up. His father announced his betrothal a moon ago, and the woman was set to arrive at any minute.
"How old is she anyway?"
"She's close in age to yer score and four summers. She's a score and two."
"More than a score and she isnae wed yet? What's wrong with her? Does she have warts and claws? Mayhap missing a few teeth? She certainly sounds a bit long in the tooth. Da, look at me. I am vera serious. Mayhap she--"
A very soft and a very decidedly feminine clearing of the throat came from behind him. Liam froze before taking a deep breath and turning around. The sight that greeted him made the air whoosh from him, and he felt as if he had been pole-axed in the gut. The woman who stood before him was more than bonnie, she was beautiful. Liam took in the jet-black hair and bright lapis lazuli blue eyes. There was a faint dimple in her left cheek, and her eyebrows looked like they were sketched in by a master artisan. Her nose was short and soft at the end. She was not very tall, and Liam was sure she would barely come to the center of his chest when he held her.