Page 79 of A Touch So Wicked

“Nay, take me to the kirk,” Marianne said. “’Tis been too long since I’ve prayed in a house of worship. I have much to be grateful for despite our sad losses.”

Elissa reined the horse down the narrow, cobbled street that was the main thoroughfare. “Father Hugh was right,” she observed. “Damage to the cottages and shops is minimal. Nevertheless, I’ll never forgive Tavis Gordon. What he did is reprehensible.”

“Aye,” Marianne concurred. “I strongly objected to the marriage between you and the Gordon chieftain, but your father was adamant. I dinna like Tavis then and I donna like him now.”

“I donna like him, either,” Elissa said. The day Tavis had demanded that she kill Damian had been the day she’d lost all regard for her intended bridegroom.

Elissa drew rein before the kirk and scrambled down from the cart to help her mother.

“Isna that Lord Damian’s horse?” Marianne asked, indicating the sleekly muscled animal tethered to the kirk fence.

Elissa’s answer was forestalled when Damian came striding from the kirk with Father Hugh trailing in his wake. He saw the cart and stopped abruptly. Elissa met his hard gaze without flinching. She’d done nothing wrong. As Damian forged his way toward her, she wondered if he’d visited the kirk to ask God’s forgiveness for his sins.

“Lady Marianne, how good to see you looking so radiant,” Damian said courteously. “Next time you decide to leave the keep, however, please inform me so I can provide a proper escort. Sir Brody was wrong to let you venture out on your own.”

“Oh, nay, my lord, donna blame Sir Brody. He wanted to accompany us, but Elissa…I mean, I told him it wasna necessary.”

“Donna apologize to him, Mama,” Elissa said, bristling. “No one would dare harm us.”

Damian sent Elissa an inscrutable look. “One never knows. Next time, I expect you to ask permission to leave the keep.”

Elissa stiffened. “Surely there can be no harm in visiting our clansmen. They’ve suffered a loss and we merely wished to offer our support.”

“As you can see, everything is well in hand.”

Father Hugh stepped between the bickering couple. “Lord Damian, perhaps Lady Marianne would like to step inside the kirk while you and Lady Elissa settle your differences. If you intend to go through with what we just discussed, I strongly advise you and Elissa to learn to get along with one another.”

“Forgive me, Father,” Damian said. “I bow to your better judgment.”

Elissa thought Damian looked more fierce than sorry. Something was afoot, something she was sure she wasn’t going to like.

“I’d love to sit inside the kirk and meditate for a while,” Marianne said. “Would you aid me, my lord?”

Damian lifted Lady Marianne from the cart as if she weighed no more than a bird and set her on her feet.

“I will escort Lady Marianne inside,” Father Hugh said, offering Marianne his arm.

Elissa waited until Marianne and Father Hugh disappeared inside the kirk before she returned her attention to Damian. Looking at him was a mistake, she decided. If ever a man deserved to be called the Demon Knight, it was the brooding man standing before her. She’d seen him angry, she’d seen him lost to passion, but she’d never seen the look he now wore on his face.

Intense, aye, smoldering, mayhap, and utterly beguiling. He was the seductive male animal, sure of himself and his power, masterful, arrogant. But there was something else; a look that puzzled her. Could it be vulnerability? That was impossible. An arrogant man like Damian would never expose his vulnerable side to anyone.

A tense silence stretched between them. Finally, Elissa asked, “Did you come to the kirk to pray?”

Damian’s brooding visage suddenly lightened. “I’ve reached a decision about your future, Elissa, and I wished to discuss it with Father Hugh.”

Elissa stared at him. Her future? What did Father Hugh have to do with her future? The convent! Of course. Damian was conferring with the priest about the arrangements.

“I knew it would come to this,” Elissa retorted. “You were waiting until Mama recovered to send us away. Have you changed your mind about Lady Kimbra? Will you go to London and fetch her?”

Damian’s voice was low, harsh, and taut with wary tension. “You misunderstand, Elissa. You and I are going to marry. I came to the kirk to make arrangements with your priest.”

Elissa paled. “Marry? You and I? You’re mad.”

“’Tis the logical solution.”

“The king willna permit it.”

“I care not.”