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Orla regarded him scornfully and crossed her arms, tapping her foot. Though she was irritating, Wolfric had to admit she had a curvaceous figure on her and pretty eyes too. And that mouth was full and had yielded to his quite deliciously when he had surprised her with a kiss. It was a shame that she had to use it to speak.
‘Right, let us thrash this out,’ she spat. ‘I shall say my piece, and you shall say yours, and we shall come to an agreement to get out of this mess.’
Was the lass foolish enough to think she could sway him? Wolfric said nothing, letting his gaze roam over her full bosom, which strained against her bodice in agitation, the pinch of her narrow waist and the soft swell of her hips. He had to admit that she was all woman, albeit a shrewish, angry one.
Orla Gordon’s defiance made his cock twitch for some reason. Like a wild mare, she was begging to be broken and ridden hard. Aye, she was in for a harsh awakening to life’s realities this day. A vow was a vow and could not be broken.
‘Well, are we in agreement?’ she spat.
‘Go ahead, lass,’ said Wolfric, and Orla let fly.
‘How on earth did you manage to win that race? There is something foul at play here. You knew exactly where to go and the best route around the loch.’
‘I know this land like the back of my hand, for I used to come poaching here as a snotty, wee lad. I always got a good bounty of rabbit, deer, whatever I could lay my hands on. Took the odd sheep too when the fancy took me.’
‘Then you are the thief my father says you are. And why poach our game when you have plenty of your own?’
‘It was far more rewarding to steal it from the Gordons. My father put me up to it. Said it would make a man of me, avoiding your gamekeeper. There was also the added sport of a certain gamekeeper’s daughter which drew me here.’ Wolfric smirked at the memory. ‘So you see, that race was but a quick trot around old haunts for me.’
‘Yet still, you managed to lose it.’
The Gordon lass hit him where it hurt with her comment, but Wolfric controlled his temper. ‘I suppose I did lose, and to a lass. But winning that foolish race for your hand wasn’t the main prize, was it?’
He smiled into her eyes, and she reddened.
‘I won what I came for, lass. That land up at Wildwood Glen is bountiful indeed.’
Orla’s jaw worked at the insult. ‘God, you really must hate us to do this.’
‘My father hates yours with a vengeance, and God and Dunbar only know why, and aye, making Dunbar hand over that land feels like justice. As to you, I bear you no ill will, and I don’t think you are too bad for a Gordon. In time, I am sure we will get along famously, lass.’
‘See here. I cannot say it any simpler than this, Sir. I will not wed you. I have no wish to become your wife or anyone else’s.’
‘Is that why you entered that race, in the foolish hope that you could sway it?’
She said nothing, just pursed her pretty lips and glared.
‘You ride well, for a lass, I’ll give you that,’ said Wolfric. ‘Far better than that milksop, Robbie Dunn. Are you disappointed you did not catch him for a husband in the trap you set?’
‘Absolutely not.’
Orla’s cheeks reddened. Was it anger or embarrassment that she had been caught out?
‘But that was the plan, was it not?’ said Wolfric. ‘That oaf, Dunn, was supposed to win and be a rich, soft husband for you, and then I came along and ruined your plans.’
‘It was not my plan. It was….’
‘Ah, so there was a plan?’ Wolfric took a step closer, and Orla stepped back. ‘This contest was never to be a fair one from the outset - excluding my father from the invitation, you entering the race, Robbie trying to force me off that ridge.’
‘No. You have it all wrong, and it is my turn to speak.’
‘Says who? Now, you will shut up and listen to me, lass.’ Wolfric strode forward, and Orla backed up against some barrels and could go no further. ‘I have no wish to wed you, either. Why would I want a shrewish wife with the whiff of the stables about her? Aye, your reputation proceeds you, Miss Gordon. Are you not known as an unladylike hellion who disdains any man who pays court to her? You are renowned in these parts for your wildness. All I see before me is a spoiled little brat who disobeys her parents and puts herself before her clan’s interests. Apparently, there are low-born strumpets with softer tongues than you and finer manners too.’
‘Then go and find someone feeble and ladylike to suffer you in wedlock,’ she replied, fisting her hands.
‘Ah, but that would soon bore me, whereas you will give me a great deal of sport.’
‘I will do no such thing.’
