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"Father Gibson felt he had to give it to her, but is no' too pleased to have her there," he added.
Annabel wasn't surprised. Five minutes in Kate's presence was five minutes too long and she didn't doubt her sister was already driving the priest mad.
"So he suggested giving her permanent sanctuary and sending her to Elstow Abbey so long as she agreed to take the veil," Ross said quietly. "And she agreed."
Annabel's eyes widened. Kate would hate Elstow. She would hate the abbess, the chores, the hard physical labor, the shared baths, the plain, tasteless food, the restrictions, the punishments and penances. Annabel had no doubt Kate would refuse to whip herself at the abbess's instructions . . . at least until she heard what the alternative punishments were.
Her sister had no idea what she was agreeing to. Her selfish demanding ways would not serve her there, and certainly would not go over well with the other women. And she would be under constant scrutiny. Kate had no training that would make working in the stables an option, and that was the only place with any freedom at all, and even there it was scant. And she would have to--
Annabel's eyes widened suddenly and when Ross arched an eyebrow in question, she told him what she'd just thought of. "If she is taking the veil, her hair will be shorn for sure."
They stared at each other in silence for a minute and then Ross said, "She will no' like that."
"Nay," Annabel agreed. Kate was too vain to accept that well, but she would have to do it to hang on to the sanctuary she wanted.
It suddenly occurred to Annabel that this would mean they were completely switching lives. Kate would now be living the life that had stretched out before Annabel until she'd been dragged home to marry Ross while she lived the life that had been meant for Kate until she'd run off with Grant.
Only, Annabel suspected Kate's personality would turn the experience from just unpleasant and unhappy to utter misery. Life at the abbey would either reform Kate or kill her . . . or possibly it would kill both Kate and the abbess, Annabel thought. But in a way, it seemed the most fitting place for her sister. Certainly it was better than a beheading, life in a dungeon, or any of the other punishments Annabel had feared would be meted out.
Releasing the breath she'd been holding, Annabel nodded. "Aye. Send her to Elstow."
Ross straightened and crossed the room to take her into his arms. Annabel was still for a moment, but then relaxed into him with a sigh and immediately felt the sack containing the MacKay treasure still hanging from her skirt. She should have put it away first thing, Annabel thought unhappily. Actually, she should not have left the chest unlocked and open for Kate to take it in the first place, she reprimanded herself and then bit her lip and murmured, "I am sorry."
Her husband pulled back enough to peer down into her face with surprise and asked, "For what?"
Annabel had meant to say for leaving the chest open for Kate to nearly get away with the MacKay treasure, but the response that came out was, "Everything."
Ross shook his head and assured her, "Ye've nothing to be sorry fer, Annabel."
"Aye, I do," she countered and pointed out, "You have had nothing but trouble since marrying me."
Ross caught her face in his hands and met her gaze as he said solemnly, "Aye. There has been little else but trouble since our wedding, but none of it was yer fault."
"But if you had not married me--"
"I'd have missed out on the best thing in me life," he interrupted firmly, and then added wryly, "And despite all the troubles, or mayhap because o' them, I have thanked God every day since waking to find yer sister here that it was you I married and no' her."
Annabel laughed shakily and then closed her eyes and leaned her head against his chest with a sigh. "Aye, well . . . still, if you had refused me and married someone else you could have avoided a great deal of difficulty."
Ross kissed the top of her head and assured her, "Yer worth every bit o' trouble yer sister has caused and more. I meant what I said at the barn, I do love ye, Annabel. Ye brighten me days and make me keep a home."
She lifted her head and tilted it back to peer up at him, surprised to find tears rising to mist her eyes. "I love you too, Ross. I thought I would spend my life at Elstow and had resigned myself to it, but I am ever so grateful that Kate's actions placed me here with you instead. I did not know life could be so . . ." She paused, several thoughts coming to mind. She hadn't realized life could be so full of caring, color, happiness and passion. But in the end she simply said, "Wonderful."
Ross smiled and then bent to kiss her. It was a sweet kiss at first, full of love, but then as happened when they were together, passion began to take over.
Moaning, Annabel withdrew her arms from around his waist to slip them up around his shoulders and then rose up on her toes to plaster herself against him. Ross immediately dropped his hands to cup her behind. Raising her off the ground, he then started to carry her to the bed, their bodies rubbing together with each step. But he paused when a knock sounded at the door.
Breaking their kiss, he glanced toward it and barked, "Go away."
"Is that any way to talk to yer sister?" Giorsal called out with a laugh. " 'Sides, I am only knockin' to tell ye Carney is back and he's brought a certain gentleman that I am sure Annabel'll want to see right away."
"Damn," Ross groaned and leaned his forehead on Annabel's.
"What is it?" she asked with concern.
Ross hesitated, but then admitted, "The task I sent Carney on was to fetch the cloth merchant here so ye could buy what ye want. Ye should ha'e gowns of yer own, made just fer ye, not me mother's castoffs."
"Oh," Annabel breathed, tears threatening again, and then she hugged him tightly. "Thank you, husband. You are the most wonderful, considerate husband any girl could ask for."
Ross smiled crookedly, but then sighed. "I suppose I should let ye go talk to the man."
Annabel was tempted, but then shook her head. "Nay. He can wait a bit." Tightening her hold on his shoulders, she raised her legs to wrap them around his waist, managing the task despite her skirts, and said, "I think I should like to thank you properly for such thoughtfulness."
"Oh?" Ross asked with a grin, continuing toward the bed. "Well, while yer in the mood for thanking me, I should mention that I dealt with the spice merchant ere bringing Kate back."
"You did?" Annabel asked, eyes wide. She'd quite forgotten about the man, what with everything that had happened.
"Aye, I did," he assured her. "And after I gave him a couple coins, paid for his stay at the inn, and threatened to hunt him down and geld him if he didn't agree, he promised no' to warn anyone away from MacKay."
That startled a laugh from Annabel, and she shook her head. "You are a wonder."
"Yer happy then?" Ross asked seriously, pausing in front of the bed.
"Oh, aye, husband. I am very happy," she assured him solemnly, then unwrapped her legs from around his hips and kicked them lightly until he turned sideways to the
bed to set her down. She immediately took a step toward the door and Ross turned to follow her movement, as she'd expected. It placed him with his back to the bed.
"Where are ye going?" he asked with a frown. "I thought--" The words died on a startled gasp when Annabel suddenly turned and gave him a shove. Caught by surprise, Ross tumbled back onto the bed with his legs hanging off from the knees down.
"Nowhere," Annabel assured him solemnly as she quickly undid her lacings and removed her gown. She then walked up between his knees until her own knees bumped the bed, and added, "You are stuck with me, husband."
"Then I am the luckiest man in Scotland," Ross growled, sitting up to slide his arms around her waist. He squeezed her tight briefly, and sighed, "God, I love you."
"And I love you," Annabel assured him solemnly, and then pushed him back on the bed and bent to crawl on top of him, saying, "Let me show you how much."
Read on for a sneak peek of
Lynsay Sands' next Argeneau novel
ONE LUCKY VAMPIRE
On sale September 24, 2013
from Avon Books
"Last day of this assignment."
Jake nodded silently, but didn't glance to Dan Shephard, the blond man at his side and his partner for this job. Instead, Jake's eyes were busily sliding over the crowd, looking for any possible threat.
"Damn good thing too," Dan added grimly. "One more day of watching out for this arrogant, demanding prick and I might be tempted to kill him myself."
That comment made Jake's mouth twitch with amusement. Their client was definitely an annoying, arrogant and demanding bastard. But then, what else could you expect from a foreign dictator? Besides, working as professional protection in Ottawa meant that a lot of the people they were sent to guard were arrogant, demanding, or annoying. At least on the outside. Some were a different case inside and just acting up out of fear or stress, but not all. This client was as arrogant, demanding and annoying inside as he acted on the outside. But, they were hired to do a job and you couldn't like every client, he thought philosophically.
"He flies out at eight right? Then we're done?" Dan asked.
Jake nodded, but his eyes had narrowed on a man in the crowd. The fellow wore a baseball cap and jean jacket. He was also eyeballing their client. Of course, most people there were since he was answering questions shot at him by the press, but there was just something about ballcap boy that was raising alarms in Jake's head.
