Читать книгу Ice Maiden - Debra Lee Brown - Страница 2

The Scot’s eyes popped wide. “Yer daft, woman.” He’d be on his way now, thank ye very much. “Besides, I have a bride.” George rose shakily to his feet. Rika rose with him. Sweet Jesus, the woman was nearly as tall as he. “Arranged,” he croaked, “by William the Lyon—my king.”

She flinched at his words. “It matters not.”

Oh, but it did. Women should be small and delicate. Submissive. Her brash demeanor repelled him…yet his body felt strangely stirred.

“Once we are divorced, you can go home and claim her. The dowry is all I want. It’s mine by right, and I will have it.”

What she proposed was unthinkable. Marriage was a sacrament. ’Twas not a pagan ritual to be done and undone on a whim, simply to gain the bride her coin.

“I willna do it.”

“Then I hope you enjoy our island, Scotsman, for you’ll be here a very long time.” She turned her back on him and marched away.