The Virgin of Clan Sinclair by Karen Ranney

about to give birth to her third child, which meant Macrath wasn’t going to budge from Drumvagen for months, if not years. He would do anything to keep Virginia safe, an attitude he had for all the women in his family, even her, which meant he wasn’t going to understand.
    But as much as she admired Macrath and Mairi’s husband, Logan, she didn’t want to be smothered by them.
    Macrath would have wrapped his wife in bunting, but Virginia had a way of looking at him, the message in her gaze all too evident. Back off, my darling husband. I am no schoolgirl unable to make decisions .
    Ellice’s problem was that she was still a schoolgirl in Macrath’s eyes.
    “Are you afraid?” the stranger asked from behind her.
    He was standing much too close. She could almost feel his breath on her neck.
    Lemons. He smelled of lemons and leather.
    What would he have done if she’d leaned back against him? Would he have supported her in his arms or would he have stepped away? Would he question her or lecture her?
    She might turn and wrap her arms around his neck, lean in for a kiss in a way she’d imagined so many times before. His mouth would envelop hers, his tongue brushing against hers, his lips soft yet hard.
    The taste of his mouth would fascinate her. His tongue would brush against hers, stroking that fire building inside. Her head would swim, but she’d pull back, look at him coolly just as Lady Pamela would.
    Her palm would rest against his heated cheek and she’d say, so calmly that it surprised even her, That was wonderful. I’ve dreamed of your kiss.
    Then, as he moved toward her, she would shake her head. I’ve no time now, she’d say, and move away in a gliding motion, leaving him to stare, desolate, after her.
    “Ellice?”
    She blinked her eyes to see the library door open and Macrath standing before her.
    “What’s wrong?”
    When the stranger gently propelled her into the room by pushing on her shoulders, Macrath’s eyebrows drew together in a most forbidding frown. She’d seen that expression before but it had been directed at something inanimate, Macrath’s plans or a bolt that would not line up where it was supposed to go.
    Behind her, she heard the stranger say, “She hid in my carriage. She wanted to go to Edinburgh but my staying here defeated her purpose.”
    Macrath stepped back.
    “Ellice, is that true? Were you hiding in his lordship’s carriage?”
    “His lordship?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the stranger.
    “Ross Forster, the Earl of Gadsden,” Macrath said.
    Gadsden should have told her, but no, he’d remained silent.
    She frowned at the earl, but her irritation didn’t change his expression one whit.
    Both men looked at her until she realized she was supposed to sit. She didn’t want to sit. She wanted to run upstairs to her room, close the door, and put a chair in front of it so no one could disturb her. If she wanted, she’d fume. Or perhaps she’d even weep. Or she might do both. She felt too close to tears at the moment and that angered her.
    Instead, she pretended that she wasn’t the least disturbed—much in the way Lady Pamela would behave—and moved to one of the comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace.
    Virginia often sat here reading. She wasn’t here today and hadn’t been for the last week. Her time was near and no one was taking any chances with her health. Her first child had been born after only four hours of labor. Her second had been half that.
    “I’ll have the baby before anyone realizes,” she’d told Enid last week, and although she laughed at the time, she didn’t realize that’s exactly what everyone feared.
    Macrath was well on his way to having the clan he said he wanted. The fact that his wife endured childbirth so well was a blessing. However, that didn’t take the worry from his eyes or make him any easier to be around.
    Like now, when his blue eyes were as intent as the belly of a flame.
    “Do you want to explain your