A Time & Place for Every Laird Angeline Fortin (read full novel txt) 📖

was rewarded with the press of his hot lips againstthe nape of her neck as he murmured foreign words similar to thosehe had whispered before into her ear in a thick, sensualbrogue.

What did those words really mean, shewondered? His answer before hadn’t felt honest. His hoarsely spokenwords had been too tenderly voiced to be mere sex play. Was itpossible that he was beginning to feel the same as she was? Had hecome to care? While the thought thrilled, Claire conversely hopedthat wasn’t the case and did not ask him again about his words. Onebroken heart out of this mess was better than two. Especially whenHugh’s heart had already been broken by too much loss recently.

“Yer mind is wandering,” he whispered in herear, enfolding her more tightly against his chest. “Are ye weariedof me already?”

A chuckle of incredulity escaped her andClaire hugged the burly arm wrapped around her waist against hertightly. “No, not at all. If it helps, I was thinking aboutyou.”

“A pleasing thought if it has kept ye fromfretting over other things.”

“Oh, I’ll always do that,” she confessedlightly, shifting onto her back so that she could look up at him.No man should be so beautiful, but Hugh was. With his blue eyeslazy and warm, his often fierce expression softened, and his broadchest covered with nothing more than shadows, he was every woman’sfantasy of an impassioned lover. Claire smoothed a hand over thebulge of his pectoral, feeling the rigid line of a long-healed scarthere.

Hugh had fought a great many battles, butwhat might be the greatest of them all awaited him in the days andweeks to come. If only Hugh knew that there was so much more sheworried about than their escape from Seattle. She worried more overhow Hugh would proceed with life once he was safe with his newidentity. Danny was right, of course. Hugh was smart andresourceful. He learned quickly and adapted even faster. No doubthe would thrive on his own, but Claire hated the thought of himreturning to Scotland without her. The world was a hard place forpeople today to make their way in without a friend at their side.She felt like Moses’s mom must have, putting Hugh out in aproverbial basket on the Nile to fend for himself.

“Have you given any thought to what you’dlike to do when you get to Scotland?”

“Am I tae assume ye are speaking ofsomething more than my desire tae set foot on the land whereRosebraugh once stood?”

“Yes. In the big picture, what do you thinkyou might want to do? Go to school, maybe?” she asked. “Learn atrade?”

“Ye think me a tradesman?” Hugh asked insurprise. “I may nae longer be a duke but I was raised tae lead naetae serve. Nae, my love, fret not. I hae already a verra excellentnotion of how I might earn my living.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised by theconfidence in his voice. To her mind this was the one downfall ofHugh returning to Scotland and a major source of the anxiety shebore for his solitary return. “What is it?”

“I plan tae trade in the commodities.”

Claire blinked. That was not what she hadexpected at all. “What? How do you plan to do that?”

“In my own time, I invested heavily in theLondon Exchange and was always quite successful,” Hugh told her.“I’ve been reading yer uncle’s books on the subject and his newssheets and I cannae see that the foundation has changed much. Do yerecall what I said about being good at puzzles and the like? Partof it is seeing patterns others cannae see. That is all thistrading is. Applying variables tae the rhythm of the market andextrapolating a course of action. Some of yer businesses today Idinnae hae any expertise wi’ tae predict such a thing, but thebasic commodities hae changed verra little over time. I’m certain Ican make a go of it once I learn the use of the propertechnologies.”

Impressive, Claire thought, feeling proudthat Hugh was so self-assured in building a financial future forhimself. It was an ambitious endeavor. “You’ll need capital tobegin, though.”

“Aye.” Hugh leaned over the side of the bedand fished his medallion out of the pocket of his jeans. He held itabove them, letting the dim light shine dully off it as it swayed.“’Tis solid gold. Wi’ the current value so high, I should be abletae gain a tidy sum from its sale.”

“But you can’t sell that, Hugh,” Claireprotested. “It’s one of your only personal possessions, a familyheirloom.”

“I have my plaid tae remind me of my familyand my home, but this will be my future, Sorcha,” he corrected,solemnly. “The foundation for a new life.”

Claire’s heart twisted with sorrow over thesacrifices he had already made. She couldn’t bear to see him loseany more. “I hate to see you do that. I have a pretty good amountin my 401K that I could cash out for you …”

“Nae, Sorcha, dinnae even suggest such athing, for I willnae take any more from ye. I hae taken too muchalready and the time has come for a change. I will make my own wayfrom now on.”

“Of course.” His own way. Without her.Claire knew that, planned on it even, but it sounded so dismissivecoming from him.

As if he read the insult in her eyes, Hughnudged up her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I would share itwi’ ye, Sorcha.” Her heart skipped a beat at his softly spokenwords. “I would like tae share my future wi’ ye, as uncertain as itis.”

There it was again. An offer and a question,and every fiber of Claire’s being demanded that she accept hisunspoken proposal, that she commit to a future with him. She wantedto. Wanted to be the one to share in the experience with him.Wanted to keep the thrill he had brought into her life. If twoweeks in near seclusion with him was so exhilarating, how would itbe to spend the rest of her life … Oh, Lord! Was she reallythinking that? Now? When she knew it was impossible?

Just that morning, she had thought thisthing between them nothing but lust, her emergence out from underher shell of