When a Scot Ties the Knot (Castles Ever After, #3)

by Tessa Dare

“That’s simple. I want what your letters said. What you’ve been telling your family for years. I’m Captain Logan MacKenzie. I received every last one of your missives, and despite your best attempts to kill me, I am verra much alive.” He propped a finger under her chin, tilting her face to his. So she would be certain to hear and believe his words. “Madeline Eloise Gracechurch . . . I’ve come here to marry you.”

She smiled a little. “Are you saying you were faithful to me?” He rolled his eyes. “Not on purpose. Dinna dress it up as something it’s not.”

“What I’m saying isna romantic. It’s raw, primal, and entirely crude.” He lowered his voice to a growl. “You, Madeline Eloise Gracechurch, have been driving me slowly mad with lust. For years.”

“Here I am, struggling to banish any foolish imagined affections for you so that we can consummate this marriage of convenience in a proper businesslike fashion, as we agreed. And then you go and read a book?” While he was at it, why didn’t he just bring her a basket of kittens, a bottle of champagne, and pose naked with a rose caught between his teeth?

“Flounce, flounce, flounce.” She couldn’t help but tease him. Needling him took away some of her own anxiety. “It isna flouncing,” he said. “It’s pacing.” “If you say so, Captain MacFlouncy.”

“That’s the most remarkable thing about you, mo chridhe. The way you have of bringing things to life.”

“Let’s have a look at your tatties, then.” She blushed and crossed her arms over her chest. “What? Now? Here?” “Not those. Your tatties. The potatoes, mo chridhe.”

“Na treig mi,” Logan rasped again. “Dinna leave me, Maddie.” “I won’t.” She took his hand in hers. “I’m right here.” He squeezed it tight. “You must swear it, mo chridhe. You’re my heart. If you leave me, I’ll die.”

“Logan, you are my dream. You always were. You have to know that. The deepest desire of my heart. And as wild a fantasy as I spun . . .” She laced her arms about his neck. “ . . . the reality of us is so much better.”