Her eyes clouded in that thoughtful way she had.
So he continued, “Iwill decide yer punishments.”
“Not yet.” She spoke through gritted teeth, having dropped all attempts at coercion. “And not ever if I can help it.”
“There is no help for it, but I see ye’re still struggling with that fact. Whoever else we might have preferred, it is ye and I who have been betrothed. Even now they discusswhenit will be seen to.”
“My father will not force me.”
“Is that the game ye’ve been playing at?” Darragh shook his head, chiding her with his expression. “Sean is beside himself with how best to handle ye. And last fall when he left ye with my clan? It was so ye could get accustomed to our ways and lose yer aversion to marrying, but instead ye snuck off alone to follow him to the Meic Murchadha—”
“I did not go as far as that.”
“Ye should go nowherealoneand unprotected.” Darragh’s anger was getting the best of him. He hesitated, struggling for control, but all his emotions were riding him hard.
“My fatherlovesme. He does not wish to see me married to a brute of a man.”
A brute of a man? Hardly. “But yer behavior has not worked out as ye’d hoped. Ye’ve merely demonstrated ye need someone to look after yenow.”
“I do not!” Her nostrils flared. “And yer arrogance is intolerable.”
“Arrogance? So ye question my ability to protect ye?”
“And ye question my ability to protect myself.” She dropped her arms to press her chest out. Intended as a defiant gesture, it gave him a pleasant eyeful instead.
Her eyes clouded over again. “I’ve sparred with all the lads. I’ve proved myself a worthy opponent.”
“When were ye forced to defend yerself against a stranger? A man ye didn’t know?”
“I’m ready for battle, do not doubt it.”
“That, dear Brighit, is arrogance.” He shook his head, recognizing the uselessness of the argument even as he made it. “Yer father is correct. Ye need to be taken in hand.”
Her gasp gave him great satisfaction. “He would never say such a thing.”
Darragh merely shrugged. “The wedding can happen in a fortnight, or it can take place this very night.”
He was pushing it a bit. His mother had expressed a desire for the priest to be present and he was at least a two-day journey away.
Wetting his lips, he gave her his most charming smile. “I believe it should be this very night that I take ye to my bed.”
“Ugh!” Brighit rolled her eyes. “Ye want this even less than me.”
That was a bit of a surprise. In truth, he was the envy of all the lads, both in his clan and her own. Brighit was a beautiful, feisty woman. He wasn’t sure how to reply.
“So? What is it ye want?” Brighit’s expression revealed nothing. “I promise I’ll not leave—”
“Yer promise means nothing.” Darragh raised a hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “A display of how insulted ye are will not change my mind. I know ye better than that. Instead, let us have a truce.”
She remained silent, her lips tightly sealed.
“Ye willnotmisbehave again—and I will agree to wait to take ye to wife.”
“Until next summer?”
“Oh no. No one will agree to waiting another year. Yer behavior demands ye be taken to wife now.”
“Then how long will ye give me?”
