Remaining perplexed, he studied her beautiful face. She gave no outward signs of deception, but mayhap she was a skilled liar. "If you're a MacRae, how do you nay ken Wilona? She's the widow of your former chief."
"I told you—I'm from America. The New World." Dani wiggled two fingers from each hand in the air. Abruptly, her eyes widened. "Hey! Maybe the witch caused me to… come here."
Gavin scowled. "'Tis doubtful. She wouldn't wish her spell revoked." He suspected Dani would concoct all sorts of stories to avoid marrying him. 'Haps she came from some other, half-mad branch of the MacRae clan, from the Borders or even England. Regardless, he sought the answer to one primary question… "Do you think you can break the curse?"
She snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure I could.If I knew which curse you're referring to!"
He didn't care for her shrewish, impudent tone. "Even if you are from the colonies, the MacRae must have told you about our difficulties when you arrived in Scotland."
"No. Enlighten me." She placed her hands upon her hips. "What would I have to do to break this so-called curse?"
"Marrying me is the first step. The rest is a mystery to all of us."
"Right." Dani did something strange with her eyes as if they rolled around in her head. "Oh, by the way, I'm not a virgin. So… I doubt I'll make a good wife. Isn't that sort of thing important to you guys—lairds, dukes, earls, and such?"
A dark, unidentified emotion crawled through his chest. He wanted her as his bride, and the thought of her with another man made him want to draw a sword and hunt down the whoreson. "How long ago did you lie with someone, and who was he?" 'Haps his voice sounded a bit too harsh, but he couldn't remedy that now.
"Forget the caveman possessiveness bit. It won't fly with me."
Narrowing his eyes, he mulled over her words, trying to grasp their full meaning. If she had bedded someone recently, she might already be with child. If he did marry her, he would have to hold off on consummating the marriage for a few months so he could determine whether the bairn she bore was his or not. 'Twould be hell, considering how much he wanted her.
"Fine," she said. "I'll tell you if you'll stop glaring at me. The guy was a college football player who did nothing but fumble—in the backseat of his car and on the field. I was eighteen, the experience was awful, and I haven't done it since. "
"What is your age now?"
"Twenty-four."
He counted in his head, relief filling him. Though she appeared younger than twenty-four summers, he believed her. "You have nay lain with a man in six years?"
"Congratulations, you can count."
He smirked at her wit. "And what are you, then, a professor at university?"
She nodded. "Actually, I am."
He guffawed. She would provide him carnal pleasures and entertaining stories. What more could a man ask for? "I like your delusions. 'Haps we are nay so different after all."
"I teach English literature. Believe it, mister."
"As you say." He saw no point in arguing with her. He wished to keep her calm so she would agree to wed him.
Before dawn, when he'd mentioned her name to his father, the older man had gotten over-excited, yelling about her being the one he must marry. Regardless of how odd she acted—and spoke—she seemed a good wife candidate. She didn't run away from him, screaming, as all other women did.
She intrigued him with her courage and beauty. Besides, she roused powerful lust within him such as he'd never felt. When he'd searched her the night before, he'd wanted to lift her against the wall, wrap her legs around his waist, and take her. But he couldn't. Not yet. Not until they were bound in holy matrimony.
"So, you actually want to marry me?" she asked as if 'twas the daftest thing ever. "You don't even know me."
He shrugged. "'Tis nay so strange. In arranged marriages, many couples wed upon their first meeting. Besides, I ken all I need to. The sooner we wed, the sooner the clan will return."
She narrowed her eyes. "Why will they return? Spill."
He hesitated, not wanting to reveal everything because then she might fear him. "'Tis a long story. The clan has been gone since last year because of the curse, but Da says 'twill be destroyed when I wed."
"What sort of curse, exactly? I need details."
"Upon the land, the crops, the cattle. 'Twas all forfeit. This year we pray for a bountiful harvest." He would keep the rest a secret for now.
"Why did you and your clan get hexed?"
