Kresley Cole - If You Desire

"I thought that meant no' to know love from another."

Court shot him a guilty look. "I was no' thinking. Bit desperate. I was ready to convince myself of anything. Then, when I got there, she told me she loved me, too. And that she was having my babe. The curse is wrong, Hugh."

Court knew exactly when Hugh felt a glimmer of hope, because he grated a harsh oath. "Ah, God help me. I might have gotten Jane pregnant."

"Best hope you dinna," Court muttered.

"What? Why's that?"

"Imagine your new wife delivering the babe of a six-and-a-half-foot-tall Highlander, and tell me if that is no' enough to keep you up nights for nine months. If I'd had any idea I could get a babe on Anna, I'd never have done it.Never ."

Hugh's brows drew together at the warning. "If it's no' already too late." Rising a shade more slowly this time, he bit out, "Going for her."

Court pushed him back and assured him, "There's plenty of time for that." Now that Court knew what it was like to have a good woman's love, he wanted it for his brother as well. And certainly there were better women out there for him than Jane Weyland. "Hugh, how can you be sure it'sher ?"

Hugh's grip on Court's wrist was shockingly strong. "Are you…are youjesting ?" Hugh cast him an incredulous look. "I've wanted her for a third of my life, I'm presently married to her, and I'm so bloody in love with her it pains me."

Lost for that woman!There was nothing to be done for what Court was seeing now. "You will no' make it to the property line in your condition," Court said. "So you'll sleep this off and leave when I think you can ride."

Hugh stubbornly shook his head, rising once more.

"Do you really want to face Jane coming off a drunken bender and still recovering? And I doona like to say this—but what makes you think she'll welcome you as her husband, just because you slept together? You said that you sent her away and she hates you now."

"Aye, and I know I hurt her. But the lass told me she loved me. She did. She has since she was a girl." Hugh glowered. "Doona look at me like that. I ken how unbelievable it sounds." He walked unsteadily. "She believed we were to be married, then thought I'd abandoned her."

Court whistled through his teeth. He had never seen that one coming. "That'swhy she teased you? Then, brother, you've got an uphill battle ahead of you, I fear."

"Tell me something I doona know," he mumbled as he began scouring the room for clothes.

All the clan thought Court was the volatile one. Ethan was considered cold as ice. Hugh was supposed to be the even-tempered, logical—and neat—one. If they could see him now, grumbling about his injuries and sniping complaints as he quickly dug for clothing from haphazard piles on the floor, they wouldn't recognize him.

"You're no' up to this yet," Court insisted. "Just do me a favor. Stay here until dawn."

"No' a chance."

"Then for a meal and coffee? You need to sober up." He gave Hugh a pained expression. "And, brother, a bath would no' go amiss. You do know there are hot springs out back?"

Hugh stumbled over a boot, then coughed into his fist. "That so?" he said, flushing for some reason.

As Hugh neared London after a day of rail and riding, he fought a sense of urgency so strong it knotted his gut. After struggling against his feelings for so long, to give them free rein now was nigh overpowering.

And the crushing presence of the curse was…gone. Hugh finally believed he could have a future with Jane. He had seen Annalía, and he trusted his brother's judgment. On the subject of theLeabhar , Hugh trusted his mother's as well—and Court had said she believed as he did. At last, Hugh could reconcile that sense of rightness, of inevitability when he'd been with Jane.

A storm was whipping up to match his turbulent mood, but he didn't care—he'd still reach her on this very night. All he had to do was get to her and win her back.

One mile down, another mile closer. He leaned into the wind, frowning to realize that the only thing that stood in the way of his keeping Jane was how well he could persuade her.

Hugh had rarely had need of that skill. He usually got his way by intimidation or force.

He'd have to convince her that he would make an effort with her family, and that he could fit into her life. If he took it slowly, instead of a sudden immersion like he'd endured at Vinelands, he could get used to them.

He'd bloody figure it out.

Though she'd promised not to take him back, right now, anything felt possible to him. In fact, he hadn't even told Court about Ethan because, for some reason, Hugh had a strong sense that his older brother still lived. He would continue to search for Ethan, unleash runners to investigate, then make a determination one way or another before he heaped more apprehension onto Court's plate.

Court was already dreading the upcoming birth—Hugh had seen him eyeing Annalía's belly guiltily, even as she was unmistakably delighted.

Hugh had never thought about worrying for a wife in labor before—he'd never believed he was meant to have a wife or children—but now the idea of Jane going through that made him shudder.

Even as he reassured Court that women had bairns all the time, Hugh was promising himself he'd be talking to Robert, the laughing quack, and asking him exactly what the best way was "to wait" to have bairns—if she wasn't already pregnant.

By the time Hugh reached London, the rain had let up, but he hadn't. His horse's hooves clattered as they raced down the wet streets of London. A life with Jane, free of this constant dread, depended on his skills of persuasion. He swallowed.

Hell, Weyland might not even let him in the house.

Hugh owed the man yet another huge debt. Weyland was the only bloody one who'd seen so clearly that Hugh and Jane needed to be together that he'd taken steps to see it done. He'd forced Hugh to confront his feelings—and, Christ, he'd prevented Jane from becomingengaged to another man.

Hugh had repaid him by sending his daughter packing.

As more guests continued to arrive, Jane smoothed the silk of her new emerald green gown and pasted on a fake smile. She was preoccupied, restless, and bored at this party her father had manipulated her into hosting—her and Claudia's own going-away celebration.

Though she and her cousin had decided weeks ago to take a trip to Italy, her father had stalled them at every opportunity. Finally, they were departing by steamer in the morning.

Though her father was furious with Hugh, she knew he still had hope for them, believing Hugh would return for her. Yet without receiving a word from him for weeks, Jane knew better.

When Freddie and Candace arrived, Jane's smile turned genuine. Not only was she happy for the laughing and obviously adoring couple, she also experienced a renewed sense of relief that she hadn't wed him. Once she'd greeted them and they'd moved on to speak with someone else, she breathed a sigh.

"Why the serious look, Janey?" Claudia asked, handing her a glass of champagne. "You always liked elegant parties."

"I know." She loved the scent of the rose arrangements all over the house, the glitter of their chandelier fully ablaze, and the tinkling of crystal flutes kissing champagne bottles.

"Has anyone said anything about your marriage?"

She shook her head and took a sip. "No. Everyone's been tiptoeing around it." Most everyone here—a crowd of family and good friends—had heard rumors of Jane's hasty marriage, and just as hasty separation, but no one except her London cousins had dared to ask her about it.

"Well, then, cheer up! Tomorrow begins the adventure. We're actually going to leave this sodding little island."

"Claudie, won't you be sad to leave your groom behind for months?"