Read A Laird for Christmas for Free Online

I thank you for that.”
    He stepped closer. “I would have traveled twice the distance and more to bring you this gift.” He extended his hands and offered her a highly polished wooden box. “For you.”
    Jane accepted the box, but he did not release it. Instead, his fingers folded around hers. Sensation danced between them and her gaze moved back to his face.
    “A beautiful woman deserves beautiful things. Open it.” He released her hands.
    Jane took a deep breath, suddenly unnerved by his gift—all the gifts she would receive this day as a means to garner her favor.
    She slid back the wooden lid to reveal a long, lustrous strand of ivory pearls. She had never seen such plump pearls before. They shimmered as though they were freshly plucked from the sea.
    She returned her gaze to Lord Galloway’s. The dark centers of his eyes flared as his gaze flowed down her body and slowly, incrementally, roved back up her person, settling on the neckline of her gown with lazy regard. Her hand instinctively fluttered to her throat.
    “Allow me to help you put them on?” He asked the question, but his fingers had already captured the strand and he lifted it over her head. He slid the cool orbs against her warmed flesh, then settled them in place with capable fingers. “Beautiful,” he said, his voice deep, heavy, and smooth.
    “Thank you,” Jane replied, unsettled that his fingers still lingered against the pearls. These men would all try to win the competition with their gifts, their careful smiles, and knowing touches. Her gaze moved from Lord Galloway to the other men gathered at the base of the dais. These men were her suitors, and she would marry one of them.
    “Lord Galloway, I thank you for the very thoughtful and very expensive gift of these pearls.” She lifted his hand from where it rested on the pearls and gently set it free near his side. “I adore pearls.”
    Lord Galloway straightened and his mouth quirked as he turned back to face his competitors. “ ’Tis only the beginning of the gifts I intend to shower upon you, my lady,” he said, then with a bow strode back to join the others.
    Jane allowed her gaze to follow him and then to shift to the others gathered there. For the first time she had a clear view of the men her aunt had invited. Her heart leapt to her throat with a combination of fear and joy as her gaze moved over them. Jules MacIntyre, her cousin Bryce, David Buchanan, a man she did not recognize, and Nicholas Kincaid.
    “Sir David Buchanan, come forward and greet Lady Jane,” Margaret called out from beside Jane before she could even react to the tangle of emotions within her.
    David came forward wearing leather armor. He knelt before her, his boiled leather creaking as he did. “Lady Jane, I am at your service. To protect you or marry you, whichever pleases you most.”
    Jane could feel heat come to her cheeks. “Sir David, please rise,” she said when he remained on the ground before her, his head bowed.
    “As you wish,” he said, his deep voice moving through her. He stood and she suddenly remembered how tall he was. Well over six feet. He looked tough, dangerous, and as handsome as ever. Energy shimmered off him in waves as it always had. His brown hair was neatly trimmed around his ears, revealing high cheekbones in his angular face. Somehow she had also forgotten how broad his chest was, made more so by his leather and metal plating, and how the leather of his armor clung to muscular thighs. His arms hung at his sides and his deep brown eyes were fixed on her.
    “You will not need your armor here, Sir David.”
    He looked back at his competition quickly, then returned his gaze to hers. “In that assessment, you may be wrong.” His mouth tipped briefly to one side in a smile that lived and died in an instant. He moved closer until he wasno more than an arm’s reach away. “I am here to protect you, from harm, from them, whatever is needed.”
    His voice was impossible to