"MacAllister - 04 - Midsummer's Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (MacGregor Kinley)

"Men can be strange beasties." Caledonia said quietly as she shut the door
behind her and drew closer. "You've no idea what a hard time I had with Sin when
I first met him. He was prickly and harsh, always seeking to put distance
between us."
Kenna took comfort at her cousin's words. "I find that hard to believe."
"Aye, but it's true. I think you caught Stryder off guard. Give him time to
think clearly and I'm sure he'll make good his promises."
Kenna nodded, even though part of her still wanted to cry at the shattering of
her dreams.
Everything had started out so simply in the beginning. After her brother's
death, she had gone to France to abide by her brother's dying wish—to return
Stryder's heraldic emblem to the earl and to thank the man for saving her
brother's life and returning him home.
Once in France, she had been enthralled by the fighting prowess of the man in
the list, by the strength of his sword as he'd trained.
And when Stryder had removed his helm and she had seen his impeccably chiseled
features, she had been enchanted. No man born could ever be more beautiful than
he.
Stryder had been hurried as he'd left the field, barely taking time to do more
than speak a quick word to her before he'd rushed off.
Her tongue had been so tied that she hadn't been able to explain to him her
purpose for being there or to call him back.
Her hands had shaken so badly that she hadn't even realized she'd dropped
Stryder's emblem until another knight had retrieved it from the ground and
returned it to her cold hands.
"Forgive his haste, my lady," the knight had said. "Stryder is oft harried in
his attempts to leave the list and make it back to his tent before he is
swarmed."
She'd looked up into the face of another handsome man. His long, dark auburn
hair had reminded her much of the men who graced her Highlands. His deep blue
eyes had been warm and friendly.
"I only wished to return this to him," she'd said, wondering why she wasn't
tongue-tied with this man. She'd always been awkward around the opposite sex.
But for some reason this stranger, regardless of his handsomeness, had made her
feel comfortable.
The knight had looked down at her hand and frowned at the sword-and-shield
badge. "Where did you get this?"
"It belonged to my brother. He returned from Outremer with it."
His warm hand had covered hers, and she had shivered at the calluses on his
rough fingers, at the sound of his deep, silken voice. "Your brother's name, my
lady?"
"Edward MacRyan."
A distant light had come into his blue eyes, as if he'd been recalling the past.
He'd offered her a small, gentle smile. "You're Kenna."
A sensation of heat had gone down her spine at the way he'd said her name.
"You know me?"
"Aye, my lady, your brother spoke of you often."
"You were with them in Outremer?"
His smile had faded as he'd nodded. His eyes had betrayed the same pain that her
brother's had held whenever he'd remembered the years he'd spent imprisoned by