Page 109 of Marin’s Promise

She nodded again with more conviction.

“And if ye need someone to need, I’m here for ye, lass.” He winked at her.

She couldn’t help but smile at such an offer. Because he had always been there for her, his strong arms open to ease away her fears, his smile there to lift her spirits.

Everything would be well with Bran at her side. Even this.

He was her husband, her love and the best promise she ever kept.

* * *

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Check out Anice’s story in ANICE’S BARGAIN where Anice realizes the only way to save her family, is to marry a Graham reiver.

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ANICE’S BARGAIN

Anice Barrington, the most beautiful of the Earl of Werrick’s daughters, will stop at nothing to protect her family during a siege, including offering herself as bride to her enemy.

James Graham has grown weary of a life of destruction and longs for peace. While marriage to Anice offers a new opportunity, it comes at a high cost.

Forced together by desperation and held by passion, will love take root, or will the bitterness between enemies tear them apart?

***Keep reading for a first chapter preview of ANICE’S BARGAIN**

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ANICE’S BARGAIN

Chapter 1 Preview

March 1336

Brackenhill, England

It was nottheir first siege, but it was certainly their longest. The Grahams were determined.

Lady Anice Barrington, second daughter to the third Earl of Werrick, regarded the dismal larder with her father at her side. Their gazes were mutually fixed on the lone sack of grain.

“The last,” he muttered. His brow furrowed into a complex map of creases, carved by a life of sorrow and hardship.

“Is there nothing else?” Anice asked. The large red brown dog sitting near her feet shifted and gave a low whimper as though he could understand their dismal discussion. Piquette was not allowed to receive his own ration of food and so Anice split her meager portion with her beloved pet. It was hardly enough to fill either of them. They were left persistently desperate with hunger, though neither offered up complaint.

Nan, the cook of Werrick Castle, crossed her arms over her chest in a show of authoritative knowledge. “Nothing left save any new vegetables we manage to grow in the garden, my lady. But they get eaten as soon as they’re plucked from the earth.”

“We’ll need to reduce food distribution.” The earl nodded absently to himself, content with his decision.

Nan cast Anice an anxious glance, the steel in her back melting. “We’ve already done that several times. The people are starving.” The cook had once been round and plump, the way one in her position ought to be—or so Nan had said. The lean months, however, had left her sharp chin jutting from sagging skin and her kirtle swinging around her once generous frame. They were all too thin, too hungry.

Anice stood mutely, unable to come up with a solution. They would be out of food within days. Reducing their rations further would do nothing but anger the people of Werrick and prolong the inevitable by a day or two at best. But what would happen when it was all gone?

Anice shivered at the possibilities, all of them awful.

Lord Werrick dragged a hand down his tired face. “I wish Marin were here,” he said quietly. “She would know what to do.”