“Well, now that I’ve proven I’m not the delicate little flower you thought me to be, Tiernan, can we please have no more doubts on that score? I wanted you too, you know, very much,” she said with a blush.
“I was amazed when I found out about baby Fiachra,” Tiernan laughed fondly as he recollected the birth of his son.
“So you see, all your doubts and restraints were for naught, my love. I must have fallen pregnant almost the very first time we ever loved each other. I survived the pregnancy and first birth admirably, don’t you think? I’m young, strong, and having your children is all part of my complete happiness in loving you and being your wife, don’t you see?”
“I couldn’t bear to lose you,” Tiernan confessed as he hugged her tightly to him. “I tried to stay away, to give you a chance to find your own way, perhaps form new ties. In the end, I couldn’t let you do it, do you see?”
“I had wondered why you’d kept away for so long after Lissatava.”
“I had thought perhaps you and Maolmordha--”
Shive put her hand to her husband’s lips to silence him. “No, my love, never, though it might have looked that way to his men, who thought I was a conquest. We tricked them to make sure he stayed in power as leader of the group, but he never...”
“Never mind that now, woman. My stupid jealousy has got me into enough trouble already, so I never want to speak of it again. All I want is you, my darling Shive. I have no intention of ever letting you out of my sight again, sweetheart, so you’ll never have a chance to be unfaithful to me.”
“Promises, promises,” Shive teased as she caressed her husband boldly.
He responded in kind, sweeping her away over the cliff and into the fathomless depths of their sensuality.
“But honestly, darling,” Shive said a long time later, when they lay in each other's arms spent and sated. “We just have to count our blessings, don’t we? You have no idea just how close we came to losing each other.”
“Oh, but I do, my love. Every time I saw you fighting, or covered in gore, I always thanked God for having spared you,” Tiernan revealed as he kissed her tenderly.
“We will just have to make the most of what we have got, seize our happiness with both hands and hang on to it. I'm sorry about Lasaran, but--”
he kissed her hand. “I’m not. I knew what he was, Shive, but I kept making excuses for him. Let’s not talk about that now. I want only happy thoughts of a blissful future with you, in a land full of peace and prosperity, now and always, for as long as God pleases to spare us.”
Shive smiled softly. “The hart and the harp united forever?”
“We’ll have to make a little shield for Fiachra when the time comes, won’t we? That ought to please the wee fellow.”
“Speaking of pleasure.” She snuggled against Tiernan’s long lean frame .
“What, again? Already? You wanton woman.”
“Admit it, Tiernan, you wouldn’t want me any other way,” Shive murmured, caressing him ever more boldly.
He surrended to her attentions completely, refusing to ever be at odds with his magnificent and loving wife ever again. “So long as you're mine, Shive, you can do or be anything you like.”
"Well, right now, I'd like to…"
Tiernan sighed contentedly as she kissed him all over, rekindling the flames of their passion, which would burn brightly for the rest of their lives.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
This is a work of fiction, but it must be said that Ruairi Ua Conchobair was the last great high king of Ireland. It was he who would lock horns with the Normans when they arrived in the spring of 1169. Little is known of him; I have tried to stay consistent to the few facts there are. The Irish way of life is also completely factual. The O'Haras and MacDermots all spring purely from my own fancy.
If you enjoyed this novel, please visit HerStory Books for more rousing historical romance.
http://www.herstorybooks.com
MORE TITLES BY AUTHOR:
Below is listed other novels by Sorcha MacMurrough
The Mad Mistress
The Missed Match
The Miss Matched
The Matchless Miss
Scars Upon the Heart
The Scarred Heart
Guardian of the Heart
The Mistaken Miss
The Model Master
The Model Mistress
Innocence
Innocence Afire
Ravished
Experience
The Model Husband
Ruthless
Madness
Beguiled
Beguiled Anew
Ghost from the Past
Star Attraction
The Faithful Heart
The Sea of Love
The Hart and the Harp Page 42