“No way,” Emma objected. “I’m not leaving you alone. Besides, they would follow us. Remember his men follow every step I take.”
“We could find a way to distract them and give you chance to flee,” Declan said.
Cortland cut in. “I have already made several attempts to distract the men from Emma, all with no success. They perform their duty flawlessly.” He paused to gaze at the fire in the laird’s chamber. “I agree with Emma. We are weaker when separated.”
“My wife is alone when we hunt with my uncle,” Declan said. Cortland knew he tired of the game but played it, waiting to retaliate. They all knew that if Declan struck first, the crown would never support him.
“Emma is never alone,” Cortland reassured him. “William is ever by her side, here or in the village. Armed Draig warriors are always close at hand. At night, Emma is with me or locked in here with you. She is safe.”
“Pick another besides William,” Declan grumbled. “The man has yet to swear to me.”
“He is sworn to me and to Emma. Your oath will come as he takes my place,” Cortland reminded him. The man picked a foul time to decide prior decisions were wrong. “I trust William completely.”
“So do I.” Emma rubbed her nose against Declan’s face.
“You spend too much time with him. I dinna like it,” Declan grumbled more to Emma than to him. Cortland straightened in his chair at Declan’s blatant jealousy.
“Oh, please.” Emma glared at her husband. “You’re being ridiculous. You don’t hear me pouting about the days those nasty women go hunting with you or worse, the days they spend here.”
Declan’s hold tightened on Emma. “You are all I want.”
Cortland had seen enough and had no desire to listen to the rest. None of them had any current insight, and he knew all would be vigilant in their observations the following day. At the moment, he was pleased with Emma’s husband. Knowing his daughter’s temper, he had no wish to be reminded of Declan’s past. Having heard of the foul taunts his daughter received daily, he knew it would be better if he left. Declan stood no chance against both of them.
“You two can have the argument without me.” Cortland rose and walked to the door. “I will see about offering some coin to the lasses Glenn brought to serve the household. Mayhap we can learn a thing or two that way.”
“A fine idea, old man,” Declan replied as he lifted Emma off his lap and strode to the door. Cortland knew it would be bolted against all danger throughout the night.
“Goodnight, Da,” Emma called as she settled back in the chair.
Declan spoke to him but kept his gaze locked on the chair holding Emma. “You should leave now. I plan to argue with your daughter if only to enjoy the sweetness of apologizing verra thoroughly and with great meaning.”
Cortland left the chamber, not wanting to know exactly what Declan implied or why Emma laughed at the strange statement.
Chapter 19
Declan stole into the chamber and hoped not to wake Emma. It was far too late for any man to seek his wife’s bed and expect a warm welcome. His evening had been spent in the hall drinking with his uncle. He had hoped the man would reveal something while deep in his cups. It had turned out to be time poorly spent.
The moonlight from the window shone on the wilted flowers in the clay pitcher on Emma’s bedside table. After only one day, their beauty had faded. Their day in the sun seemed like weeks ago in his troubled mind.
At Cortland’s suggestion, he had taken Emma and Mary away from the keep. On his fine stallion, they had ridden to a secluded spot near a small brook on his lands. As a child, he had loved the place when he visited with his parents and siblings. To share it with his wife and daughter had been a fine treat.
As expected, they had been followed by Glenn’s men, along with several Draig warriors, to balance the numbers. All had kept a respectable distance and allowed them the illusion of privacy. His rogue idea to sneak Mary and Emma away died that morn. Glenn’s men were constantly vigilant.
The three of them had shared a meal on the grass while Emma entertained them with grand tales of faeries that guarded the woods. At Mary’s insistence, they had searched the hillside and streambed for any sign of the mythical creatures, with no success. Yet Mary had found joy in the day. Her laughter rang in the trees and still echoed in his thoughts. For a single day, they were a fine family with no cares or worries. Declan had vowed to provide many more such days, even if the vow had been silent.
He had picked the wildflowers for his wife, and she had beamed at him so brightly. Such a small gesture and he would have sworn the flowers meant more to her than any precious gem ever would. His Emma was a treasure.
However, since sunrise, he had seen little of his wife and less of his child. Shedding his clothes, Declan climbed gently into the bed with the goal of holding Emma close in sleep.
“It’s late,” Emma said as he shifted closer.
“Your voice does nay carry the sound of sleep.” Declan spooned against her silk-covered back, and inhaled the sweet fragrance of her unbound hair. The silk shift matched the robe he had ordered made for her, but she had never worn it. Not that he gave her time to change for sleep; his hands were normally frantic to remove her gowns and feel the enticing delights of her skin. “The one night you come to bed alone you choose to wear my gift?” he asked, brushing his hands over the fabric warmed by her skin. His hands wandered the outline of the low-cut covering and savored the feel of her bare arms.
“I thought you might be back earlier,” she answered with a sigh.
They had only been married three weeks, but Declan heard something in her voice. “What bothers you?”
Emma snuggled her back to his chest. “I had a very bad day.”
“Speak of it to me,” Declan encouraged her as he draped an arm over her. In their short marriage, he knew Emma had known too few fine days. They constantly worried about Glenn striking, the how and when a terminal mystery. Yet they knew it would come when the man refused to leave Draig lands.
“First, I woke alone. Why did you leave so early without waking me?” Emma asked quietly with the hurt ringing in her voice.
“You were sleeping and need the rest. Your days are too long with worry.” Placing a kiss to her hair, he said, “Glenn wished to hunt farther away, and we needed an early start.” He felt her nod at the simple explanation, never questioning his reply. Her trust seemed never-ending.
“I hate wearing those beautiful gowns you had made for me. No one will let me help in the village when I wear one, and those slipper things constantly fall off my feet. I keep tripping.”
Declan chuckled into her hair. “I ken that already. You are the only woman alive nay to be swayed by finery. When all leave our home, dress as you please. For now, you should be dressed better than those you are forced to tolerate.” He wanted to add that it would prevent ridicule but knew it to be a lie. Meggie had spoken of what Emma endured daily, the taunts made by Ciara and Enid, how they mocked the marriage of necessity, told his wife he only bedded her to gain an heir, and their crude remarks about the body nestled against him.
“I had a problem with one of Glenn’s men today,” Emma blurted out in a rush of air.
His grip tightened on her waist and cold seeped into his bones. Verbal taunts were bad enough, more than she should ever have to bear, but trouble with a warrior was something else entirely. “Speak of it, wife.”
“I was helping Meggie put away the linens, and I heard a weird noise. It took me a second to place it. I’ve never heard a muffled cry before. Following the sound, I found one of Glenn’s men pushing one of his maids into a corner. So, I confronted him.”
“Glenn’s people are nay your concern,” Declan said.
“It is my concern when a grown man attacks a fourteen-year-old girl in my corri
dor,” Emma said with conviction. “He had his hand over her mouth, and he had backed her into a dark corner.” He felt his wife shiver at the telling. “The good part is that I showed up in time. No harm was done. The bad part is that I forgot to play the meek wife. I pulled him off her and yelled at him for attacking the girl, and may have . . . sort of . . . threatened him.”
He knew Emma would eventually reach her limit and admired her for saving any young lass, even one of Glenn’s people. “You are lousy at being docile because your spirit is too strong to be contained for long. What happened?”
“Let’s just say he made some threatening remarks, and I made some right back. Right before he was about to take a swing at me, which I would have blocked and countered with a hard jab to break his nose, Merrick arrived. He heard what the man said to me and got right in his face and yelled at him. Before I knew what was happening, Merrick hit him in the jaw and threw him against the wall. The man was smart enough to leave.”
“We sent the girl to Meggie, but she was only scared. By the way, I’ve given orders for all the women to work in groups of three. Glenn’s women are included in that. I won’t have any of them wandering dark corridors alone.”
Emma turned within his hold to face him. “Merrick warned me. He told me to leave.”
“Where was your guard when all of this happened?” Declan asked curtly.
Surprisingly, Emma laughed. “Even William has to use the garderobe.”
Pride filled him that Emma had protected the lass even if it placed her in danger, a danger she seemed to be willing to face and handle. It was Merrick’s warning that concerned him most. “Did Merrick offer more than a warning?” He had seen his cousin’s eyes wander his wife daily and despised knowing that Merrick had kissed her.
“He offered to take me away, saying he could slip me past my guards,” Emma admitted. “I told him no way. When I asked if he knew what danger I faced, he said he had no idea, just a bad feeling. If he’s knows anything, he’s a terrific liar. But I have the suspicion he’s as blind as we are.”
Declan let the guilt wash over him. He allowed his wife to face danger in their home and asked it of her daily. “I am a poor husband to you.” His admission had her stiffening against him, and he knew he had chosen his words wrong. Taking her face in his hands, he could see the pain in her eyes even in the dim light of the moon. He amended, “Nay in the way you assume. You ken you are the only one I seek for all.”
“Then what did you mean?” she asked.
With a finger tracing her lower lip, he answered, “I leave you to the care of two men who would seek you for their own.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked with confusion and a knitted brow.
“Merrick still seeks you. His offer alone confirms his feelings for you. William does as well. You are the only one who has nay noticed his eyes upon you in greed. Even Cortland has noted his attention.”
“None of that matters. You are the only one I seek for all.”
“‘Tis a fine answer you give me.” He paused to rephrase his previous remark. “I am a poor husband because I ask you to risk too much. In my selfish greed for you, I have placed you in harm’s path. No man and no laird should ask such of his wife.” He placed a soft kiss to her lips. “You are forced to be meek when you are strong. Your home is overrun with foul people. I ken when I am detained by my uncle’s love of the hunt you take your meals in the kitchens and nay your rightful place in the hall. You are forced to shelter Mary from all of that and more. I will add that I loathe carrying a debt to Merrick for aiding you.”
Declan sighed as her hand rested against his chest. “I believe everything you just mentioned is exactly what I agreed to when I married you.” She asked, “Did I add a problem by confronting the man?”
“Your fire can be explained as being Cortland’s daughter. He would have done the same without delay. Tell me, wife, which man was it?”
“Does it matter?”
“Aye, it does. I would ken whom to seek on the training fields on the morrow. The man needs to pay for threatening you.” The thought of beating the man to his knees filled him with pleasure.
“It was the big one, Keir. He’s usually part of the pack that follows me to the village. I have a better idea. How about I go to the training field. Keir can follow me, and I can have a crack at him?” Emma’s warrior nature rang clear with her grin.
Laughter left his lips despite the conversation. He had no doubt Emma would make him proud, even if Keir were a mountain of a man. “I seek to teach a lesson, nay kill the man.”
“Fine, do it your way,” Emma said with a laugh.
It amazed him that they could lie in bed and laugh at the dread that had filled her day. Such harmony he had never expected in his marriage. Yet it was not how he wished to spend their night together. Studying her features filled with shadows, he said, “These are nay the matters we should speak of in our bed.” He moved quickly to cover Emma while his hand pushed her silks above her knees. His smile came unbidden as her body welcomed his in an embrace.
Declan perched above her with his hands touching the sides of her face. “There is nothing wrong with these conversations,” Emma said. “We are working through the day like we are supposed to do.”
He nodded and liked the notion that they could speak of all together, and that her body would willingly accept his. Shifting his hips within her legs, he placed a soft brush to her gasping lips. “Was there more to make your day foul?” he asked.
Emma hands pulled the tie from his hair, and he groaned as her fingers ran through its length. Even the simple touch stirred his need for her. She pulled him down for a deeper kiss, one he was happy to provide. Her lips teased his as she spoke. “I think that was it. How was your day?”
Shifting his weight, Declan kissed her lips, then her jaw and landed on the throat bared to him while he marveled at how his wife warmed to every touch he made. After kissing the delicate skin below her ear and savoring her light gasp, he whispered, “‘Twas a horrid day, wife. I woke without you and your fine passion.” He was done speaking of what was foul.
Trailing kisses down her neck, his hand pushed away the silks. “All of the day my thoughts have wandered to the sweet sounds you make when I touch you.” To prove his point, he inched up the fabric pooled on her thigh to grasp the flesh of her hip. As always, an enticing mewling noises left her throat while her body shifted to meet his exploration.
“I have no words to express my need for you,” Declan whispered as her body lifted enough to allow him to remove the silk and throw it to the floor.
If her body sought his, his did the same. His back leaned into the hands that ran its length and stoked the fire burning in his blood. “I thought it was a fine thing you wanted me in your bed,” his wife teased.
He knew he would never tire of how she craved his touch. Teasing her neck, his lips meandered to her jaw and then to her gasping mouth to take and plunder as if tasting Emma served as the purpose of his existence. When her eyelids fluttered closed, Declan broke their kiss to marvel at how completely she filled his life.
Only when she opened her eyes to see him, did he speak. “There once was a night when all I wanted was you in this bed,” he whispered with panting breath. “I want so much more now. How much can you give me?”
Before she could answer, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her. Regret filled him with the question he had asked her, a question he had asked many women in the heat of passion, then seeking secrets to be used and traded.
I want so much more from her. I need everything from her. Things I have only dreamed of seeking from a woman, never believing I would ever find the right one. Yet here in their darkened chamber, he had everything he wanted. She shares her thoughts and passions so freely. Will she share the rest too?
Forcing his hunger
for her aside, Declan lifted from her lips and used his hands to push the hair from her forehead. “My sweet Emma.” His whispered praise carried his heart, yet he knew it wasn’t what he wanted to offer her.
“Wow, you actually said my name. Why do you only call me ‘wife’ unless we are, well, in the heat of the moment?” Emma’s question hinted at mischief, but his intent was to draw more from her.
He knew he could tease her, avoid the question entirely by joining their bodies and have them lose their thoughts to ecstasy. I have cowered rather than telling her. “I call you wife because that is what you are, mine in all ways, this day and the morrow.” Propping up onto an elbow, he placed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Never would I have dreamed of having a wife such as you.”
Though she smiled, he knew he had done a poor job of conveying what he truly meant. “I dinna ken how to say it all, to give voice to what is between us. There is such great meaning to all now.”
“As strange as it may sound, I can’t imagine my life without you either.” Her eyes glittered with such powerful emotion but she failed to say what he longed to hear.
“‘Tis a fine thing.” Declan summoned his courage and held her gaze intending for all he carried inside to show on his face. “I have no experience with sweet words, Emma. Such has never been my life, until now.” His hands pushed into her hair and held her face. “When my words speak wife, they say it with love in my heart. You are all to me.”
“You’re right. That is a fine thing,” Emma agreed.
“I speak of my love for you, and you merely tease me?” The curt response hurt, but he figured it was far better to simply display annoyance. I share my heart with her, and she gives me naught. Mayhap I am the greatest of fools to think she could ever love me.
Before he could roll off her, Emma’s hands held his face while her thighs tightened around his hips. “Do you really think I would be married to you and put up with everything going on here if I didn’t love you? I’ve waited for what seems like ages for you to say that to me.”
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