• • •
A draft of cool air snaked over Aeden’s skin, startling him awake. He reached to pull Elisande to him and found an empty space. In a panic, he erupted from the mattress and scanned the chamber. Acute relief engulfed him when he spied her across the room. Then it dawned on him that not only was she awake, but also out of bed. He blinked back tears and hungrily watched her bask in the early morning sunlight. Yet, his enjoyment tempered as he skimmed over the evidence of the brutal ordeal she suffered.
Anger that festered below the surface threatened to reemerge, and he struggled against unleashing his raw fury. Rage, he reminded himself, was not what she needed right now. Drawn to her, he moved on silent feet and stopped within inches of her. In spite of his need to reach out and caress her hair, he hesitated uncertain of her reaction. In her eyes, she must think him the worst of protectors and he couldn’t blame her if she did.
• • •
His solid presence at her back brought tears to her eyes.
“Oh, Aeden.” Her voice broke and she sought the comfort his embrace.
Without hesitation, he drew her into his embrace and cupped the curve of her swollen cheek before lowering his head to claim her lips. He took great care to kiss the side that hadn’t been split and when he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers. She held his shoulders and reveled in his strength. He scooped up her hands and placed a kiss on both before setting them at her side. He reached above her head, threw off the window covering and offered his hand.
“Let me see.”
She stepped into the full light.
“Christ on the cross.”
Now she had an idea how unsightly she appeared. If her wounds were as bad the aches and stiffness that plagued her, than she must look a terrible fright. In addition to her numerous cuts and bruises, she sported a tender left eye along with a hen’s egg sized lump on her temple prone to periods of razor-sharp pain. Regardless of what she knew to be true, she needed the truth of his scrutiny.
“I must look a hideous mess.”
A muscle twitched alongside his jaw, and his blue eyes blazed with unconcealed ferocity. “I’ll skewer the bastard.”
Neither spoke for a time. Words seemed unnecessary. After a while, he placed her palm to his heart and covered her smaller hand with his larger one.
“Kiss me,” he whispered.
Her lashes fluttered as she drew his face down and pressed her mouth to his and drank the sweetness of his lips. He groaned as her tongue entwined with his. His erection swelled and the dewy wetness between her thighs became more persistent. She looped her arms around his neck and pushed against his hardness with her belly, her intentions plain.
He tore his lips from hers and she watched with great satisfaction as he gulped in large amounts of air. She moved in for another kiss, but he set her away from him and guided her to the bed. To her dismay, once she settled in he backed away as if stung.
Making her desire plain, she coaxed, “Will you not join me?”
His gaze dropped from eyes to her shoulders to her breasts. He sat on the side of the bed and smoothed a few damp tendrils off her brow. A lurch of excitement tugged at her womb.
He leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. “You need to rest. You have exerted yourself enough today.”
Assailed by a terrible sense of disappointment, she captured his hand and gave it a light tug.
“Please, stay.”
The simple plea softened the stress lines that bracketed his mouth, and he brushed his knuckles lightly across her bruised cheek.
“First, I must see to the happy task of telling Tam, Onora and the clan of your improved condition, lass.”
“Oh, yes, we must put their minds to rest immediately,” she agreed. “I only ask you hurry your return.”
The color rode high on her cheeks as she said this.
His eyes drank her in. “Naught could keep me away.”
She watched him toss up the latch and stride into the silent hallway. Just as he pulled the door closed, he winked.
“Stay abed, you need rest. I will no’ be long.”
True to his word, he returned moments later, with Tam and Onora in tow. He had an expression of exasperation on his handsome face and muttered under his breath as he pointed at her.
“Now, do you believe me?”
Onora all but knocked Aeden over to get to her side. Elisande giggled at the long-suffering look on her husband’s face. He caught her smile, rolled his eyes and dropped onto the bedside chair. He drummed his fingers on the chair’s arm and stared holes into Onora’s back.
“Oh Aeden, she does look well.”
Aeden leaned his hand on his chin and arched an eyebrow. “Did you think I lied for my own enjoyment?”
Onora flapped a hand at him. “Stop now. You know I do not think you are a liar, but men do tend to exaggerate.”
His sigh of exasperation forced another giggle from her.
“I’d say she’s doing just fine, Onora. Her bruises have turned colors,” Tam offered.
Aeden rubbed a hand over his chin until she feared he’d wear a hole. Elisande caught his gaze and flashed a wink. His eyes rounded at her playful behavior, and his face broke into a wide grin. She noticed Tam observe the exchange, and then cupped Onora’s elbow in an effort to stand her up. Annoyance crossed her aunt’s face as she attempted to shrug him off.
“‘’Tis time we left the youngsters to their privacy,” the older man declared in a not-so-subtle prod.
Elisande’s cheeks flamed at his inference. Still, Onora didn’t grasp the intimation.
“She’s still flush, Tam,” she announced and laid the back of her hand on Elisande’s forehead. Worried, she examined Elisande’s face. “Mayhap the fever is returned.”
“My fever broke last eve. I am on the mend, aunt, truly,” she assured.
“Are ye that dense woman?” Tam shook his head.
Understanding finally dawned. A quick peck on Elisande’s cheek and a pat to Aeden’s chest and she bustled from the room, Tam in her wake.
Alone, Elisande scooted to the middle of the mattress and tapped the empty space beside her. “Come, husband, you need your rest, too. It can’t have been easy seeing to my varied needs.”
He climbed into bed, fit her against him, and sighed in obvious contentment. She trailed her fingers across the planes of his broad, muscular chest and her mind evoked images of their bodies intertwined when flashes of the assault imposed itself on her beautiful memories. Her eyes snapped open and the scene dissipated. On the verge of tears, she concentrated on Aeden’s touch. His hand caressed her back, shoulders and lightly skimmed her bottom. The unhurried exploration calmed her mind and eventually his touch chased away her inner demons. Deep in thought, she agonized for a way in which to articulate her wants — worried he might consider the unconventional approach emasculating.
Her breath hitched. It was difficult to know how to act. Yet, at this moment in time, she wasn’t certain entertaining such shameless behavior mattered. She was frantic to wipe out the vile recollections of that horrific night.
• • •
I am a despicable cur.
Here she lay barely recovered from a brutal attack and all he could think about was the taste of her lips. Just her body next to his, warm, pliant and inviting caused his manhood to swell to painful proportions. He had little choice except to shift his lower half away from her silken thigh. Exhaling, he concentrated on the shadows cast across the ceiling. Her fingers slid along his rib cage and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. With gentle pressure, he flattened Elisande’s fingers beneath his hand and led them to his chest. She settled closer and threw a thigh over his. He exhaled in tense increments. It was going to be a very long night.
• • •
Restless, she moved as close to him as she could. He captured her hand and set it over his heart. After a few moments, she plucked her nails on his skin curious to discover if the faint caress aroused him. The simple action sent his heart hammering. Emboldened, she kept her leg between his and draped her upper body crossways atop his broad, muscled chest. The only indication of his surprise was in the ways he arched his brow as if she engaged in such brazen actions every day. She studied his half-closed eyes expecting him to say something. Instead, his lazy caress skated over her backside where he began to rub each cheek in a languid, circular motion. The width and warmth of his calloused palms created licks of pleasure throughout her body and a soft moan escaped her. She laid her head on his chest and sighed lustily. One hand moved to massage her head. He threaded long fingers through the swath of her thick, fawn-colored hair and fanned the strands over his chest.
“I love the feel of your soft hair on my skin,” he whispered his voice low, sensual.
She raised her head and smiled at the tell-tale flush across the bridge of his nose.
If he didn’t claim her fully, sink deeply inside her, and soon, it just might be the death of him. His breath came out in a hot puff — he needed to get a hold of his thoughts. Making love was sure to be the last thing on her mind.
“Aeden,” she moistened her lips.
He looked down at her. “Aye, lass?”
She peeled the cover from her body and slid her foot along his inner calf. “I want you.”
Her breathy tone and seductive move nearly had him coming off the bed. His fingers stilled, his liquid blue eyes searched her face as he gently unwound his hand from her thick tangles.
“Do no’ tempt me for I can think of naught else since I climbed in bedside you.”
Desire made her bold and she drew his hand to her breast and leaned into his palm, “Please.”
Gently his hand outlined the circle of her breast. Her nipples tightened into buds and it took every bit of control he possessed not to lift her up and impale her on his shaft. He groaned from the touch of her dewy womanliness snug against his thigh. He disentangled their legs before he was too far gone.
“’Tis too soon for you, lass,” he said aloud if only to convince himself.
Desperate for his touch she stretched up and kissed him with all the love and longing trapped inside her. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around her, took over the kiss and sucked her tongue in erotic love play. His arousal searched for her welcoming heat, but he regained his discipline and reluctantly broke off the embrace. Pained, he rested his forehead against hers.
“Why did you stop?”
“I do no’ want to hurt you, lass.”
“You could never hurt me. Please Aeden, I-I still feel his hands on me, you will make me forget.”
His hands trembled when he drew back to lightly seize her shoulders, his agony clear.
“Christ on the cross, Elisande. Did he force himself on you?”
She rolled away from him, but not before vehemently denying his question. “Although Addis succeeded in other vile acts, I managed to break free of him before he despoiled me. ’Tis the reason I ran for the loch. If-if you find you do not desire me anymore, I will understand.”
Uncertain of his thoughts, she waited for his reaction. Not many men could countenance their wives being tainted in any way, and although she knew Aeden wasn’t the kind of man to outright reject her, it might prove an insurmountable barrier between them.
He laid a hand on her shoulder and rolled her to face him. His eyes bore into hers moments before he smothered her lips in an all-consuming kiss. His pent-up hunger poured into her and she joyfully drowned in his ardor. She leaned into him as his hands slipped to her waist urging her closer still. His hands searched out her pleasure points and then glided to the small of her back where he applied persistent pressure until their hips met. Any notion of rejection dissolved as the proof of his desire jutted into her belly.
“Touch me,” he spoke against her lips, “and tell me I do no’ desire you.”
He punctuated each word with a thrust of his hips.
“Look at me and tell me you believe anything could ever come between us.”
He fused their lips together before she answered. He angled her head and plunged his tongue deep into the recesses of her mouth as if he would devour her. Releasing her hips, he put space enough between them in order for her to understand the truth in his words.
“I have been drawn to you from the very first. You are courageous, resourceful, kind, and loving. If the unthinkable happened it could never make me stop wanting you.”
A muted cry spilled from her lips. She closed the gap between them and hugged him to her. It was then she noticed his strong hand become rigid on her back. “Aeden?”
“I would ask for your forgiveness, wife.”
Perplexed, she reared back regarding him with a speculative gaze. She watched an array of emotions cross his face. “I don’t understand. Why should you seek my forgiveness?”
His light-colored eyes bored into her.
“I failed you. I knew my brother well-enough to realize he would take the coward’s way and strike out at the one person who — ” He stopped. She held her breath willing him to say whatever was on his mind, but he gave her his profile and continued on a different track, his face inscrutable. “I should have been here to prevent it.”
She wanted to understand why he believed he should assume responsibility for his brother’s foul deeds, but she refused to allow him to labor under false illusions. He was an honorable man who deserved more than the guilt he heaped upon himself. Determined to make him see her way, she cradled his face in her palms.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“I heard what you had to say and now I want you to hear me.”
She needed to convince him of her convictions, and with every word that poured from her lips, her confidence grew. An indefinable sense of rightness renewed her spirit. Just the thought she might lay ghosts to rest for the man she loved empowered her.
“You are not your brother’s keeper, Aeden. His conduct, good and bad, belongs to him. There was never a time I thought you responsible for his actions.”
“All right, lass.”
“I mean what I say, Aeden. I will not have you believing you failed me.”
In answer, he sat up and pulled her to him. Content to be in his arms, she laid her head on his chest. He stroked a hand over her hair and for a while, the only sound in the room came from the snap and pop of the embers in the hearth. However, an incident weighed on her mind and she decided it was time Aeden knew.