Chapter Twenty
Hours later, Ronan entered the great hall.
He paused to order his men to bring food, as some had missed their meal while others ate whenever food was available.
Climbing the stairs, he greeted the men at the solar’s door.
He was relieved to see a welcoming smile rather than the familiar scowl, as Malcolm reported.
“All’s quiet, my laird. How did you make out?”
“We found the lass wandering alone in the meadow on the southern border. The girl said the man who held her didn’t show his face and that he’d ridden south. I think it is safe to say Ewan left clan lands after he realized we were chasing him.”
The brothers exchanged a look.
“Until we’re certain, Gabe and I would prefer to keep watch over m’lady when she’s not with you.”
“Aye. I agree. I do not wish to be careless with my wife.” He paused. “I wish to thank ye both for protecting her when I wasn’t here to do it.”
They nodded in unison and then moved aside for Ronan to enter the solar.
Inside, he smiled seeing his wife sleeping on the chair by the window, as if she’d nodded off while watching for him to return. She would have seen the gate, well-lit with torches, from her perch.
The young maid, Larrie, slept on another chair. Ronan woke her and told her quietly that her sister had been returned to her aunt and was unharmed.
She hurried off after a hug that surprised him for its fierceness for such a slight girl.
Brenna stirred and sat up. “Did you find her?”
“Aye. She is fine.”
“And Ewan?”
“He has gone. We think he’s left Grant lands, but we’ll continue to keep watch for now.”
She nodded and glanced through the windows.
“I’ll see that you are safe. And when I can’t be with you, your guards will remain with you as they have done.”
“It’s not myself I’m worried about. He seems determined to be laird, which makes you his target.”
It seemed odd, this danger hanging over him. In France, the threat was always head-on. He knew what front to protect. This was infuriating. He had only spent a few hours in this danger and was already restless about seeing an end to it. How had Brenna lived like this every day?
Ronan nodded. “Ewan planned to stay close until he had the opportunity and could make it look like an accident. Now that I know the truth, he no longer needs to pretend.”
“I’m sorry, this must be difficult for you. To think him a friend and a brother only to be betrayed.”
“He has made his choices. Power can make an otherwise rational person abandon their honor. I’ve seen it with my mother. I don’t think there is much she wouldn’t do to ensure her place of power and riches. I’m sorry if I expected that from you when I returned.”
“Ewan played on your fears. It is what the best villains do.”
It was true, but he’d hoped he wouldn’t have fallen for the ruse so easily. He’d never even considered his wife was innocent.
“Besides,” Brenna said, “now that you know the truth, we can move forward without these lies between us.”
How forgiving she was. Not just for his lack of faith in her but for leaving her. For never writing back, for doing his best to forget she was waiting here for him. “I have many other things to be sorry for, wife. I’ve treated you horribly.”
She shook her head. “The past is behind us.”
“And our future is before us,” he said with a smile. “I intend to make it a pleasant one indeed.”
The soft blush on her cheeks proved she’d understood his underlying promise.
“Shall we retire for the night?” he suggested in a low voice that hinted at what he intended when he got her behind their closed door.
Her blush deepened, but she nodded. Taking her hand in his, he brushed a kiss across her knuckles.
“Let us go to bed, wife.”
***
Brenna had thought herself tired only a moment ago.
After the day’s early start and harrowing events, she had been exhausted.
But at Ronan’s invitation to go to bed—with him—her heart began galloping in excitement.
Sleep forgotten, she had to rein in her steps to avoid running to their chamber, dragging him behind her.
She could imagine how he would laugh if she’d given in to her desire to do so.
But seeing the gleam of excitement in his warm brown eyes, she thought maybe he wouldn’t have minded.
She’d heard his desire in the roughness of his voice when he’d spoken of taking her to their room.
He’d told her he’d been true to her all this time.
She knew his need must be even worse than her own.
Inside their room, where they wouldn’t be disturbed, they stopped a few feet from one another and stared. They’d managed quite well earlier in the day, but now they both seemed at a loss as to how to start.
In the woods, she wasn’t sure who had moved for whom. They’d just been standing there one moment and kissing in each other’s arms the next. He opened his mouth, floundering for words that would get things underway. But before he could speak, she rushed forward, stood on her toes, and kissed him.
With that first step out of the way, they returned to where they were that morning, ready to move forward.
His warm tongue invaded her mouth as his hands seemed to be touching her everywhere at once.
She’d changed into a gown for dinner, and she half expected him to do as he’d wished before, and she tossed up her skirts to get to her.
Instead, he tugged at the laces in the back of her gown as his kisses became hotter.
A few curses escaped when he struggled to get her dress open. She pulled away and spun so her back was to him so he could free her from the gown.
“I’ve half a mind to pull my dirk and cut the blasted things.”
“’Tis my best dress.”
“I’ll buy you a new one.”
Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. The laces relented, and soon her husband was tugging the gown over her hips to drop to the floor. She removed her own boots and reached to untie the stockings, only to have her husband stop her with a hand over hers.
“Leave them.”
She didn’t know why he wouldn’t want them removed, but seeing the heat in his eyes forced her quick agreement to move on to his clothes.
He’d kicked off his boots and stockings, and at the same time he reached behind his neck and drew his shirt over his head.
She gasped as she took in the ripples of his stomach and the flat plains of his broad chest. She touched the light sprinkling of hair on his face and smiled as it tickled her palm.
When she inadvertently stroked her hand across his nipple, he jolted and hissed in a breath.
Could it be that her husband’s smaller nipples were as sensitive as her own?
Perhaps men were not so different in some ways.
Feeling bold, she leaned closer and slid her tongue across the tiny nub, earning another hiss.
Before she could explore that area further, his kilt dropped with a thud at his feet, and Brenna’s attention became fixed on a different body part.
She’d seen him before in this same state of arousal. She knew well what happened next. But even knowing that part of him fit splendidly inside of her, she felt the same wonder at how it all worked. And the fact that he felt this way with her.
“I must make my apologies to ye now,” he said, his voice coming quick as the words came between kisses to her neck.
“Whatever for?”
“It’s been so long. I’ll not last long. Just seeing you look at me the way you are has me close to spending, and I’ve not even gotten inside of you. I promise to make it up to you the second time.”
She nodded as she untied her shift and let the fabric slide over her body, leaving her naked except for the stockings he’d insisted remain.
He cursed again, a whisper before he spoke louder. “The third time. I shall make it up to you the third time.”
She lay back on the bed and bent her knees the way he’d shown her all those years ago when she’d made room for his body against hers.
But instead of lying atop her or even next to her, he bent down.
It took a moment for her to realize his intention.
She might have protested such a thing, but only until his tongue slid across her most intimate flesh.
The sensation left her unable to speak. She could only moan.
The feeling was exquisite torture. So good she wanted more.
She was so sensitive she didn’t know how she would stand it.
But Ronan wasn’t even close to stopping.
Instead, he’d settled closer to her as he stretched out on the bed and continued to lap at her center until that intense feeling she’d nearly forgotten began to rise.
With each touch of his tongue, the tension built and came closer until it was right there on the edge of oblivion.
“Please.”
He didn’t make her wait. He growled against her flesh as his fingers entered her, and everything seemed to stop for the smallest of moments before all sensation came crashing over her.
Her mouth moved with words, but she didn’t know what she was saying.
Maybe his name. Maybe she thanked him. Perhaps she told him she’d never make it to the third time.
She wasn’t sure, but he smiled at her when she could open her eyes. It was almost a surprise to find she was still lying on the bed in the same room. It seemed she’d flown a great distance.
She smiled at her husband as he came closer and kissed her. They shared a look as his body aligned with hers. She arched up to welcome him home.