Chapter 7 #2
River fell silent, her gaze dropping to the floor, where the plush carpet had began to unravel at the very edge.
Archer wanted to approach her, to gather her in his arms and offer her any comfort he could, but he didn’t know whether the gesture would be appreciated.
River had spent all this time avoiding him; how would she react if he tried to touch her now?
For a long while, the two of them sat there in silence, with nothing but the breeze blowing through the windows and the crackle of the fire. Then, River raised her gaze and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Me turn,” she said. “Do ye suspect me? Do ye think I had somethin’ to do with all this?”
“Nay,” Archer assured her. “Nay, River, I daenae think that, even if there are some who do. Daenae fash...is that why ye are so...so distant?”
River shrugged a shoulder. “Partly. I feared ye might think I tried to hurt ye.”
Archer shook his head. “I daenae see how ye could even if ye wanted to. But I understand how all this...how yer maither’s death has caused problems in our marriage. I was told I was there when she was killed and I did naethin’ to stop it.”
Much to his surprise, River let out a quick, surprised laugh, and Archer drank the sight of her in, the way her eyes crinkled at the corners, the way her plush mouth parted to reveal her teeth.
“I daenae blame ye for me maither’s death,” she said, and that was a bigger relief than he could have ever thought. “I never did. But ye seem to have the wrong idea about our marriage.”
For a moment, she fell silent and seemed to struggle with herself, as if she was trying to decide whether or not she should speak. Archer remained silent, as patiently as he could, waiting to see what she would tell him.
“I didnae ken whether I should tell ye this but it seems wrong to keep it from ye,” she said.
“Archer, our marriage, it was never real. It was never out of love. We were wedded for an alliance and then...then ye had yer own goals and yer own thoughts. As I told ye, we havenae even consummated the marriage.”
Archer frowned, leaning a little closer to River. He couldn’t imagine what could have possibly kept him away from her, unless—
“Did ye nae want to?”
“Me?” River asked with another laugh, bright and clear like a bell. “Nay, I would have done me duty. It was ye who didnae wish to sire a bairn.”
Me? What kind of a fool was I?
There was no other explanation for it. How could he have been the one to deny such an alluring woman as River if he was sound of mind? From the moment he had laid eyes on her after his injury, all he could think about was when he would make her his.
And now River was telling him he had been the one to deny her in the first place.
“Perhaps ye daenae find me so appealin’,” River said, half-teasing and half-serious, letting out a huff of breath that almost sounded like a laugh, as if she feared Archer would confirm that was the case. “I can understand it...ye didnae choose me for me beauty.”
Though he had refrained from touching her this entire time, now he couldn’t stop himself from leaning close, so close that their lips were almost brushing.
Each arm came around River, caging her in against the couch, and she looked up at him with wide eyes, her lips falling open as she gasped for breath.
“Ye have nae idea how allurin’ ye are, do ye?”
Archer wanted to show River just how appealing he found her.
He wanted to make her understand that for the better part of the past two days, she was all he could think about, even when he was trying to focus on his work.
He wanted her to feel the full force of his desire for her, to experience it deep in her body—to kiss her, to hold her, to claim her as his.
His hand traced a gentle path up her arm and over the rounded curve of her shoulder.
Then, his fingers brushed against her neck, over the place where it met her shoulder, and down to her collarbone.
He imagined what it would be like to move even lower, to caress her collarbone, the swell of her breasts, his hand dipping down the neckline of her dress to tease her—
He pulled back.
For a moment, River seemed disappointed to have lost the warmth of his touch, his presence, but Archer knew it to be the right thing to do.
It pained him to move away from her, to deny himself what he so desperately wanted.
But he had already hurt River once, and deeply.
He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.
Besides, if he pushed her too far, too soon, then there was a chance she would refuse to give him the heir he so desperately needed.
He would go slow. There would be time for such things, and once the time would come, he would enjoy it very much indeed.
“I think it is time for me to excuse meself for the night,” Archer said, as he pushed himself to his feet. River stood too, following him as he made his way to the door.
“I thought ye wished to spend the night with me,” she said, and though her tone was light, Archer could once again detect that hint of disappointment, despite her earlier hesitation and avoidance.
“I did,” he said. “I spent a very nice part of the night with ye.”
River said nothing as Archer opened the door to leave. Before he left her for the night, though, he leaned closer and whispered in her ear.
“And I promise to spend the full night with ye soon. Once ye beg for it.”