Chapter 8 #3
Draven made a disgusted noise, distracting him. “I’ll go in when Sin cedes defeat.”
“You’ll go inside right now,” his wife said, “or you’ll be sleeping in the stable this night.”
Sin opened his mouth to taunt Draven, but was stopped by Callie’s hand on his lips. “One word from you and you shall join him.”
Simon’s laughter rang out as he dripped his way toward them. “Who would have ever thought the two greatest knights in England could be laid low by simple maids?”
Both men growled and would have seized Simon had their wives not taken their arms.
“Boys,” Emily said, her voice stern, “would you please behave and go inside to eat. You’ve done quite enough damage to poor Simon and to each other for one night.”
“Yea,” Simon said, wringing his shirt. “Besides, I know not why you’re angry at me. You two get to go to bed with these two beautiful ladies while I get to cuddle my pillow.”
Emily patted his wet arm. “Poor Simon, ever abused. We shall have to find a wife for you, isn’t that right, Callie?”
“Aye, we shall.”
Callie could swear she saw a look of panic fleet across Simon’s face.
They went inside to eat while Simon headed up to his room to dry off.
After the men had finished eating, Callie took Sin to their room where she could help him remove his armor.
“You must be terribly sore,” she said, noting the bruises and red marks on his flesh. Luckily, there were no wounds.
Sin scoffed. “‘Twas friendly exercise. I am fine.”
“Friendly? Well then, I pray I never see you fight in earnest.” She meant that, too. Though it had irritated her, his skill had been beyond measure. She’d never seen two men fight better than they had.
“Here…” She urged him to sit on a stool so that she could rub his shoulders and arms.
Sin sat down. He couldn’t fathom what she wanted until her soft, gentle hands began kneading his shoulders and neck. He moaned at the pleasure of it. No one had ever done such a thing for him before.
Chills exploded across his flesh as she ran her hands over his biceps, squeezing them as she went. His groin tightened and burned, stretching against his chausses, aching for possession of her.
Her touch was heaven and chills spread over his skin as he felt her breath against his flesh. Saints above, how he wanted her. Just one taste of her succulent flesh. One precious moment in her arms.
Callie swallowed at the hard feel of Sin’s muscles under her hands. She’d done this countless times for her father, uncle and brother, and yet with Sin, touching his skin made her mouth dry. Made her legs weak and her breasts tingle. A hot stab of desire sliced her middle as she throbbed for him.
The feel of his strength, of his hardness was more than she could stand.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Enter.”
A maid came in leading a brigade of servants with a tub and buckets of steaming water. “Lady Emily said his lordship would be needing a bath.”
Callie smiled at the thoughtfulness.
Once the tub was filled, she stepped back for her husband to rise.
Sin didn’t move. He stared at the tub as images whirled through his mind. Callie wet and dripping, straddling his hips as he eased his aching loins.
Aye, he could just imagine her breasts shining in the light, her lips smiling at him as he pleasured her.
“Are you not going to bathe?” she asked.
It wasn’t until he removed his chausses that Callie realized she had no memory of her wedding night.
She swallowed at the bare beauty of him. Of his body so lithe and powerful. He was magnificent.
Sin made himself sit in the tub, but what he really wanted to do was take his wife into his arms and make love to her for the rest of the night.
And it was the one thing he couldn’t do.
He had no intention of staying in Scotland. Ever. And he refused to take a chance on getting her with child. He would never be his father. Never take his pleasure, then leave a woman to tend a child of his.
To hate and despise his child.
Without a word, she took the cloth from his hands and lathered it. Sin ground his teeth as he hardened even more. “I can do that myself.”
“I know you can. But I wish to do this for you.”
He would never understand her kindness, but then she thought them to be married. Only he knew the truth of their wedding night.
“Why are you so accepting of me as your husband?”
She set her soap aside. “My grandmother was Irish and she always had a saying, Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I canna change.”
She placed one hand against his shoulder as she started washing his back.
“For whatever reason, you and I have been joined. I could fight you and hate you, but in the end it would change nothing. It would only make both our lives miserable. From what I have seen, you are a good man. So, I prefer to make peace for both our sakes, and to hope that maybe you can make my clan understand that the English aren’t so terribly bad.
That we can live in peace with one another. ”
Her words brought an unexpected pain to his heart. “So, you have no real care for me.” The words were out before he could stop them.
She paused her hand and moved forward so that she could meet his gaze.
“I barely know you, Sin.” Her earnest gaze bored into him until a light of humor lightened it.
“Still, I like what I have seen.” She returned to washing his back.
“Except for tonight. I think you let your pride get the better of your common sense.”
He smiled at that. Indeed, he had.
“And I do care for you.”
Her words startled him, and yet he understood her meaning. “As you would any stranger.”
“Yea and nay. I daresay, I wouldn’t scrub the back of a man I didn’t know.”
He grinned at that. “I should hope not.”
She picked up a bucket to rinse his back. He sighed as the warm water slid over his flesh.
Callie set the bucket aside and returned to sit beside him. “I want to get to know you, Sin. I think knowing you would be a most wondrous thing.”
He looked away as he took the cloth and started bathing his leg. “Truly, there is nothing about me worth knowing.”
She caught his face in her hand and turned him until her gaze held his. “What did they do to you to make you withdraw so far into yourself?”
Sin didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He’d spent the whole of his life trying to bury those memories. Trying to never look to the past for anything. He just existed. It was all he knew.
She heaved a weary breath. “You’ve left me again, haven’t you? I can always tell. Your eyes turn dull, cold.”
Callie rose to her feet. “Very well, I shall leave you in peace. But know this, one day I am going to find the heart you have buried away from the world.”
“And what would you do with it if you found it?”
“I would hold it safe and keep it from the hurt that has shriveled it.”
Said heart pounded at her words. “My lady, that organ knows nothing of love. It knows nothing of kindness. Even if you did find it, I assure you, it would be quite worthless to you.”
“Perhaps or perhaps not. Either way, I intend to find out.”
Her strength never ceased to amaze him.
She moved toward the bed and pulled her gown over her head. Sin’s entire body burned at the sight of her naked. Worse, she gifted him with a lush view of her backside as she climbed into bed.
In that moment, ‘twas all he could do to not join her. All he could do to not run to the bed, roll her to her back and partake of the feast that was her body.
His tongue burned from want of her lips, her breasts. It would be pure bliss to have her wrap her body around his. Pure bliss to be her husband this night.
But he couldn’t do it. She was accepting of him now, but things would change when he got her home. Her Highland brethren would never tolerate an English knight in their midst.
Not even his brother’s clan had been able to do that.
He’d stayed with the MacAllisters for a brief time after Braden and Maggie’s wedding while his burns had healed.
And though all had been cooly cordial, he had still seen the way the servants and villagers had shied away from him.
The way no one wanted to spend more than a fleeting moment in his presence.
Worse, his stepmother, Aisleen, had been very coldly polite to him during his stay.
Not once had she been able to even meet his gaze.
Of course, her cold aloofness was a vast improvement over the contempt and repulsion she’d shown him in his youth.
Still, he had refused to stay where he was unwelcome.
He had to do that enough at Henry’s court.
Sin looked back at the bed where his wife waited, his stomach hurting. No one had ever welcomed him before Caledonia.
She would give herself to him if he asked it.
And he wanted to ask. So much so that he burned with the yearning.
Don’t do this to her or to you. Leave, Sin.
No good could come of tasting heaven when he couldn’t stay in it. He’d learned that early in life. Memories of happiness only stuck the barb in deeper.
And he had been barbed enough.
Callie held her breath in nervous anticipation as she heard her husband leave the tub. He would come to her now, she was sure of it.
While the men had been fighting outside, Emily had told her much about how hard Draven had fought against the love Emily had offered him.
She took courage from Emily that if she had bent her stubborn husband to accept her, perhaps there was a chance for her and Sin as well.
Perhaps.
At least she thought that until she heard Sin walk across the floor and out the door.
Stung, she rolled over to make sure she had heard correctly.
Aye, she had. Her husband was nowhere to be found.
Grinding her teeth in frustration, she lay there and let the pain of rejection wash over her.
Very well then, if he didn’t want her, so be it. She wasn’t going to lie around and ache like this. She had made her offer. He had rejected it.
He had no use for her. Fine. She would be home in a few days and then she could do as he did and just pretend he didn’t exist. Fine. Wonderful.
If that was what he wanted, she would give it to him.
And yet even as her anger spoke loudly in her head, there was a tiny part of her that wanted the kind of marriage her parents had shared. The kind of marriage Morna had had with her father. The kind Emily shared with Draven. One of love and respect.
“I know not what to do,” she breathed. But inside she did. She would have to continue the fight for his heart.
She only hoped he didn’t fight her with the same determination he’d shown with Draven. If he did, then she would have no hope whatsoever of winning.