“Only maself, ma lady.” The maid shook her head, confused.
“Then I don’t see why you’d start today.” Laurel leaned forward, lowering her voice, but not so much that Brodie couldn’t hear. “Find somewhere else to rest your eyes lest I pluck them out and feed them to the crows.”
The blonde gasped, turning a stunned expression to Laurel before looking to Brodie for help. He stood with his arms crossed, his face set in stone. When she just kept blinking and shifting her weight, Brodie frowned. “You were in the courtyard not an hour ago. I know you heard what I said. Lady Campbell’s word is law when it comes to everything in this keep. That includes me. It seems she isn’t interested in sharing, nor do I intend to accept any offers.”
“What’s your name?” Laurel asked, softening her tone.
“Gara, ma lady.”
“When you run belowstairs to tell everyone what a bitch I am, be sure not to forget to tell them I don’t share.”
“Aye, ma lady.” Gara dipped into a wobbly curtsy before dashing from the room.
Laurel wasn’t ready to face Brodie. She’d made an assumption that could have resulted in her humiliation instead of the maid’s. She steeled herself for Brodie’s disapproval. She was confident he wouldn’t speak against her in front of anyone, but she knew he wouldn’t hold back in private. She turned around, unprepared for the Cheshire-cat grin he sported.
“I do like it when you’re fierce,” Brodie said as he kissed the skin behind her ear and pulled at her belt. But Laurel stepped back.
“That wasn’t my place,” she whispered. At Brodie’s confusion, she clarified. “It wasn’t my place to turn down an offer made to you. I—We didn’t talk aboot whether you’ll—”
“Laurel.” Brodie’s tone warned her to stop. “Perhaps you don’t recall, but we’ve had this conversation before. It bears repeating. I do not have a leman. While I dislike comparing you to Eliza, I would have you remember I was prepared to accept celibacy for at least two years.”
Laurel nodded. She clearly remembered the conversation they had, but the maid’s attentiveness to Brodie made her suspicious. “It felt like what she offered wasn’t really intended for me.”
“Gara and I have flirted from time to time, but naught more.” He offered no more explanation, and she supposed there was no more to give.
Brodie guided Laurel to sit before he unlaced her boots and took them and her stockings off. With a light tug, he brought her back to her feet and pulled his cut down leine from the waist of her rolled over breeks and pulled the waist open. Laurel pushed them past her hips until they dropped to the floor. She bent to pick them up, but Brodie stopped her, reaching for them himself. He laid the breeks over the back of a chair before he lifted the leine over her head. She’d never been self-conscious in front of Brodie, but his silence was unnerving.
“Laurie, I love you. I love every bit of you. I am not telling tales when I say how blessed I am to be your husband. You make me happy in ways I never imagined. I won’t do aught to jeopardize it. It’s too precious to me. Our lives will demand much of us, and there will be sadness and frustration, even anger, as we serve our people. Happiness was all too fleeting until I met you.”
“I love you, too. Despite everything that’s happened since we left Stirling, I feel like the Laurel I once knew. I feel free. You’ve given me that. I imagined the only way I could have it was to be on my own. I’m so glad that isn’t true. I want to be the one you turn to during those trying times. Not only the happy ones.”
“You will be. We are partners. I wish for you to be by my side this evening when I meet with the others.” Brodie looked past her shoulder at the wisps of steam still rising from the water. “I ken Aggie arranged baths for everyone else. I don’t need to rush. Shall we discover if there’s room for two?”
Laurel smiled as she helped Brodie undress. When they stood naked, Brodie lifted Laurel, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She cupped his jaw as they kissed before he stepped into the tub. As they settled into the soothing heat, their bodies joined. Brodie kneaded her breasts as they floated just above the surface. Laurel’s head fell back with a moan. Brodie’s tongue trailed along her throat as her hands skimmed his arms before moving to his shoulders, massaging the muscles that bunched beneath her hands. Their kisses grew more insistent as they moved together. Laurel closed her eyes, reveling in everything she felt inside and out.
“Oh, Brodie,” she breathed as his love poured into her, and she knew she was finally home. But it wasn’t the chamber or Kilchurn that made it home. It was Brodie.
“Laurie, I want to last, but I dinna think I can. I need ye too much. I’m struggling nae to finish without ye.” With his guard completely lowered, Brodie gave no consideration to his speech. He wanted only to share how he felt, what Laurel made him feel.
“I’m close, bear. Dinna stop. Just a wee more.”
Brodie grasped her hips, grinding her pubis against his. Laurel cried out as her belly tightened before pleasure spread through her body and into her limbs. Brodie moved her faster, with a determination that hardened his expression. Laurel watched as his muscles rippled. Need for her husband flared again. She moved with him, edging toward another wave of euphoria. They tumbled over the edge together.
“Laurie!” Brodie roared. Laurel collapsed against his chest, heaving to catch their breath. They filled the calm after the storm with affection as they soaked together. “Sleepy?”
“Aye. But this happens every time ye hold me. I canna keep ma eyes open. Ye’re so comfortable.”
Brodie’s laughter rumbled through his chest, and Laurel felt her body absorb it. “I dinna ken that anyone else would describe me as such.”
“Nay one else better be finding out. I claim all of this,” Laurel waved her hand in his direction, “as mine.”
“That it is, thistle.”
“Brodie, I ken why ye’re so comfortable.” Laurel whispered as she played with the hair at his nape, then ran her fingers over his stubble. “Because ye’ve done what ye promised. Ye’ve given me freedom. Ye havenae tried to change me. Ye havenae turned away from me when ma tongue gets the better of me. I dinna fear what ye will say. I dinna feel like I have to protect maself from yer words, that I dinna have to always be on guard. I ken I’m nae alone anymore.”
“Ye arenae alone.” Brodie tickled her rib before reaching for the soap. “I suspect that ye shall be so nae alone that ye will tire of me trailing yer heels.”
“I like it when we can talk like this,” Laurel admitted shyly.
