Greer’s terror-stricken eyes met Thor’s. He was fed up with seeing his wife so fearful that day. They’d laid their hearts bare, and they’d resolved their past as best they could for now. It should have been a joyous time for them. Instead, they faced people who wished to tear them apart. It made Thor wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t reconciled that day. The Gunns would have shown up, and he still wouldn’t have agreed to her leaving with them. But would she have considered marrying him to prevent them taking her? Would he have watched her walk away? No. He wouldn’t have allowed that. He would have ridden off with her before that happened.
“Thor?” Greer pressed her hand against his chest.
“We’ll be down in a moment, Blaine.” Thor called out to his friend before pulling Greer closer. “We canna avoid going back down there, but we must make some decisions vera quickly. Samuel wasna wrong that a marriage by consent willna easily stand since there’s a priest here to marry us. We can claim we handfasted recently, but we kept our distance because of our clans’ pasts. That doesnae change the fact that people have seen us argue, even if they havenae heard us.”
“We say we couldnae agree on when to tell people. We wished to make it kenned, but we never agreed on the right moment.”
“Mayhap, but I dinna ken how many would believe that.”
“Would the Keiths turn me over to them? Would they accept what they ken is a falsehood if it helped a Sinclair?”
“I dinna ken. We canna pretend to have a sheet either, so we canna say that we’ve lain together and consummated a handfast.”
“Because too many people ken I’m so far from being a virgin that—”
“Greer, shh.” Thor stroked her cheek, wiping away the tears that streamed down them. She’d thought she had so few left to cry, but apparently, that day released a geyser that had sat under too much pressure for too long. His heart ached to see the pain in Greer’s eyes. If only he could take her away for a while. Somewhere they could learn to be a couple again without prying eyes watching them.
“Do ye think Una would lie for us?”
Thor shrugged. “Mayhap. Do ye wish her to say ye’re carrying ma bairn?”
“Aye.”
“And when they realize ye arenae?”
“Then we need to make it so that I am.”
“Nay. I am nae bedding ye just to get ye with child. Ye dinna want that.”
“I want to stay with ma husband, and I do want a family with ye, Thor. There’s only one way to do that. And if it means nay one can deny our marriage, then I’ll do whatever I must.”
“That isnae how I want ye to see making love with me. Something that ye must do.”
“I dinna ken if I can enjoy it like I once did with ye. I dinna ken if I can even manage to couple long enough for ye to plant yer seed. But regardless of who’s belowstairs, I already kenned I want to try to get to a point where I can. This just makes me want to try sooner and faster.”
“I dinna want to agree to something that will hurt ye.” Thor glanced toward the door before returning his gaze to Greer. “It’s been eight years. Do ye have other bairns?”
Thor feared he’d be sick again, but he needed to know. He’d wondered that question throughout their conversation, but since Greer didn’t offer the information, he couldn’t bring himself to ask before now.
“Nay. I drank penny royal tea to keep from getting with child. Naught ever took root. I fear Edgar beat me badly enough that I canna get with child or canna bear one. But I willna ken until I try.”
Thor considered what Greer suggested. “We could say we handfasted before we arrived here. We’ve been here more than a moon, so we can say ye’re with child. We married by consent today to ensure we were bound by more than a handfast. That can be repudiated, but a marriage by consent canna.”
“If we say we’ve already handfasted, and people heard us marry by consent, could a priest marry us without posting the banns? Could he marry us tonight?”
“Ye’re certain ye wish to make it permanent so soon? Is it to protect ye from going back with them?”
“Aye to both. But, Thor, I ken what I want. This is happening fast, but it’s also making ma priorities so clear. All the things that seemed gray for so long are now so obvious. I’ve kenned all along that if ye ever asked me to marry ye again, I would say aye. I felt a fool for it, but I couldnae help it. I admit for many years it was because ye would have been ma escape from Edgar and the others. But since being around ye again, it’s because of ye.”
“Then we agree to say we handfasted before we arrived here but thought we needed to hide it because of everything that’s happened recently and all the bad blood between our clans. We argued because we couldnae agree on when to tell people. We say that ye’re with child, and that’s why we made sure everyone heard us marry by consent today.”
“And we pray Una will either lie for us, or I can convince her nae to examine me. We also pray the priest will marry us without reading the banns.”
“That’s right.” Thor reached for her hand and moved the ring from her thumb to the right finger. She watched him, and she stole his breath when she looked up at with a beaming expression.
“Thor!” Blaine pounded on the door again. “Either open it, or I’ll break it down.”
Thor raised his eyebrows to Greer, and she nodded. He called out, “It’s nae locked.” He’d known no one would get past the guards, and they wouldn’t enter uninvited.
