“A wee.”
“Sweet mon.” Thor sat, but Greer stepped between his legs and cupped his cheeks. “I told ye what I need. What do ye need?”
“To make ye happy.” He didn’t think. The words poured forth, but he meant them.
“That’s vera kind. But what do ye need to make ye happy?”
“Kenning ye are safe and kenning I will see ye every day.”
Greer wrapped her arms over his shoulders as she stepped a little closer. His head rested against her belly as his arms went around her thighs. She stroked his hair as they once again basked in being in one another’s company, with no enmity. They found comfort in their embrace. She gazed down at Thor, and love filled her heart to near busting. She kicked off her slippers and stepped back. Thor immediately released her, but his eyes showed his confusion.
“Will ye help me unlace ma dress, Husband?”
“Greer, ye dinna—”
“I ken I dinna have to. I want to. Mayhap all I can do for today is lie on the bed in yer arms. Mayhap more. I dinna ken yet. But I want to be closer to ye. I need ye curled around me to feel safe again.”
Thor tugged her laces free, watching as she shrugged out of the kirtle. He pulled off his boots, but he left the rest of his clothes as they were. He would assume nothing. While she’d waited, Greer put the pillows back and returned the Sinclair plaid to the foot of the bed. She climbed onto the massive piece of furniture and thought Thor would walk around to the other side.
“Scoot over, wee one. Ye will never sleep closer to the door. I dinna want ye to be the first anyone can reach, and I dinna want to hurt ye by scrambling over ye.” Thor propped his sword against the bedside table, which was nearly in its place. He climbed onto the bed after Greer moved to the other side. He slid his right arm beneath her neck while his left arm wrapped around her. He spooned her, and her eyes drifted shut. Her hands covered his forearm as they laid in silence.
A few minutes later, she covered Thor’s left hand with hers and moved it to rest his palm on her belly. The heat seeped through her chemise and radiated out to her limbs. Thor kissed her cheek and neck before pressing soft ones to her shoulder. She remained facing away from him as she spoke.
“While ye were belowstairs, I kept thinking aboot how certain I am that ye wouldnae let anyone steal our future from us again. I kept thinking aboot how much I want our family to be more than just the two of us. Thor, I could see maself with child.” Greer released his hand and grasped her chemise, pulling it up her thigh until it revealed her hip. Thor’s calloused palm barely grazed her skin as he ran it along her thigh up to her hip and over it before cupping her bottom with the lightest touch. When Greer didn’t flinch or push him away, his hand slid back over her hip and around to her bare belly. He returned his hand to where it had been, and it held the softest skin he’d ever felt. “Can I ask ye something that might ruin this moment?”
Thor suspected he knew her question. “Do ye wish to ken aboot when we were apart?”
“Aye.”
“There have been others, Greer. Nae many. Da and ma uncles have put the fear of God into all of us lads. We dinna want what happened to Da, Uncle Tristan, and Uncle Tavish to happen to us. Or more importantly, nae have what happened to Mama, Auntie Mairghread, and Auntie Ceit to happen to our wives. We dinna want to embarrass our future wives, and we dinna want to disgrace ourselves. Ye ken I’d never been with a woman before ye, but I have been with a few since.”
“Good.”
That wasn’t what Thor expected to hear. “Good?”
“Aye. Was it more than ten?”
“Greer.”
“Was it?”
“I dinna want to tell ye this. I dinna see how any answer will do aught but hurt ye.”
“So, it was.”
“Nay. I didna say that. But giving ye any number canna be what ye want. I dinna want to make ye think of me sharing this with someone else.”
“But ye ken I have.”
“Nay.” Thor pushed up on his elbow. “What happened to ye is nae the same. It wasna for mutual pleasure like the women in ma past. And it wasna for love like it was with ye.”
“If ye’d been with nay other women, while I’d been with other men, I would feel like even more of a whore. Was it more than ten, Thor?”
He didn’t want to answer, but he knew she wouldn’t relent. She watched him over her shoulder. With a sigh and his eyes squeezed shut, he shook his head.
“Are ye embarrassed that it wasna more than that?”
Thor’s eyes flew open, and he tugged Greer’s shoulder until she laid on her back, and he could see her face properly. “Nay. I dinna like admitting that it was even one. It feels like I betrayed ye all over again. Nay one forced me. I chose to bed those women.”
