“I couldn’t save all of his prisoners. And it breaks me apart inside to think of it.”
One of the tears broke free, and Finian pulled her into his arms, offering her comfort. “You’re not responsible for Harkirk’s sins.”
She held him back, needing the strength of his arms. He drew her to stand, and she rested her face against his broad chest, hearing the pulse of his heart beating.
For a moment, he let her stay in his arms before he stepped back. There was a sudden change in his expression. “Do you grieve for your husband?”
She took a deep breath and met his gaze squarely. “No. I’m glad he’s gone.”
Finian held still, his gray eyes searching hers. Then he leaned in, his mouth resting a breath above hers. “Do you want me to leave?”
From deep inside, heat flooded through her body. She remembered the touch of his hands upon her skin, the way his body had nestled against hers while he’d caressed her intimately.
And in his eyes right now, she saw the burning need that echoed her own. She lifted her face to his. “I should ask you to go.” Winding her arms around his neck, she added, “But I don’t want to be alone.”
Finian turned her to face the bed, drawing both arms around her. He was giving her time to think clearly, time to send him away.
“I was married to Robert when I was sixteen,” Alys murmured. “Hardly more than a child.” Her gaze moved over to the bed, and her heart hardened at the sight of it. “I was nothing to him.” Inside, she felt the anger take root and grow. “I was miserable as his wife.”
“It was his fault. Not yours.”
Embarrassment grew from deep inside her, but she wanted him to know the truth. “The only time I ever felt any pleasure in that bed was when you touched me the other night.”
Even if he had called her by his wife’s name. She knew he’d been dreaming, his mind caught up in the spell between them.
“What do you want from me, Lady Harkirk?” he whispered, moving his hands to the bare skin of her nape.
“Don’t call me by his name,” she urged. “I am Lady Harkirk no longer. Only Alys.”
“Alys,” he repeated. His hands massaged the nape of her neck, moving down her braid until he unraveled it. He spread the long strands through his hands and asked, “Do you want me to leave you alone?”
The very thought of baring herself to this man, of letting him openly touch her, made her vulnerable. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I'm frightened of the way you make me feel inside.”
His hands stilled upon her body, and she knew that his honor would keep him from touching her. One word, and he would leave her alone.
Her eyes moved back to the bed, and she worried about whether or not he would find her wanting. For so long, she’d tried to atone for her husband’s crimes, living her life to save those she could.
If she took Finian MacLachor into her bed, it meant the ultimate act of defiance against her husband. Though they were wed no longer, his spirit haunted her.
“I want you to stay,” she admitted, “and drive out the bad memories.”
“You’re certain about this?”
Her answer was to loosen her gown, raising her arms and lifting it away. Finian knelt at her feet, taking her shift in his hands. He lifted it slowly, using his knuckles to caress the softness of her skin as he bared her nudity.
“When I’m through with you,” he whispered against the flesh of her stomach, “you won’t remember a single year of your marriage.”
She stood naked before him, and he removed his own clothing. His body was solid muscle, firm and sun-darkened. But she worried about the wounds he’d suffered. “Will it hurt you?” she asked, her fingers lightly tracing the lash marks upon his back.
“There will be no pain in it . . . not for you, and most definitely not for me.” He picked her up in his arms and laid her upon the linen sheets of the bed. “But there’s something I must ask of you.”
She looked into his gray eyes, waiting. He sat beside her, moving his hand down her throat, toward the curve of her breast. “Tell me if anything I do feels good to you.”
“And if it does?” she whispered.
“I’m going to do it again, until you’re begging me to join my body with yours.”
Chapter Four
