Ewan made a negative noise in the back of his throat.
“James willnae skewer her; he’s too skilled for that,” he reassured her.
Not that this had been Ailsa’s fear.
“Vaila won’t skewer himaccidentally. But I cannae speak for her doing so intentionally.”
Ewan seemed unconcerned. “If James cannae protect himself against one wee lassie, no matter how skilled, then he deserves to be skewered a bit.”
Ailsa worried that this might be underestimating the danger Vaila posed when properly irritated, but she decided to trust her husband. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t warned him.
All concerns about her sister or the captain that she battled faded shortly, anyway, as Ewan placed his hand lightly on the small of her back.
It was not a particularly intimate touch, not necessarily. He was safely clear of any place that might have counted as improper.
Even so, she could feel the slight heat from his fingers through the thin shirt she wore; she’d discarded her jacket long ago, despite the crisp air of the day.
“Ye ken, wife,” he murmured, leaning low to speak in her ear even as their gazes both remained fixed on Vaila and James, who had paused their bout to argue again—this time something about grip. “I like seein’ ye all pretty and flushed like ye are now. If ye had told me that ye wished to learn the sword, I would have taught ye myself.”
Ailsa had to fight against the urge to shiver, though she was not cold in the least.
“It wasnae planned,” she explained. Her voice sounded suddenly hoarse. “Mairi wished to learn, and then the rest of us just joined in.”
His hand slid down a little, perhaps just an inch or two, but that scant distance made a significant difference—both in the propriety of his hold and in the acute heat that it sent through Ailsa.
“Do ye still wish tae learn?” he asked. “Because I can think of somethin’ else that I’d be happy tae teach ye.”
Did his burr thicken when he was being suggestive? She bit her lip hard to ensure that her voice was steady before answering.
“It is always a pleasure to learn something new,” she said demurely, though the way she bore her gaze into his told him, clear as day, that she understood the subtext to his words, too.
His eyes flashed with pleasure and hunger.
“Do ye think we can slip away?” His question was teasing; they did not truly need to sneak off, nor to explain themselves to anyone. Besides, everyone would jump to the same conclusion once they were discovered missing. Theywerenewly married, after all.
Even so, Vaila and James were glaring at one another over clashed blades, Eilidh was watching with avid interest, and Mairi and Davina had their heads bent together conspiratorially. They almost certainlycouldslip away without notice.
His hand glided from her back and across her hip, then made the leap to hold her fingers in his.
“Aye?” he asked, quiet, daring.
She squeezed his hand in response.
Their escape, in the end, was not terribly subtle. They had barely gotten out of the training yard before Ailsa could no longer hold back her delighted giggles. She felt like a child, slipping away from chores to go play—except, of course, for how she and Ewan were headed off to do very adult things, indeed. Even so, how long had it been since she’d let herself be a littleirresponsible? How long had it been since Ewan had taken a break from his duties in the middle of the day? It was thrilling.
“Hush, woman,” he scolded, smiling, as he tugged her around a corner to avoid an oncoming group of men headed to their daily training session. It was a woefully lackluster attempt at hiding, made even more so when he stole a kiss just as the men—who studiously noticed nothing—walked past.
“Barbarian,” she sighed. “Trying to stake your claim?”
He held up her hand, which bore his ring. “I’ve already staked my claim, lass. Now I’m just enjoyin’ the benefits of having claimed ye. Do ye object?”
She did not, and he knew that, so she let him pull her into another kiss before they headed up toward the house. Every time they paused to lurk in shadows or hide behind corners, he kissed her again, each a little more probing than the one before, each sparking the heat in her a little bit higher than it had been previously. By the time they made it to his—their—bedchamber, it was impossible for her to tell what was laughter, what was gasping, and what was just the panting of her breath as she struggled against the way he roused heat in her.
“Do we not have duties to attend to?” she gasped into his mouth as he began undoing the buttons of her shirt. It was a question that she felt sheshouldask more than one she actually wanted answered, as her fingers on his buttons clearly stated.
Still. It was her first full day as future Lady of the Keep. She really ought to showsomesense of care for her obligations.
Ewan just smiled against her mouth. “This is our duty, aye? We are affirmin’ our marriage.”
