“’Tis our chamber now, Robert.”
“So ’tis,” he answered. She watched as he checked on Craig and then he approached the door. “I have some duties to see to before I retire. Ye dinna have to wait up for me.”
All she could do was nod in agreement as he left. Once the door closed, she changed into her sleeping gown and arranged his bed on the floor near the fire. Duncan’s carpet would be well used.
27
The routine happened by itself, without much planning at all. He left early in the morning, before she or the babe rose, and he returned to the chamber after they’d gone to sleep each night. He joined her for a few meals, but his new duties really did keep him busy and outside most days and into most nights. If she minded, she never said. The only response she ever gave him was the same—it is your decision, Robert, just say so.
He never bathed in the chamber’s outer room and so far, thank the Almighty, he had never entered to find her in the large wooden tub kept for that reason. Robert had enough difficulty sleeping in the same room with her; the image of her naked in that tub was more than his poor body could handle. He found it necessary to never enter the chamber until he had exhausted himself physically. At least then he could get to sleep without his mind wandering.
The fact that his wife slept just a few feet from his miserable bed and he was not welcome there in hers ate at him. Some nights when he could not sleep, he stood next to her bed and watched her breathe. He ached to feel the touch of her lips again, to run his fingers through her fiery hair, to hear the sound of her laughter. He would even enjoy hearing her use that imperious tone of voice to him. But his wishes were for naught, for if she had somehow discerned his feelings for her, she never gave any indication of it.
Days turned into weeks and summer was almost done. The clan began returning from the summer shielings; the drovers guided the cattle they would keep back to their pens to prepare for the slaughter and preserving. Others were driven to market to raise funds from the sales. Struan spoke to him asneeded, but there was little else exchanged between them. Anice carried out the duties she’d returned to just before their marriage and he gradually took on more of the responsibilities for running the defenses of the village and castle and the training of the warriors.
And he knew that if something did not change between him and Anice, he would go insane. He was tempted to visit Robena, but he knew that word would get back to Anice. He valued Robena’s friendship too much to risk her place, now a comfortable one, in Dunnedin. And he realized that he did not want the embraces and kisses of another woman, he wanted his wife. He cursed himself for being such a fool as to enter into this agreement with her and saw no way out for himself. He prayed, however, nightly for help in his dilemma. ’Twas Brodie that gave him the help he needed to take the first step towards her.
Brodie challengedhim to a wrestling match. It seemed like a good way to burn off some of his restlessness, so he agreed. Now, with his face being pushed into the dirt of the practice yard, the idea did not seem as smart as it had before.
“Come now, Robbie. Ye can do better than that,” Brodie goaded him on.
Robert slipped free of his hold and attacked again. He managed to grab hold of Brodie’s leg and upend his friend to the ground. Pouncing on him, Robert twisted along with Brodie, keeping hold of him at each maneuver. Those watching along the perimeter of the yard cheered for one or the other with every move. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rachelle approach the fence.
“I was taking pity on ye, friend. I dinna want yer wife to have to watch yer defeat in her delicate condition.”
The one moment of distraction caused by his words was enough for him to claim victory, his first over Brodie’s superior skills. He jumped to his feet and yelled out his victory to everyone around who could hear. Then, reaching down, he pulled Brodie to his feet and they walked towards Rachelle. Itwas then that he saw Anice standing next to her, red-faced from cheering and still clapping.
“I let ye win, Robbie. I did no’ want ye to disappoint yer new wife.”
He smacked his friend on his back and they ran over to their wives. Brodie lifted Rachelle into his arms and kissed her long and hard. To do less with his own wife would be too obvious, yet he feared her reaction if he showed the same enthusiasm as Brodie for Rachelle.
“I thank ye for yer support, wife.” He took her by the shoulders and pulled her close. Dipping down to her, he kissed her mouth. The quick, for-show-only kiss he planned quickly turned into something more when she leaned into him and opened her mouth. He slipped his tongue in to taste her and held her closer as the kiss went on and on. It was as he had dreamed it could be—she did not pull back, she did not cry out in fear. Instead, he felt the tentative touch of her own tongue on his as he kept their mouths together.
His cock surged yet again beneath his plaid and, on its own, his body sought hers. Stepping closer, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her tightly. He knew immediately that he had done something very wrong for she turned to stone in his embrace. Lifting his mouth from hers, he saw the old fear in her eyes. Seeking to make the end look somewhat mutually planned, he smiled and released her.
“Brodie, I think Anice just got a good whiff of me. I should wash up before accosting her again.”
Brodie and Rachelle laughed, neither of them apparently bothered by the odor of fighting men. ’Twas an excuse, pure and simple, to allow Anice to escape from him without drawing too much attention. And she did so with hardly any words. Rachelle went off with her, but not before exchanging some curious looks with her husband. Robert watched with utter longing as Anice walked away.
“So, when will ye end this charade and tell her how ye feel?”
“What are ye talking about, Brodie?” He tried to bluff his way out of this, but Brodie saw too much.
“Come now, dinna play me for a fool, even if ye havechosen to act like one.”
“Brodie...,” he growled in warning.
“Rob, I can see what is happening. Ye want her now even as ye wanted her this last month. Now she is yer wife, but something holds ye back from her. Is it her fear of men?”
“Aye, ’tis that. And was I so obvious in my lust for her that you and others noticed?”
Robert did not wait for an answer; he turned towards the armory and Brodie followed along. When they were away from anyone else, he stopped. Wiping his brow with the back of his hand, he stared at his friend.
“I saw it because I ken ye. I doubt that anyone else noticed.”
He grunted.
“Most here ken she canna abide being touched, even innocently, by the men of the clan,” Brodie continued. “They go out of their way to avoid any contact with her, and have since she recovered from Sandy’s savagery.”
