“You may think that, but Eachann will have something to say, something you might not like.” He stared at the bruise on her face and nodded. “That is nothing compared to what he can do, will do, if you betray him.”
“Callum, I will not tell my lord of your mixed loyalties yet, but I would suggest that you consider joining my father’s household wherever he is. And do so with haste.”
The old man started at her words. It was not what he expected to hear, since Lara had always been an obedient child and woman. Until now. Until Sebastien’s love showed her that there was a life without fear to be had as his wife.
Callum seemed to collect himself. “And I willna inform your cousin of this change of heart, my lady. ’Tis you who should be thinking of your place and the results of this.” He gestured to where she’d stood while making her oath to Sebastien. “It could be dangerous when Eachann hears of it.”
Sir Hugh chose that moment to approach with a question, and she dismissed the old man with a wave of her hand.
“My lady,” the knight began, and then lowered his voice. “My lord says that your presence is a distraction to him.”
Lara found it difficult not to smile. She turned around and noticed Sebastien, indeed all of his men, staring at her. Her smile broke out then and she curtsied again and climbed the stairs to wait for him.
Stunned by her public commitment and surprised by the manner in which she did it, Sebastien found it difficult to concentrate on the important matters under discussion. All he could hear in his mind were her words:to be true and faithful, and to love all that he loves and to shun all that he shuns.
He recognized some of the words she spoke from the ceremonies he’d witnessed when Robert was crowned at Scone two years earlier and the nobles present there submitted to him as king.
The giving of his own oath to the king had been much simpler, since no lands or titles were exchanged. Sebastien held the lands only as royal warden and guardian of Malcolm and not in his own right. When that time came, he would use words very similar to what Lara had spoken to him.
The silence caught his attention and he realized that he’d stopped speaking in the middle of his explanation of the attack plan. His men, he could see, knew exactly what was pulling his focus from them. Sebastien tried to gather his thoughts, but he could not remember what he’d been saying when the most wonderful images flashed before him. From earthy to ethereal, they all involved Lara.
He stared at the doorway across the hall that would lead to her. She had given her body and soul and her heart to him, and everyone in Dunstaffnage had heard it. Without hesitation, she’d pledged to him of her own free will. The things that he’d always wanted, the things that mattered in life, were about to be his now that Lara had made her choice.
Someone was coughing quite loudly and he shook his head to clear his thoughts, and turned to the men again. “Yes, Hugh. Are you having some problem?”
“Aye, my lord. I am having some difficulty absorbing the news.”
“The news? Has there been news?” What had he missed while thinking about the woman who waited for him above stairs?
“I find myself quite moved by the sight of Lady MacDougall pledging herself to you. Quite moved,” he said, not even trying to be serious. “What do you think, men? Were you not affected by the emotional scene before us?” Hugh held his hand out, gesturing to the others to add their comments.
“Quite moved,” called out Connor.
“I, as well, my lord,” said another.
“So moving it was, my lord, that I would beg a short respite to reorganize my thoughts.”
“A respite, my lord!” It was Connor again.
“A short time, my lord. To regain our…attention to the matters at hand,” Hugh explained.
Though tempted not to give in, and to fight the urge to go to her immediately, he caught the smiles and knowing glances of his men and the others in the hall. Giving up the battle, he nodded, threw down the parchment he was holding, and strode through the hall toward the north tower…and her.
“’Twould seem that my lord has decided to take a respite,” Hugh said loudly, and his men joined in the laughter.
Sebastien did not care. There would be time later to finish their plans. Hell, they were almost complete now. His feet moved without effort up the stairs, past the astonished gazes of the guards, whom he ordered away now. When he reached the outer room, he paused for only a moment before entering their chambers.
She stood much the same as the day of their wedding—before the window, with her hair loose and flowing down over her shoulders. Most of the time she wore it braided and covered, and he was pleased to see it thusly. Nothing encouraged his rampant desire as much as the thought of tangling his hands in it and stroking its silkiness.
Lara faced him and this time it was she who held out her arms and he who walked into her embrace. Sebastien lifted her off her feet and held her high enough off the floor that her toes could not touch. Without taking his gaze from hers, he kissed her on the mouth and then let her slide down his body.
“You are mine, now, my lady,” he said as he took her lips again and again.
Lara leaned back and laughed at him. “As you are mine, my lord.” Then she kissed him with her mouth open, mimicking the way he always kissed her.
“You make me wild, Lara. I fear I cannot hold back what I am feeling for you right at this moment.”
“Then do not hold back,” she said quietly.
