* * *
Bethoc crawled into her bed and discovered it now had a much better mattress, then got distracted when Callum crawled in beside her. “I dinnae think this bed was made for two.”
“Then we shall have to sleep really close,” he murmured, pulling her up next to him.
“Should we nay worry about Robbie coming back?” She slipped her arms around his neck.
He laughed softly. “Nay. When he left to escort Laurel home he wasnae intending to come back here till the morning.”
“Dinnae forget what Laurel suffered in prison. She may nay let him stay, or just cannae let him.”
“Nay, I dinnae think so.”
“What makes ye so certain? And why would Robbie be so certain?”
“Magnus is sleeping upstairs with the lads.”
“Oh.” She wondered how she had missed that, then shivered with pleasure as Callum slid his hands under her night shift and up to caress her breasts. “That doesnae really mean she will keep Robbie all night. If she gets, weel, scared by something, he could be coming back a lot earlier.” Her last words were smothered by his dragging her shift over her head.
“He willnae come back.” He sighed and kissed her between her breasts as he slid his hand between her legs. “He told me he will stay e’en if all he can do is hold her close all night.”
For a moment Bethoc was so touched by that that her desire eased back. “Oh, that is so sweet. Laurel has to accept him. I think he is the kind of mon she deserves.”
He kissed the hollow at the base of her throat. “I really dinnae want to talk about Robbie.”
She laughed but her humor ended when he kissed her. Her desire for him returned in a rush, fed and nurtured by his. The stroking of his tongue in her mouth matched the movement of the two fingers he had slipped inside her. She was breathless and shaking a little by the time he ended the kiss. Bethoc clung to him as he kissed his way down her body, lingering for a short while at her breasts.
A pang of disappointment cut through her desire when he kissed his way down her leg. It was wonderful, the little nips he gave her soothed quickly by the strokes of his tongue, but it was not what she had expected him to do. She realized she was no longer shy or shocked by such intimacy, she was eager for it. A restless need overtook her, her legs shifting as he kissed his way back up her other leg. Then he finally gave her the intimate kiss she had been craving and Bethoc called out his name.
Her desire rose fast and she fought its demand, wanting the pleasure he gave her to last. When she knew she could not hold back any longer she tried to pull him up, to make him join their bodies but he continued to push her with his kiss. Then she shattered and, as she began to come down from the heights, he drove into her. Bethoc hung on to him as he took them both over the edge.
She was still struggling to catch her breath as he settled himself more comfortably in the bed and pulled her into his arms. Resting her cheek on his chest she wished for words of love but he said nothing. Bethoc knew she could not keep living with the lack for long.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sunlight woke her and Bethoc tried to ease her body away from Callum’s, not an easy thing to do when they were spooned together. He groaned and rolled onto his back, one arm flung over his face. She sat up and drew on her shift then reached for her hose. For a moment she paused and stared out at the room, not really seeing it as she became lost in her thoughts.
They had made love, spent the night sleeping in each other’s arms, yet there was still no talk of love or a future. Callum was obviously content with the way things were. They were lovers, mayhap even friends, and that was apparently enough for him. Bethoc knew it could not be enough for her but she did not want to leave him either.
Her eyes stung and she realized she was making herself sad. She quickly forced her wandering mind back to the mundane matter of getting dressed. Just as she was reaching for her shoes, Callum wrapped his arm around her waist, tugged her back up against him, and kissed the back of her neck.
“The boys are waking up,” she warned just before he kissed her.
Callum was disappointed by that news for it meant he could not make love to her again but he savored the short kiss they shared before reaching for his clothes. He had let another night slip by without speaking. It appeared his cowardice ran deeper than he had thought. It was surprising that she stayed with him yet he could see a look in her eyes, a sadness that told him his luck would not hold for long. If for no other reason than to take that look of sadness from her eyes, he had to work up the courage to tell her what was in his heart.
He did not understand where his lack of courage came from. Yet just thinking of Bethoc not returning in kind anything he had to say to get her to stay was, to his dismay, terrifying. Callum told himself that he owed it to her. He could not just continue to find reasons or ways to keep her close without offering her more. Bethoc deserved better than that.
It was as they readied breakfast that Robbie and Laurel returned. There was a faint color in Laurel’s cheeks and she kept exchanging looks with Robbie. Bethoc was eager to talk with the woman before she left for Whytemont and finally grabbed the chance when they went into the garden to dump the wash water on the plants.
“I am going to marry that mon,” Laurel announced before Bethoc had a chance to even think of what question to ask her.
“Ye love him?”
“Oh, aye, but ’tis more than that. He kens what happened to me.”
“Weel, aye, he was with the ones who saved us and things were said . . .”
“Nay, I mean hekensit, understands it, kens the wounds it leaves on mind and heart. He was one of the children saved by Payton and Kirstie.” She nodded when Bethoc gasped and put her hand over her mouth for she had not given a thought to what that had meant. “He was beaten near to death yet still got away to stay by his sister’s side. He still carries the scars from that,” she whispered. “So he understands when I say I cannae bear a mon on top of me.” Laurel abruptly grinned. “He showed me one didnae have to be on top.”
