He moved upward again, his teeth running along her neck. She grabbed at him, pulled him down on top of her. “Hungry, my laird?” he growled in her ear.
She bit at him, almost too hard, and the next moment he was on her. It had been so long since they’d been together, and Stephen’s mouth on her knees had excited her to a fever pitch. It took only a few thrusts before both of them were shuddering in the throes of their love.
“Oh, Stephen,” she whispered, clutching him to her. It was so good to feel safe again, to not be alone. She didn’t realize when the tears started.
Stephen moved from atop her and pulled her into the haven of his strong arms. He covered them with his plaid, and Rab snuggled against his mistress’s back.
The safety and security she felt made her cry even harder.
“Was it horrible?” he asked quietly. “We felt so helpless, but there was so little we could do.”
She wiped her tears away and looked at him. “Mary?”
He pushed her head down. “Brian Chatworth brought her back to us.” He was silent for a moment. Now was not the time to talk of his grief—and rage—at the death of his sister. Sweet, gentle Mary, who only did good in her life, did not deserve death in such a vile manner. Miles had been the one to nearly kill Brian before Gavin and Stephen could prevent him. When Brian’s story was told, it rang true that even held captive, Mary gave love. Brian’s grief was obvious as he held the lifeless body of the woman he loved.
•••
“Brian went to find Raine, wherever he is now,” Stephen continued. “We heard he was hiding in the forest. Why didn’t you return to Larenston? Tam has aged twenty years in the last month. He knew so little about what had happened. They found Rab in the morning, and Tam was sure you were dead.”
“I wanted to do something for Mary.”
“For Mary? You came to Harben’s because of Mary?”
Bronwyn began to cry harder. “You were right. I had so long to think about it. I’m so selfish and I don’t deserve your love.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded.
“What you said. When you were holding that woman,” she sniffed disjointedly.
Stephen frowned as he tried to remember what she was talking about. Since they’d been married, he’d not touched another woman. Every woman he saw paled in comparison to Bronwyn’s beauty and spirit. He smiled as he remembered the night at Gavin’s castle. “Aggie!” he laughed. “She’s the castle whore. I was sitting there feeling miserable and sorry for myself when she came in the room, opened her blouse, and threw herself across my lap.”
“You certainly didn’t push her off! You were enjoying her when I came in.”
“Enjoying her?” he questioned, then shrugged. “I’m a man and I may be angry and upset, but I’m not dead.”
Bronwyn grabbed a clump of hay and threw it at his head.
He pinned her arms to her side. “Tell me what I said that night,” he insisted.
“You don’t remember!” How could he forget something that meant so much to her?
“All I remember is us screaming at each other, then I got on my horse. I don’t even remember where I was going. Somewhere along the way I fell on the ground and slept. In the morning I realized I’d probably lost you through my idiocy, and so I decided to do something to try to win you back.”
“Is that why you went to King Henry? To win me back?”
“I didn’t do it for any other reason,” he said. “I hate court. All that waste!”
She stared at him, then laughed. “You sound like a Scot.”
“King Henry also said I was no longer English, that I sounded like a Scot.”
She laughed and began to kiss him.
He pushed her away. “I still haven’t had an answer from you. All the time I was at court I thought you were with my brothers. Gavin was so angry he refused to write me. I think he assumed I knew you’d walked out of his house that night I left. You and Miles scared them half to death, you know.”
“But not you?” she asked. “What did you think when you found out I’d returned to Scotland?”
“I didn’t have time to think!” he said in disgust. “Gavin, Raine, Miles, and Judith lectured me for days. When they got through, they stopped speaking to me.”
