"Return to the Keep," he commanded, his voice deadly quiet."My wife and I require privacy."
"Mistress—" Gilroy started.
"Now!"Boyd demanded.
They ignored him and waited until Bella gestured that she was well before they left.
Boyd caught the silent exchange, and he was part proud and irritated that even his own guardsmen had switched loyalties to his wife.
Boyd shut the door and locked it.
"How dare ye," Bella said finally, her voice trembling with rage."How dare ye come here and insult me like this.Tobias has no ill intentions toward me, nor I toward him.He was kind enough to fashion me a knife.That's all.How dare ye suggest otherwise!"
Boyd growled."What am I supposed to think when I return home hoping to see my wife, only to find her shacked up in a bothy, getting cozy with a braw man instead of waiting for me!"
"Shacked up?"Bella's eyes blazed."Ye truly think so little of me?"
"I found ye alone with a man.A handsome man who looks at ye like ye’re a faerie queen."
"Ye dinnae get to do this!"Bella slammed her fist on the table and shouted, surprising Boyd."Ye dinnae get to ignore me for weeks, tell me ye'll never touch me, inform me ye'll take yer pleasure elsewhere, and then storm in here like a jealous husband!"
"Ye're my wife!"Boyd snapped.
"Then act like my husband!"Bella shot back."Ye rejected me at every turn, made it clear ye wanted nothing to do with me.So, I made friends, and now ye dare to judge me for it?"
Bella was done being patient with Boyd.What was it the abbess said?Choose yer battles.Well, this was hers because it was the most important of all.
"I'm not judging ye.I'm angry that ye're entertaining men alone in this cottage!"Boyd yelled.
"Why?Because someone was kind to me instead of treating me like I'm nothing.Because I refuse to be lonely despite my husband not wanting my company.Does that mean I'd bed any man that gives me attention?No, because I made my vows to ye and I would never break them."
"How can I believe that, Bella?"
They were both breathing hard, circling each other like wounded animals.
It was Bella's turn to shout now."Where have ye been, Boyd?All these nights away from the Keep.How many women did ye seek out for the comfort ye refused from me?"
"Dinnae be daft.There was no one!"Boyd snapped.
"Liar!"Bella's voice cracked."Ye said ye'd meet yer needs elsewhere.Is that why ye're so angry?So mistrusting of me because ye easily cheat and ye believe I would as well?"
"Now ye insult me, wife!I have been with no one.I said it to hurt ye, to push ye away, but there's been no one, Bella.No one but ye.Not in ten bloody years!"
Bella stared at him with disbelief."Dinnae lie to me.I saw ye!That night, at the tavern.Ye had a woman draped over yer lap.I'm sure ye've had hundreds more since then!"
"I pulled her onto my lap to make ye jealous!"Boyd roared."I saw ye standing there, looking at me with those wounded eyes, and I wanted to hurt ye the way I thought ye'd hurt me.I never even looked at her again after ye left."
"Ye expect me to believe that?"
"'Tis the truth!That woman meant nothing.Because the only woman I've ever wanted, the only woman I've dreamed of every damned night, is ye!"
Bella shook her head, unshed tears shimmering in her eyes."Stop lying to me."
"I'm not lying."Boyd's voice was raw."Do ye want to ken how I spent my nights, Bella?Do ye want to ken what kept me warm in my bed while other men sought comfort in willing arms?"
He moved closer, his eyes blazing into hers.
"I dreamed of ye," he said, his voice dropping to a rough growl."Every single night for ten years.Erotic dreams of ye so vivid I'd wake hard and aching, covered in sweat, yer name on my lips.Dreams of yer body beneath mine, above me, riding me, taking me.Dreams of yer taste, yer scent, the sounds ye made the first time I took ye at the forge.And I'd lie there in the dark, alone, wanting ye so badly I thought I'd go mad."
