“Nay.Not this time.”
She blinked in surprise.They’d seemed like such companionable cohorts before.Perfect partners in crime.And now that they’d agreed they belonged together, she expected to share their adventures.The fact he was choosing to exclude her was hurtful.
“Fine,” She raised her chin in defiance.“’Tis just as well.Ye’re not the only one with somethin’ important to attend to.”
Actually, that was true.She still had that mission to accomplish for Hew and Carenza.Getting the king’s seal on their marriage document.Traveling to Perth and back would take at least a fortnight, probably more.
“Indeed?”he said with a disbelieving snort.“And what would that be?”
She arched a brow.“I’m not at liberty to say.”
He smirked.“Fair enough.”But after a moment, he cocked a concerned eye at her.“I hope ’tisn’t too dangerous.”
“Oh, ’tisverydangerous,” she taunted.
“Now ye’re tryin’ to worry me.”
“Are ye worried?”
“O’ course I’m worried.”
She smiled in satisfaction.
Until he added, “Without Lady Aillenn on my arm, innkeepers won’t be givin’ me goose-down pallets anymore.”
She gave him a chiding cuff on the shoulder.
He laughed.
It was a beautiful sound.A sound she wanted to hear every day for the rest of her life.Every day, she supposed, after he returned…if he returned.
She sighed.“A fortnight or so?That seems an eternity.Where will we meet again?”
“We seem to have a way o’ findin’ each other.”
That was true.But she didn’t like leaving things to chance.
“What about Mauchline?”she suggested.Hew and Carenza had been wed in Mauchline.“’Tis a quiet village not far from here.”
He nodded.“Good.I know the place.”
His approval of Mauchline was a good sign.Perhaps he wasn’t leaving the area…or her.
Then he gave her a lusty look that erased all her doubt.
“’Twillbe an eternity, my love,” he said, cupping her chin and rubbing his thumb across her cheek.“I’ll be countin’ the hours.”
He leaned forward, giving her a kiss that was somehow both sweet and fiery.A long, lingering kiss of honey and flame.
She was still dizzy with desire when he reluctantly ended the kiss and pressed her away.
“I have to go,” he murmured.
She watched him go.As he walked across the shore, she admired his long stride and the way the wind tugged at his trews, displaying the flex of his muscles with every step.
She fought back the tempting tingle of arousal.The urge to follow him at a run.To collide with him, throw him down on the damp shore, tear off his clothes, and have her way with him again.
She bit her lip.It seemed being a respectable wife might require even more restraint than being a nun.She’d have to work on her impulsive nature.At least in public places.
