He nearly ran into his father as he started up the stairs to the tower house. “Did you forget something, son?”
Eoin shook his head. “Have you seen Margaret?”
“She went to the stables. I think she said she was going to go on a ride.”
His chest stabbed with a hard prick of guilt. Damn it, he really must have hurt her. He remembered riding away had been her first impulse when she’d been hurt by Comyn’s sister all those years ago.
He found her in Dubh’s stall with one of the stable lads, securing the saddle around the horse.
She jumped when she heard him come up behind her. “Eoin! I thought you were... you startled me.” He thought he glimpsed a twinge of fear in her expression before it turned to concern. “Is something wrong?”
“Aye.” He told the lad to fetch the horse a carrot and give them a few minutes of privacy. As soon as the boy was gone, he startled her again by drawing her into his arms. “I forgot to tell you something.”
She blinked up at him, obviously confused by his odd behavior. The light through the open window cast soft shadows across her delicate features. Her skin was so smooth and pale it almost looked translucent. “Yes?”
“You didn’t ask where I was going.”
Her gaze held his for a long heartbeat. “I thought it was a secret.”
“It is. But I trust you.”
Her eyes widened. “You do?”
He was ashamed of how much surprise there was in her voice. “Aye. I want it to be different this time.” He wanted to make her a part of his life—all of his life.
“So do I,” she said, the surprise turning soft with happiness.
He took a deep breath; it wasn’t easy sharing things he was used to keeping to himself. “John of Lorn is making trouble again. There are rumors that his men are in the area, trying to scavenge up some coin. We have reason to think they’ll target his former lands in Appin next. We’re going to set a trap for them and see if we can learn what they have planned.”
She didn’t need to know the details, the gist was enough. More than enough. Though he was not technically breaking his promise to Bruce—he hadn’t told her about the Highland Guard—he knew his cousin wouldn’t approve of him telling her anything about his activities.
But Eoin intended to have a serious talk with Bruce the next time he saw him. Either he let him out of his promise or Eoin was going to leave the Highland Guard. The secret of his role in Bruce’s army was too big to keep from her. She might not need to know all the operational details, but she needed to know what he was involved in.
Margaret had been right: he owed her a duty as much as he owed his cousin. Eoin hadn’t made his wife a priority before, but that was going to change.
He made sure to impart the seriousness of what he was telling her. “No one not involved in the mission knows this but you, Margaret.” He hadn’t even told his father as much as he’d told her. “That’s the way we like to keep it.” The less people who knew, the less chance there was for something to go wrong.
She bit her lip, concern clouding her features. “Will it be very dangerous?”
“It’s nothing I haven’t done a hundred times before. I won’t lie to you, there is always an element of danger, but it’s greatly reduced by having the element of surprise.” He smiled. “It’s better to be the pirate, remember?”
The jest earned him a smile. “I thought you called it Vikings and Highlanders. Which one is the pirate?”
He grinned back at her. “Both.”
She laughed, and he pressed a soft kiss on her lips. A soft kiss that nearly turned into something more, when her hands wrapped around his neck and her breasts melted into his chest. He went hard at the contact, his cock instinctively seeking the sweet juncture between her legs. He cupped her bottom, lifting her against him, as his tongue stroked deeper and deeper into the warm cavern of her mouth. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted to be inside her. He wanted to feel her legs wrapped around his waist as he drove in and out.
He was a few grinds of her hips away from tossing her down on the pile of hay behind her. But Campbell was waiting for him.
He drew back—with some effort. “I have to go.”
She nodded a bit dazedly, her features still bearing the stamp of arousal. Her eyes were heavy, her pupils dark, her lips cherry red and swollen, her breath uneven... Christ, she was going to kill him.
He started to go, but she called him back. “Eoin.”
He looked back over his shoulder.
“Thank you.”
