She lifted her chin and met his gaze unflinchingly. “I should like to know what more will be required of me.”
His eyes narrowed, the white lines around his mouth nearly making her want to take a few steps back. “This will not be a marriage in name only, if that is what you are thinking. I will not be barred from my wife’s bed.”
“Even if I don’t want you there?”
He gave her a long knowing look, and for a moment she feared he would prove her wrong. “Are you so sure of that, Mary?”
His voice was low and husky. Entrancing. Seducing. A temptation impossible to resist. Her heart squeezed. She wasn’t sure at all. Just the way he was looking at her made her stomach knot and skin prickle with heat.
But she couldn’t allow herself to be deluded. “So I shall be expected to breed your children, what else?”
Apparently, he didn’t like her cold, matter-of-fact tone. He took her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him. “Why are you acting like this, damn it?”
Her heart clenched. Because she wasn’t a foolish girl anymore. Because the only way to protect herself was to not have any illusions or unrealistic expectations. She wouldn’t go into this marriage like she had the first—blind and full of silly romantic dreams. This was an alliance born of necessity—a business arrangement—and she would treat it as such. “I am simply trying to be clear on what shall be expected of me. I’ve never been forced into marriage before.”
Clearly, he didn’t appreciate her sarcasm. His hands fisted. “Your duty and fidelity, damn it. Just like in any other marriage.”
Fidelity. How easily his arrow found its mark without even aiming. “And is the same required of you?”
She meant it to come off as sarcastic, but the way his eyes held hers, she feared he saw too much. “Do you wish it to be?”
She covered her embarrassment with a sharp laugh. As if such a thing were even possible. “You forget I’ve seen you at work, so to speak. I’ve also been married before. I know how an alliance between nobles works. I will turn a blind eye to your dalliances, and once I have done my duty in bearing your children, you will do the same. I merely meant, what am I to get in return for doing my duty in bearing your children?”
His mouth hardened, and his eyes glinted with a dangerous spark of steel. “You will have my name, my protection, and preside as chatelaine over any land the king returns to me. One day the child you are carrying will be the Earl of Sutherland.” He leaned closer. She could see the dark shadow of his beard along the hard lines of his jaw and remembered how it had felt rubbing over her skin. “And every time I take you in my bed, you will come. That is what you will get, my lady.” She flinched at his blunt crudity, ignoring the flicker of awareness that surged through her. “But know this—I don’t know what your experience may have been before, but I will never be blind.”
She flushed, not mistaking his meaning. Fidelity went in only one direction. He expected her to be faithful but made no promise in return.
Open eyes, she told herself.No illusions.
She hardened her heart. It was an alliance, nothing more. He’d made that clear. She had to remember it. “You will, of course, seek my son’s wardship and marriage?”
His brow furrowed for a moment, as if he hadn’t thought of it. “Aye.”
As her husband, it was only natural that he would seek control over the young Earl of Atholl. He might have switched kings, but the power and influence he would garner by marrying her had not changed. Indeed, she knew that had been the attraction for Sir John as well.
Sir John. She bit her lip. He would not be pleased. But it could not be helped. She could only hope he would understand.
Mary knew she was trapped. She had no choice. She would steel her heart and hold Sir Kenneth to his word.
“You will protect me and my children?”
He eyed her warily. “Aye.”
“And do nothing that will put us in danger without consulting me?”
His expression shuttered, his face utterly still. For a moment she thought she saw something flash in his eyes, but when his mouth fell in a hard line she realized it must have been anger. “We are at war, Mary. But you have my promise that I will do all in my power to keep you safe.”
“That is not good enough. I need your word that you will not make decisions that will affect us without telling me. I won’t have another marriage like the first.”
His mouth thinned. She could tell he didn’t like being pushed into a corner. Well, too bad. She didn’t either. And that was what he was doing by forcing her to marry him.
“I will do my best,” he agreed.
Their eyes held for one long pause. She sensed there was something more that he wanted to say, but she also sensed that he was telling the truth. What could she do but trust him? She just prayed he was more worthy of that trust than Atholl. Her life and that of her children’s she put in his hands. She nodded. It was enough. “Then I will await your return from London.”
She turned away. He hesitated for a moment as if he would say something, but then moved to the door. He was about to close it behind him when something made her stop him. “Sir Kenneth.”
He looked back over his shoulder. “Aye, my lady?”
