And now, he would add Ainslee’s past to the long list of avenging that he needed to do against his enemy. It mattered not that he was now his brother-in-law. He had done far too much damage to Arran’s clan and his own sister to be allowed to live.
Arran just hoped that Ainslee would agree to the plan to kill her brother. It would be best for her home clan and that of those in McDougal’s path. Too many lives had been lost.
Far too many.
A warm body pressed up against his, and Arran’s eyes flew open, tracking the sudden change. Ainslee was now resting against him, her arm tucked under her head as her leg was grazing his lightly. Arran was acutely aware of every piece of skin her body touched, his blood humming in his veins as he thought about how easy it would be to ease her into his arms and hold her tight throughout the night.
Arran had never slept like this with a woman before, but it felt nice. Had his bed felt empty before Ainslee? He wasn’t so certain, but now that he had a wife, he didn’t want it to be empty again.
There would be a great deal of apologizing in the morning on his part, and he just hoped that Ainslee was a forgiving woman. He had been rash with his words, hurting her feelings, and attempting to drive a wedge between them because of who she was.
She had not treated him any differently, even though he was her brother’s greatest enemy. She had healed him, helped him escape, and all that Arran had done was marry her then cast her aside the moment he found out who she was.
Well he would rectify that. Arran was not sure what would happen when he encountered McDougal again, but that time was fast approaching, which meant his time with Ainslee could be reduced greatly.
He might not come back this time.
Sighing, Arran reached over and tucked his arm around Ainslee, shifting so that he was staring at her sleeping form. She smelled of lavender and something else he could not put his finger on.
At least she did not smell like horse dung any longer. Arran grinned as he thought about the lengths she had gone to hide her appearance. Why had he not seen the length of her lashes against her alabaster skin or the sharpness in her eyes when she had cared for him?
She was lovely. She was his wife and his wife only.
Male satisfaction shot through him, and he tightened his hold. He would work on consummating their marriage before he set out on his quest to exact his revenge so that if he did not return, no one would question that she was not his wife. His ma would protect her as well as his brothers, and while Arran hoped he would come home this time, he would be prepared just in case.
He hadn’t considered his loss the first time around, and it had cost him greatly. Now he would be far less confident.
Closing his eyes once more, Arran forced away the concerns for now. He needed to focus on his wife and the budding marriage before him so that if he did not come back home, she would know that he did not have any ill will toward her because of who she was.
Ainslee deserved better than the way he had treated her, the way he had walked out when she had given him her darkest secret. She was nothing like her brother. She had cared for him though she shouldn’t, brought him back from his injuries so he could see his family again, and lay in his bed as he was doing right now.
All he had done to her was rip her from her life and cause her heartache. It was not his original intention to do so, and Arran wanted nothing more than to take back the words he had said to her earlier. She had not attempted to flee from him. She had married him with very little argument.
And now she lay in his bed, oblivious to the fact that he was lying beside her, and expecting him to protect her.
Arran slipped his fingers into her hair, lightly stroking the strands. How had he not seen her before now? Stripped of her disguise, he could not imagine her being the healer he had first encountered. What if she had revealed herself to him during their time at the McDougal keep?
It was likely that he would have taken her captive and given her to her brother without another word in exchange for his freedom. It was not something he was proud of even considering.
Now he would die before McDougal found Ainslee.
“Och lass, what have ye done tae me?” he whispered into the dark. Here was a McDougal, in his arms, and he only felt a strange sense of peace. There was no animosity toward her, no need to rail against her for who her family was.
She was now his, a Mcaiwn, and he would protect her to his last breath.
12
“Iknew ye weren’t dead. I could feel it in mah bones.”
Ainslee swallowed as she stared at her brother, wishing she had a knife to protect herself with. He seemed taller than she remembered and bigger, too. His hands were large, and Ainslee knew that the moment he wrapped them around her neck, it would be broken, and she would cease to exist.
That was her fate. “Let me go.”
Her brother chuckled, cocking his head to the side. “Let ye go? But dear sister, we are just getting started! Don’t ye want tae see the prize I have for ye?”
“What are ye talking aboot?” Ainslee asked in a quiet voice, the hair on the back of her neck standing at the lethal edge of his voice.
Liam motioned to the guard that was waiting nearby and he stalked off to do the laird’s bidding, making Ainslee even more concerned.
