“Aye, for you, Lisette, anything.I thought you would understand after how she treated you so unkindly that her display of affection was only a ruse tae distress you—and it worked, damn her.She’s not the woman I knew years ago…though mayhap she is and I just didna see it then—och, men are a foolhardy lot and I’m one of them!”
Lisette blinked at Conall’s exasperation with himself and then laughed, not out of humor but that he had just endeared himself to her so completely.
“Kiss me, husband…and help me to forget that it was Lorna’s lips you last tasted—oh!”
Conall had crushed her against him in such a fierce hug that Lisette felt she couldn’t breathe, but then he released her enough so she could look up at him.
His eyes staring into hers.
Her eyes staring into his.
Such emotion on his face that she felt her heartbeat race even as he lowered his head to kiss her for the longest moment…the most wondrous moment, until she was sighing against his mouth, her hands cradling his face.
A face roughened with stubble that nonetheless thrilled her at the wanton thought of his cheek brushing against her breasts while he savored first one hardened nipple and then the other—
“I think it’s well past time we retire tae our bedchamber, aye, lass?”
Lass!She could hear him call her that a hundred times, a thousand times with a husky burr that sounded more a sweet endearment, Lisette nodding her head.
Her face flushed.Her hands trembling as he rose and lifted her up easily beside him, and then picked up the cloak draped over the bench to wrap it around her shoulders.
His arm winding around her waist to guide her from the great hall cast in a flickering glow from torches set high upon the stone pillars soaring to the ceiling.
Yet if that sight seemed enchanting, Conall pausing to kiss her a half dozen times before they stepped outside into the cool air, the sky filled with twinkling stars was truly a wonder to behold.
The great hall hadn’t been constructed as part of the keep, but a separate building that Lisette was grateful for so they would have more time to enjoy the night.
“Are you warm enough?”Conall murmured against her hair, stopping to draw her in front of him and embrace her as he kissed her forehead, her temple, and the warmth of her cheek.“You must be, Lisette, I can feel you blushing.”
Shewasblushing, so enthralled by his kisses, the stirring sound of his voice, and the strength of his arms around her that she couldn’t speak for the emotion swelling within her heart.
The glittering stars across the vast expanse of sky, the distant sound of waves crashing, the cool night breeze lifting her hair, the woodsy masculine scent of Conall as he held her close, his eyes appearing black in the glow of torches sputtering around the bailey…all of it she would remember as long as she lived.
Her heart racing and with all the love she possessed, she stood slightly on tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his lips, whispering against them, “Je t’aime,Conall…aujourd’hui, demain, et pour toujours.”
He kissed her back, though she sensed confusion in him that made him lift his head to look at her as if he hadn’t understood what she said.He was so handsome, so dear…and she laughed softly, her cheeks firing anew.
“I love you, Conall…today, tomorrow, and for always.”
His breath seemed to catch as if he couldn’t believe what she had just said, his expression boyish in its wonder.
“I heard you say some of those words last night…but I thought I’d dreamed it.Say them again, Lisette—”
“Je t’aime,” she broke in softly, reaching up again to caress his face.“I love you.”
“Je…t’aime…” he repeated slowly as if accustoming himself to the cadence of her language, his tender smile making her heart feel full to breaking.“I love you…”
Conall looked so vulnerable at that moment, so unlike the hardened warrior of only hours ago that Lisette swore to herself she would never again doubt him.
She would never again allow fear to darken their life together.She felt so ashamed still, but as if sensing her thoughts, he swept her up into his arms and whirled with her in the middle of the bailey until her head spun.
He threw back his head and whooped, and she did, too, some of the guards on duty rushing forward to see if anything was amiss—only for Conall to stop and smile broadly at them.
“My wife loves me!”
“Laird?”queried one man, casting a look at the guard beside him, and then he smiled, too, chuckling.“Aye, a bountiful marriage tae you both and bairns aplenty!”
“Bairns aplenty…” Conall echoed, hugging Lisette closer as he strode with her toward the keep.“Bairns aplenty, wife, did you hear the man?I’d say we’ve been wasting time gazing at the stars, aye?”
