“Gather the men,” David said.
CHAPTER 29
“I know your blood is hot, laird, and so is mine,” Brian said. “But we’ve a better chance of slipping past an ambush if we wait until it’s full dark.”
Though David was usually the one with the cool head, he ground his teeth, impatient to act. The harm to the village, however, was already done.
“You’re right. ’Tis better we arrive a couple hours later than not arrive at all,” David said. “Have the men ready to ride as soon as night falls.”
As he turned to leave the hall, his gaze fell on Robbie. His brother would never again beg him to come along, but David could see the desperate hope in his eyes. The other men would come to view his brother as weak if David continued to coddle him.
“Ye can come,” David told him, “but stay close to me and doexactlyas I say.”
“I will,” Robbie said, eyes shining. “I promise.”
David’s mind was on the attack on the village as he went upstairs. When he opened the bedchamber door, he found Alison dressed for bed in a thin robe with her shining black hair loose about her shoulders.
He had intended to gather his things and immediately return to the hall until he saw her. Before he faced the harshness of the night to come and the horror in the village, he needed to be surrounded by her softness, to breathe in her feminine smell, to lose himself in her sighs, to hear her say his name when he was deep inside her.
She had become his haven in this violent world.
***
When David appeared in the doorway, his face was so shadowed that Alison had to fight against the urge to comfort him.
“I thought ye might be too angry to sleep here tonight,” he said.
“I am still angry.”
She had been too upset to risk a confrontation in front of the household earlier, but she had nothing to gain by refusing to speak to him. Though he had the right to do what he did, she had expected greater consideration from him. He had hurt her badly.
“Having a wife is new to me,” he said. “I did what I thought best. Perhaps I should have let ye have your say before I contracted your daughters to Will and Robbie.”
Perhaps?“Could I have changed your mind?”
“I’m trying to apologize, Alison.”
“But ye would have done it regardless,” she said, folding her arms. Still, his apology meant something. God knew, Blackadder had never apologized once for his abhorrent behavior, and she suspected it was a rarity for David.
“I care for Beatrix and Margaret,” he said. “I would die before I let any harm come to the wee lassies. Ye must know that.”
She did, but his failure to add that he also had feelings for her was salt in her wound. “Protecting my daughters from harm is not the same as caring for their happiness.”
“They must be safe before they can be happy.” He held out his arms. “Come, lass, let’s put this behind us.”
She longed to take the comfort he offered, but she held back.
“I need to know,” she said, “that you’ll consult me before making any other decisions about my daughters.”
“I will,” he said with no hesitation.
It was a small victory, but it was enough to allow her to step into his arms without sacrificing her pride. Her heart was already lost.
***
An hour later, David lay with Alison in his arms, dreading having to leave her.
It was good that he must go. He needed distance to clear his head. When he was in bed with her, he felt as if he was drowning in lust and desire—and he never wanted to come up for air.
