Stellan steadied her as they mounted the stairs, eased her to sitting on their bed, and knelt to remove her slippers. Instead of settling her back against the pillows, he stroked one of her feet, pressing and rubbing from her toes to her ankle, then moved to the other foot and back again until Mariota moaned from the pleasure of it. “Better?” He stood and helped her lean back into the pillows.
“Ye canna tell? ’Tis no’ quite as good as... ye ken what… but aye, ’tis near as good.”
He settled beside her on the edge of the bed. “Do ye want… what… before ye sleep?”
She gave him a grin for echoing her avoidance of a word for their lovemaking, then yawned. “Perhaps later,” she told him and reached for his hand. “I love ye, Stellan Sutherland.”
“I ken it. I love ye more than life, Mariota Sutherland. I still canna believe how lucky I am to be wedded to ye. Ye are everything I hoped for in a wife, a partner, and a lover. And soon, we will have our first bairn. I dinna ken how I could love ye more than I already do.”
“As ye are life and joy to me, husband. Ye risked everything for me.”
“And ye gave up everything for me. I’m glad I fought to win ye, fought to save yer life and mine from Alber, and fought to convince ye to upend yer life and yer clan’s, and come live with me. Every struggle, every setback, every threat, and every drop of blood shed has been worthwhile.”
She squeezed his hand. “But with ye, I have gained everything, too. I’m grateful to ye, Stellan. And grateful to whatever stroke of fate led me to ye in that forest.”
“So am I, love. More than I can ever say.” He bent and dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Now, rest well.”
He left her in peace, but once he was gone, she realized the urge to sleep had left her. She heaved herself to sitting, slipped off the bed and padded to the window seat. Spring had come again after a long, cold winter. Midday sunlight glinted everywhere on wet leaves. Seeing the bright green of new leaves pushing out on the trees made her happy, as did the new shoots in the castle’s garden. Cook had forbidden her from getting down on hands and knees to work the soil until after the bairn came and she was less prone to losing her balance, but she was eager to get her hands dirty planting and weeding and enjoying the warm sunshine.
She patted her belly and felt the bairn within it kick. “Soon, wee one, soon. I’ll teach ye so many things. So will yer da, who is a wise man and a great warrior. Be ye lad or lass, ye will have much to do and much to learn. Ye dinna ken it now, but a grand adventure awaits ye.”
