Page 71 of Her Forbidden Highlander Husband

He willingly scrambled up her body to do her bidding and join with her. “Shh,” he said when she expressed her enjoyment a bit too loud. But even as he warned her, he smiled that she was unable to restrain her pleasure.

He had thrust into her only a few times when he felt her grip on him. She bit his shoulder, no doubt in an effort to keep from shouting. The pain pushed Liam to his finish quicker than he planned.

Panting side by side in the darkness, he smiled and kissed her hair. “That was over faster than I would have liked, but it seems I got the job done,” he said.

She laughed and propped herself up to look down on him. “That you did.”

“Might I ask what it was that stirred you so? Know I’m not complaining, but perhaps I may use it to my advantage at another time.”

She laughed quietly but shrugged and looked away. “Sometimes when I see you with Gwennie it makes me want to bear you a child, and there’s only one way for that to happen. I guess it’s some kind of instinct.”

He sat up and stared at her. “You want to have my child?”

She laughed. “Liam, surely you know how they come about.”

“Yes. Of course, I thought it might happen. But to think you wanted it to happen. Or that you wanted a child from… me.”

“Who would I have a child with if not for you? My husband. I would never—”

“I know. That’s not what I meant. It’s just…” He shook his head, too tired to find the words needed to explain it to her. But she was a bright lass, his wife.

She tilted her head as her brows came together. “Do you think a child of yours would be less for some reason?”

“Nay. Not some reason. For a very specific reason. I don’t know my blood.”

“Neither does Gwennie. Do you think badly of her?”

“No!” he nearly shouted and then quieted his voice. “No.” He was the one who was put out now. “Gwennie is perfect.”

“As will any child be from our union.” She kissed him and brushed his hair back in a comforting gesture. “Being a good person is less about who you came from and more about who loves you.”

His eyes went wide with surprise. Was she saying…? Could she…?

He might have pushed for an answer, but she settled up against him and let out a soft sigh before closing her eyes.

Did she think he was a good person?

He’d tried very hard to make up for his lacking. To atone for whatever he’d done that made his family cast him out in such a way that he’d sooner been eaten by wolves than make his way back to his people.

He glanced over at Gwennie, sleeping peacefully on the floor, and imagined another child. With white-blond hair and a mischievous smile. His own blood. A child, like him, who wouldn’t know his or her heritage but wouldn’t know shame, only love.

He smiled and thought of how happy they would all be. He knew the danger of such things now. How the life he created in his mind might be nothing like the one that came to be. And after speaking with Bryce, he knew he wasn’t the only one guilty of such things.

Creating a person down to their likes and dislikes was a dangerous thing. One sure to lead to disappointment. Instead, he focused on the person who was with him now. The people he was getting to know more each day.

Ev had fallen asleep quickly now that she’d been sated, and he joined her.

As soon as Gwennie was awake and dressed the next morning, Liam scooped her up to carry her down the cliffs. He made sure his daughter clung tight to his neck so he had a hand left to assist Ev.

“I don’t know that I need your help to get down, but I may call on you to get me back to the top,” she said while looking up from where they’d come.

Liam carried Gwennie close to the water and pointed at the seals lying about on the rocks.

“Do you see them?”

“Where?”

“They look like rocks, but softer.” Liam rolled his eyes. That wasn’t a helpful description for a child. “We’ll get closer.”