Page 51 of Fire in his Highland Heart

“I didnae think ye loved me,” Blake said quietly after a while.

Arguen traced a delicate fingertip around his chest. “Why?”

“Because after we first...were taegether, it seemed like ye felt guilty.”

She nodded and nuzzled closer to him. “Aye. An’ perhaps I did. I was only afeard.”

He turned his head to look down at her. “Afeard of what?”

She took a deep breath. “Yer takin’ a risk, havin’ me here. Fallin’ in love wi’ me. I’m accused of bein’ a witch, has that escaped yer mind?”

“It has not,” Blake answered ruefully. “But I dinnae mind. I love ye just the same, an’ I’ll fight for ye.”

“I ken ye will, I just...I’m afeard tae give all o’ meself away. What if they come after me again? They could take me away from ye. From all this. The only freedom an’ happiness I’ve had for years. I ken they’ll put me on trial, but I dinnae doubt that her ladyship would arrange it so I’d be executed anyway.”

“Ye really think that would happen?”

Arguen nodded solemnly. “Aye. I have no doubts. Not that I’m afraid of death, I just...’twould be false. Unnatural. I didnae do anythin’ tae her.”

Blake listened thoughtfully, his thumb brushing the side of her arm. “I ken ‘tis not much comfort, but I’d do everythin’ in my power tae protect ye.”

She looked up at him and kissed the corner of his mouth. “I ken. I dinnae deserve ye,” she said.

“Och, say naethin’ of the sort. Ye are deserving of every happiness in the universe.”

Her eyes nearly welled up with tears at that. No one had ever told her something as kind, gentle, and sincere as that. Such lovely words were so emotional for her.

“’Tis gettin’ on, though. D’ye think ye should be back at the castle?” she asked. She did not mean to seem rude; she simply feared for Blake’s reputation.

“Already keen tae rid yersel’ of me?” he teased.

Arguen buried her face in the pillow in embarrassment. “Nay, I just...I dinnae want people tae suspect ye if they see ye walkin’ from here in the morn, is all.”

Blake heaved a sigh. “Aye, ‘tis true. An’ Mirellain will wonder where her father is, come morning.”

“Aye, but I was thinkin’ it might be James wonderin where ye are.”

Both of them pondered this for a moment, then broke into hearty laughter. It really was characteristic of James to be a nosy tease like that. After a shared bout of laughter, Blake heaved another sigh and rolled out of bed, dressing himself to leave once more.

“This really is a low ceiling,” he said, buttoning his breeches while his neck was craned.

Arguen shrugged from her place on the bed. “I didnae think I’d be sleepin’ wi’ the tall, handsome laird of the castle in this loft.”

Blake crawled across the bed after he was dressed again, and kissed her deeply. Her hands came up to cup his face. “Oh, my love. If I could, I’d give ye a palace of marble and gold, dress ye in the finest silks an’ jewels.”

Arguen smiled lovingly. “I dinnae want gold or jewels, just ye.”

He kissed her again, light and sweet this time. “Did ye ken yer a goddess among women?” he asked cheekily.

She blushed at his laudatory words. “This is what I mean when I say I dinnae deserve ye.”

“Nay, ye deserve everythin’, all things good an’ kind.”

She smiled again and kissed him on the cheek once more. “Go. We cannae stir gossip.”

“Aye, milady,” he said with a flourish and a bow, causing her to giggle even more. After he had climbed down the ladder and Arguen heard the front door shut, she sighed and flopped down on the bed again.

He was such a good man. It was so hard to believe how cold and awkward he’d been when she first arrived. She never imagined sleeping with him, let alone having positive feelings for him.