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His possession of her had done that. And she’d accepted it all.

“Tell me how you came back here,” Elizabeth said. “Is that mysterious League finally helping you?”

He smiled. “Aye, we do have the aid of the League, but returning to Alderley was all me—with some help from my men and your healer friend, Rachel.”

“Rachel?”

“When Philip and I left here, we met up with Ogden and Parker. They took me to your army, where I was impressed with the skill of your captain of the guard.”

“Sir Jasper?” she cried softly. “They are all well?”

“Aye, and they live to serve you. They are training hard, even as we speak, with assistance from the Bladesmen.”

Her smile faltered. “Training for what?”

“Training in case they are needed. No attack is planned, but we must be prepared, sweetling.” That was the truth—for now. “Bannaster would not be foolish enough to think he had frightened me away. He had to know I’d try to return.”

She pressed a kiss to his chest, and cuddled against his shoulder. “There were so many soldiers on guard today. They searched everyone who came in.”

“Philip thought the ultimate disguise would be as a woman with child.”

She gaped at him, and then bit her lip, probably to keep from laughing.

“Oh, I knew it wouldn’t work,” he said. “Even pregnancy could not explain my size. So we decided I had to come inside a shipment regularly expected.”

“The soldiers inspected everything that came through the gatehouse! I sat there in the inner ward this afternoon, watching, as if⁠—”

She paused, and his heart beat faster inside, knowing that she cared about him.

“As if I would finally see them capture you,” she continued in a whisper. “I found myself praying that you would give up trying to help me, that you’d protect yourself rather than come back here.”

As she turned her head away, he saw her face in profile, knew that she was still troubled. And who could blame her? They were not free to marry yet—and he sensed some deep part of her still resisted the true dependency of such a relationship.

“As if I would leave you to him,” John scoffed, trying to keep her mood light. “So I hid in a shipment of straw for the stables.”

“And they didn’t search the cart?”

“Of course they did, but this is where we used Rachel’s help. She took us to the village blacksmith, who laid boards across me to create a false bottom in the cart.”

The admiration in her eyes warmed him. He would be content to make her happy for the rest of his life. Such a notion startled him, and he almost lost his thoughts. Content to stay here in Alderley, one home, seeing the same faces every day?

“A false bottom?” she prodded, twirling his ring about her finger.

Her thigh slid up his.

“Sweetling, the more you move, the less I’m able to remember how to talk.”

She rolled away, looking guilty. “Forgive me.”

He pulled her back. “So where was I? Ah, yes, the false bottom. It was very narrow under there and hard to breathe. I lay flat on my back, the floor literally resting on my chest. The journey to the castle seemed to be the longest of my life—not to mention the bumpiest. My back must surely be a mass of bruises.”

She lifted herself and pushed him. “Roll over and let me see what you suffered in pursuit of my castle and me.”

He arched a brow. “I already have a castle. Think not that there’s any reason but you I suffer such indignities.”

She stared at him for a moment too long, her expression suddenly serious. Did she truly still harbor doubts about his motivations? As if she realized what she revealed, she lightened the moment by rolling her eyes. With a push, she had him on his stomach, where he propped his head on his crossed arms. She swept the sheet away and he was naked. He felt the lightest touch of her fingers across his shoulder blades. He shivered.

“Ah, I see the bruises,” she murmured.