The Condemned Highlander (Highland Intrigue Trilogy 2)

“Do you not want bairns?” Brogan asked, slipping his shirt off.

She spoke her concern. “I do not think I would make a good mother.”

“Why when you have so much to offer a bairn?” he asked, slipping her cloak off her shoulders and taking the pouch from her hand to place on the table.

“What do I have to offer?” she asked, shaking her head, not agreeing with him and trying to keep her eyes off his defined chest that tempted more than her eyes.

He kissed her cheek. “Your hunger for knowledge. Something many lack and is much in need.”

She scrunched her brow confused.

He went to the bed and sat to remove his boots. “You strive to learn and when you have bairns you will share your knowledge to help them grow into fine men and women.”

Annis nipped at her lower lip. “You could give me all lads, then I can teach them how to build and you can teach them to master weapons.”

His heart beat rapidly that she would even suggest they have bairns. It meant she gave thought to the possibility. “I will do my best to see we have many sons.”

She shook her head, realizing what she had said. “This must wait. I cannot be distracted from my quest. Bliss must come first.”

He stood and went to her. “You are as ready for sleep as I am and that is what we will do.”

Relief had her nodding.

“Let me help you out of your tunic,” he said, his hands going to her sides to gather the garment in his hands.

She grabbed his hands, her eyes wide with uncertainty.

“Only your tunic, wife,” he said, reminding her they were wed, and all was proper.

She nodded again and Brogan quickly rid her of her tunic, hanging it on one of the pegs on the wall.

He took her hand to walk to the bed, but she would not budge.

Her eyes turned wide. “If we seal our vows, we seal our marriage forever.”

“I can still release you,” he said, the thought not setting well with him.

She shook her head. “Nay. Vows are vows. They must be honored. They cannot be broken.”

“A thought we will keep in mind,” he said. “Now come to bed and sleep.”

“Brogan,” she said on a whisper.

His hand cupped her cheek and he kissed her gently. “You have my word, though it is most difficult to give, that I will do nothing more than sleep beside you tonight, unless you decide otherwise.”

“I am not ready,” she said firmly and for a third time and wondered if it was an excuse.

He tugged her to follow him to the bed. “We sleep.”

He took her boots off to place them with his by the fire and ushered her into bed, but she backed away.

“I will not sleep by the wall.”

“You want to be able to escape me?” he asked with a chuckle and climbed into bed, rolling over by the wall.

She followed him into bed, clinging to the edge. “I will not be trapped.”

Brogan was about to wrap himself around her and stopped. “You are never to feel trapped with me. I will never hold you against your will.”

Annis turned on her side to face him. “Your word on that.”

“You have my word,” he said, placing a gentle hand at her waist. “A kiss goodnight?”

Did she trust herself? His kisses sparked a passion in her that she feared she might not be able to contain. Yet, surprisingly, lying here close to him was more pleasant than she expected.

She moved closer to him. “One kiss.”

Brogan brought his lips to hers, reminding himself to be gentle and brief, but once their lips touched, passion chased all other thoughts away.

Annis sighed when his lips rested upon hers and gently coaxed her lips to respond, not that she needed much coaxing. The last few days they barely had had time alone and she had missed his kisses and the way they would tempt and tease her. And the way he had made her feel that day in the woods continued to linger in her mind. She might have said she was not ready for this, but it was more that she was not ready for what might come of this.

At the moment, she did not care, all that mattered was their kiss and the pleasure it brought.

She cuddled closer to him, and his arm went around her to hug her against him. He loved the feel of her and though he would prefer her naked, this was at least a prelude to future intimacy. He just needed to keep control of his raging desire for her.

He could have gone on kissing her, coaxing and teasing her into submission, but that was not what he wanted from her. He did not want her surrender… he wanted her to love him freely.