Katie snuggled closer to the warmth at her back. As she slowly came out of her slumber, she felt sore between her legs and realized she was naked. Her eyes snapped open. Except for the night in the cottage, she’d never slept without a nightgown before. Confused for a moment, she frowned and turned toward the source of the warmth.
Evan.
Her husband.
He slowly opened his eyes and smiled. She smiled back and felt happy and content for the first time in years. She now had someone to help her, someone to take part in the burdens that she’d carried since her mum’s death.
“Good morning, lass.” Evan’s morning voice was raspy and low and did strange things to her insides.
“Good morning.” Her voice didn’t sound much better.
He reached out and took a strand of her hair and rubbed it between his fingers. “I’d like more than anything to have another romp with ye, but we have much t
o do in order to leave in a few days.”
Katie shifted to prop her head up on her hand. “That soon?”
“Aye. I’ve already hired a land steward, Ian MacDuff and his wife. Before we leave, I’ll oversee the moving of many of yer clansmen from the castle to the cottages we found.”
Katie stiffened. “I thought I would take care of that since they are my people?” For truth, she was a bit put out that Evan would even make these decisions without consulting her first. They were her people. She’d brought them here, and she should be the one to oversee their move.
“Nay.” Evan waved her off. “Ye will be busy packing and speaking with Ian’s wife—if I remember, her name is Fiona. Introduce her to the servants and give her a tour so she kens what’s what.” Evan moved to rise from the bed, but Katie clamped her hand around his arm.
“Wait.”
“What?” He turned toward her, but ’twas obvious his mind was not focused on her. He looked in her direction, but his expression was blank and his thoughts were miles away.
Katie sat up and leaned against the headboard, dragging the blanket with her to cover herself. Even though they’d made love twice the night before, and once in the cottage, she was not comfortable with her nakedness. Seeing as how Evan was ready to jump up, minus his clothes, he apparently did not have that problem.
“I’m not too happy with ye making all these plans and decisions without asking me.” She hoped her words came out forcefully and not whiny, like some insipid lass.
His only response was raised eyebrows.
She straightened her shoulders, her annoyance growing. “Aye. ’Tis something I wanted to discuss with ye before we wed. But ye were in such a great hurry that we never had time.”
Now he looked as though she had grown another head while she sat there. “’Tis nothing to discuss. I am yer laird.”
She counted to ten, attempting to quell her growing irritation. She did not want to start off a marriage with bickering. She calmly said, in a verra soft voice, “That’s it? That is yer response?”
He studied her for a minute, looking as though he was considering her question and a suitable response. He gave her a curt nod. “Aye.”
With that one word, he stood and padded across the room to wash his face. He dipped the linen square into the bowl of water from the night before. “Ye need to make sure we have hot water in the morning.” He dropped the wet cloth and rubbed his face with a dry one. “Although, since we’ll be gone in a few days, it doesnae really matter.”
Katie couldn’t tell if her heart was pounding from looking at his fine male form or from the desire to whack him over the head with her work boot. Again, she counted. This time to twenty. “I dinnae ask for hot water this morning because I wasn’t sure if we would sleep here or in my bedchamber.”
Evan pulled on his trews. “We will always sleep in my bedchamber.” He then continued with his orders. Katie listened, appalled at his arrogance and heavy-handed manner. After a few minutes of him rattling off commands and her just staring at him with her arms crossed, he said, “Will ye remember all this?”
She jumped from the bed, dragging the blanket with her. “What I will be remembering, my laird, is that I married a mon who has no intentions of treating me with respect.”
Evan stopped tucking his shirt into his trews, a genuinely surprised look on his face. “What are ye talking about?”
She huffed. “Ye dinnae even ken, do ye?”
“Ken what?” He placed his hands on his hips and glowered at her. “Woman, if ’tis yer intention to confuse me first thing in the morning, ye have succeeded. Now, I am going downstairs to break my fast and do what needs to be done to make us ready to leave in two days time.” He walked over to her and gave her a perfunctory kiss and a pat on her arse before he left. She stood there, her mouth agape, staring at the closed door.
Perhaps ’twas too late to throw her work boot at the man’s thick head, but she gained some satisfaction in flinging it against the door. Some satisfaction, but not much as it slid to the floor. Instead, she shouted at the closed door, “Ye are an arrogant halfwit.”
Evan had already finished his breakfast and gone from the Great Hall when Katie arrived. Gavin and Alasdair sat side by side, discussing something that held her brother’s interest. She smiled at the lad, who had seemed to come out of his shyness since they’d arrived at MacDuff. In all fairness, a lot of that credit went to Evan and Alasdair.