The Silent Highlander (Highland Intrigue Trilogy 1)

With a glance around the room, she wondered what to take with her. Surely, Odran’s clan had a healer and would not need what was here. Besides, the healing plants and such belonged to the new healer now.

Elysia set about gathering her personal things, the few there were of them, and she saw to carefully packing her stitching needles and pieces of stitching she was working on. She folded a worn blanket she had repaired numerous times, but held countless memories, to take. Her mum would wear it like a shawl on cold days and wrap her or her sisters in it when one of them wasn’t feeling well. There were times she thought she caught the scent of her on the blanket and the tears that had been choking her since yesterday finally let loose.

She hugged the blanket to her chest and let her tears fall, hoping the hurt and pain washed away with them.

The door opened. It could only be one person who would enter without a tap to the door and she turned. The concern in her husband’s eyes seeing her crying made it easier for her to go to him, though she didn’t get to take a step. He hurried to her, his strong arms going around her and pulling her tight against him.

Odran wanted to lash out at whoever made his wife cry, but he surmised it just might be him that had caused her tears. He was taking her away from all she knew and suddenly, without a choice. It had to hurt her and he hated that he had once again caused her pain.

Her tears subsided and she felt a fool for letting her husband see her that way. She looked up at him and at that moment she saw gentle, loving Saber in his eyes. The sense of being home in his arms overwhelmed her and her body lost its tense worry and relaxed against him.

“I’m sorry for the tears,” she said.

Odran wiped at her wet cheek with his thumb. “Never be sorry for shedding tears in front of me. I will always be here to hold you when you do and apologize for whatever I did that may have caused you to cry.” He turned a playful scowl on her. “Or to beat senseless whoever caused you to cry.”

She smiled softly. “You cannot beat memories.”

He stroked away the tears on her other cheek. “No, but I can see that we make good memories for you to enjoy.”

“That would be nice,” she said, memories stirring of how remarkable his kisses had been, had her eyes settling on his lips.

He saw in her eyes and how she plucked at her bottom lip with her teeth that she wanted to kiss him, and he didn’t hesitate. He took a chance and lowered his mouth to hers. Passion exploded as soon as their lips touched. Her arms reached up to wrap around his neck and with one arm around her waist he hoisted her off her feet, allowing her arms to slip around his neck.

The kiss turned demanding like a hunger that could not be appeased. It had been too long, far too long, and Odran had an endless thirst for her.

His free hand went to her backside, hoisting her farther up and her legs instinctively, or out of habit, wrapped around him. He walked to the bed, waiting for her to stop him, praying she wouldn’t.

He pulled his lips off hers, giving them both time to breathe and nipped at her neck. “I’ve missed kissing you, touching you, being inside you.”

She shuddered against him, having missed the same, having ached endlessly for him. His name fell longingly from her lips. “Saber.”

Odran stopped at the edge of the bed and brought his face close to hers. “Odran,” he reminded, wanting his wife to acknowledge him, make love with him, and understand that Saber was no more.”

Elysia blinked rapidly several times as if forcing herself to wake from a dream. And no longer seeing the gentle Saber in his eyes, she stiffened in his arms, her slim arms going limp around his neck.

He lowered her feet to the ground. “Make haste in accepting Odran, wife, for he is your husband and always has been. Don’t deny what we have. What we share. What we will always share. Drink that brew, since we both know that it won’t be long before we make love, before we can’t resist, can’t deny what we feel.”

He stepped away from her. “Now tell me what Bram had to say when he rudely stopped and spoke with you.”

Chapter 16

Elysia had been busy the last two days as had her husband, though if truth be told, she believed they had purposely avoided each other. The incident in the cottage had given her much pause to think and the one thing that disturbed her more than anything was that he had not told her of his true identity. It made her wonder if there were other things he hadn’t told her, things he purposely kept from her.