Rowan's Lady (41 page)

Were she not injured, he would have climbed into
the bed with her to begin a kiss that would last for days. His groin as well as
his heart protested when he broke away.

He rested his forehead against hers as he did his
best to steady his labored breathing. He caressed her cheek with the backs of
his fingers. His lips felt hot and burned for more.

“Yer kisses are corruptible!” she breathed out.
Her entire body seemed to be one big trembling puddle of mush. It was
everything she had ever dreamed it would be but decidedly different. It was
real.
Not something her heart or her creative imagination had designed. It was
sweet, tender and gentle, yet filled with a level of passion she did not think
possible. She was too shocked with her own response to his kiss to tell him how
it made her feel.

He pulled away to get a better look at her. Her
skin was a brilliant shade of red. Those green eyes sparkled in the
candlelight. She looked as amazed as she did surprised.

“Corruptible?” he asked, chuckling at her
description. “I’ve kissed many a lass in my day, and no’ one of them ever
described me kisses as
corruptible
.”

She remained quiet, trying to will away the
lustful feelings his kiss had brought surging through her body. His kisses were
not going to be easy to resist. In the back of her mind, she saw Minnie shaking
her head and clucking her tongue, disgusted at how her former charge had just
behaved. Not at all ladylike.

“Did ye no’ enjoy the kiss, lass?” he asked in a
deep, low, seductive tone.

“That be the problem!” She swallowed hard and took
a deep breath. “Ye canna marry me, Rowan. I’d be no good fer ye.”

Puzzled, he raised a brow. “No good fer me? I do
no’ understand.” No matter what reasons she might come up with, he’d find a way
to refute them all. He
was
going to marry her.

Her eyes began to water as she thought about how
the kiss had made her feel. Alive, excited, amazed, lustful; all the things a
good, decent lady was
not
supposed to feel. Throwing all caution to the
wind, she knew she must be honest with him. “Ye make me feel things a lady isna
supposed to feel, Rowan! I’m a wanton! A harlot! Ye need a good, decent woman
who’ll not become brazen and excited at yer touch! A woman who can keep her
wits about her and no’ one who wishes fer more of yer kisses!”

He had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing. He
had no goodly idea where she got hold of the notion that he’d not want her to
be affected by his kiss or his touch. The woman was the furthest thing from a
harlot that one would get. She was damned near a nun!

“Ye’ll have to explain to me, lass, how ye came to
believe I’d no’ want ye to enjoy me kisses.” He hid his mirth well.

She cleared her throat and wiped away a tear. She
could not look him straight on for fear he’d see how badly she wanted another
kiss from him. She damned her betraying body to the devil, took a deep breath
and tried to explain it as best she could.

“Though I’ve no’ ever experienced fer meself what
goes on between a man and a woman, I ken how its done. I fear I’ll no’ be able
to do me duty to ye when ye kiss me like that.”

“Do yer duty?” He was thoroughly intrigued.

“Aye, me duty. Me maid, Minnie, she came to take
care of me after me mum died. She explained it all to me when I married
Carlich, ye ken. A good wife, she lies still and allows her husband to do what
he must or what he wants so that she can get with child. She must allow him to
come to her once a week, as is his right. A decent wife, a true lady, she finds
no enjoyment in the act. Only harlots, whores and wantons do! And I fear I’m
one of them, fer I truly
did
enjoy yer kiss! Do ye no’ see? I canna be a
good, decent wife to ye if I’m all,” she fought hard to find the correct word
to describe how he made her feel. “Excited! Lustful! Sinful!”

He almost bit his tongue in half to keep from
laughing at her innocence and misguided notions. He rubbed a hand over his
forehead, more to hide the amusement he found in her statement than to relieve
an achy head.

“I fear yer Ninny--”

“Minnie,” she corrected him.

“Yer
Minnie
was wrong,” he told her.

She finally raised her head to look at him.
“Wrong?”

“Aye,” he said with a nod. “Was yer Minnie ever
married? Did she have any experience with men?”

“Aye! She was married fer a time when she was
young. The poor thing, her husband died only after a year or so of bein’
married. He’d left their cottage one morn, to go huntin’ and he never returned.
She was certain he was set upon and killed by reivers. Minnie searched and
searched fer him, fer weeks, but could no’ find him. She thought mayhap wolves
got him or the reivers took his body away.”

Rowan could feel the sadness Arline felt for her
maid, Minnie. He trod upon the subject with great care and thoughtfulness. “And
’twas Minnie who said good lasses are no’ supposed to like kisses or joinin’
with their husbands?”

Arline sniffed and nodded. “So, ye see, ye canna
marry me. Ye need a good woman, Rowan. One who can lay still and no’ act like a
wanton woman whenever ye touch her. Minnie would be horrified if she knew I was
like this! All those years we spent together, with her teachin’ me how to be a
proper lady are but a waste. I’m sorry, Rowan.”

He shook his head, smiled and moved to sit on the
edge of the bed. He took her hands in his and tried to be as tactful and
thoughtful as he could be. “Arline, no’
all
men want their wives to just
do their duty.
” He took her chin and lifted her head gently so that he
could look into her eyes. “I fear I would be terribly wounded and hurt if I
kissed ye and ye did
no’
enjoy it. A wife
should
find pleasure
with her husband, with his kisses and
all
they do together.” He wouldn’t
share with her his opinions on Minnie’s missing husband. The man probably left
because she’d been a cold and unloving wife.

Disbelief and surprise filled her bright green
eyes. “But, Minnie said,”

He stopped her with another soft, tender kiss. “I
do no’ care what Minnie told ye. I do no’ ever want ye to think ye canna say or
do whatever ye wish, when it comes to things of a more intimate nature.”

“So it’s a harlot ye want fer a wife?” she asked.

“Nay,” he said, kissing her again. “I want an
honest and forthright wife. One who’s no’ afraid to say what is on her mind.”

If she told him everything that was
on her mind
he
would
think her a harlot! She supposed being silently honest would
cause no harm, that is, if he truly did want to marry her. He hadn’t actually
asked her yet, and she was afraid to mention it.

“Ye must think me a cad, to be kissin’ ye while
yer abed, wounded, and no’ fully recovered.”

Truly, he could kiss her any time the mood struck
him as far as she was concerned. His kisses did in fact make her feel better.
Mayhap if he continued on with them, she’d be able to climb mountains by
morning time. “Nay,” she murmured. “I do no’ think ill of ye.”

“I should leave ye to rest,” he said as he left
the bed and stood to his full height.

“Please, do no’ go just yet,” she asked him,
hoping she did not sound as needy as she felt.

He nodded and took his place in the chair. That
was much too far away for her liking, but she kept the thought inside, along
with a hundred other questions she wanted desperately to ask.

Rowan studied her for a time. Even in her current
state, with her mussed hair, the large bandage on her shoulder, and pale skin,
he found her breathtakingly beautiful. She’d make a very fine wife, a good
companion, and a wonderful mother, not just to Lily, but to all the children he
hoped they’d be blessed with.

He wanted to make her his wife, and soon. There
were things that must be done in order for that to happen. He wondered how much
time she’d need to heal before she’d be healthy enough for a wedding.

“We should post the banns,” he said happily.

“Banns?” she asked. He hadn’t officially asked her
if she would in fact wish to be his wife.

“Aye,” he said. “I want to marry ye proper. Post
the banns, have a grand weddin’, a feast, all of it!” He crossed a leg over one
knee and began to think out loud. “I need first to let the council ken that
ye’ve agreed. Then I must have Mrs. Fitz prepare a grand menu for the weddin’
feast. And ye’ll need a dress. I’ll need to invite the MacDougalls, the
McDunnahs, the McKees--”

Arline cleared her throat to gain his attention.
When she had it, she lifted her chin and looked him directly in the eye. “I’ve
no’ agreed.”

She watched as the color drained from his face.

“Because ye haven’t asked me! Ye only said
ye’d
planned
to ask. But ye haven’t.”

His color slowly returned as he ran over all they
had said to one another. She was correct. He hadn’t asked. Hadn’t shared with
her what was in his heart.

He rose from his chair and knelt beside the bed
and took her hands in his. “Arline, will ye do me the honor of becomin’ me
wife?”

She scrunched her face and looked up at the
ceiling as if she were considering the question. After a moment or two, she
looked at him and smiled. “Aye, I will,” she said softly. “On one condition.”

His brows turned inward. “Condition?”

“Aye,” she said. “If there is to be a marriage
contract, there’ll be nothin’ in it about annulments!”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Aye, I can
agree to that, as long as ye agree ye’ll never look at kissin’ me or joinin’
with me as yer duty.”

“Agreed,” she said with a smile. “We should shake
on it,” she said as she offered her hand.

That seductive smile of his returned. He took her
face in both hands, caressed her cheeks with his thumbs and sighed. “Let’s say
we seal it with a kiss instead?”

Arline rubbed her cheek against his palm and
closed her eyes. Aye, she may have dreamt of this moment, may even have prayed
for it. But now that it was here, really truly happening, her heart seemed to
swell and threatened to burst from her chest.

Someone wanted to marry her. Not just
any
someone. Rowan Graham, decidedly the most beautiful man she had ever known,
wanted to marry
her.
And apparently, he enjoyed her kisses!

Rowan and Arline spent the better part of the next
hour making plans for their wedding. And in between, they shared kisses that
became increasingly more passionate.

“Yer goin’ to be the death of me, lass,” he
scratched out after one particularly intense kiss. His groin ached and screamed
for attention. He’d have to bath in the loch before the night was over.

“I vex ye?” she asked in a worried tone.

“Nay! I mean to say that I canna wait fer ye to be
me wife.” He hoped he would not have to explain to her the physical affect she
had on his person.

“Oh,” she said quietly.

The way her lips formed when she spoke made his
eye twitch. It was downright seductive, but she was entirely unaware.

“Do ye think we could post the banns fer three
weeks?” he asked, trying to take his mind off the kisses they’d been sharing.

“Three weeks?” She sounded dismayed. “Nay! I canna
plan a weddin’ in just three weeks!” She wanted to be fully and completely
recovered from her injury so that she could enjoy every moment of their wedding
night.

Rowan thought on it for a time. He did not want to
wait until morning, let alone any longer than necessary. A memory popped up and
he decided to use it to his advantage. “What if yer da has learned of the
annulment? He may try to marry ye off again. And what if he marries ye by proxy
a second time?”

She turned six different shades of white and gray
in a matter of moments. Clearly, the thought of her father arranging another
marriage or worse yet, marrying her without her consent via proxy, made her
ill. “Nay,” she sputtered. “I canna do that again!” Who knew who her father
might choose this time. He’d marry her to the devil himself if he thought it
would increase his purses.

No matter what happened she would marry Rowan in
three weeks. She’d marry him this night if she thought he’d agree to it.

“Three weeks shall work,” she told him
determinedly as she tossed the blankets away. “Help me to me feet!” She’d walk
through fire if she had to.

Rowan laughed at her determination. He replaced
the blankets and urged her to lie back. “Ye will no’ have to do a thing,
Arline. Ye are nowhere near fully recovered. I’ll no have ye takin’ the risk of
getting ill or undoing all of Ora’s fine work. Ye shall stay abed and let
me
do this.”

He held up his hand when she started to protest.
“Nay! I promise, I’ll no make a decision without ye, but I’ll no allow ye to do
anythin’. Please, lass, promise me ye’ll stay abed and allow me to do this.
I’ll ask Selina to help if it will make ye feel better.”

She breathed a sigh of relief when he offered to
enlist Selina’s help. Selina was a sweet young woman and very astute. “Aye, if
ye promise ye’ll let me help make the decisions and take Selina’s help, then
aye, I’ll agree to stay abed.”

“Good,” he said. “Now, ’tis gettin’ late. Ora
should be here soon to tend to ye. I must leave ye now, to go tell the council
of our plans.”

Arline agreed, though the thought of him leaving
left her feeling lonely. “Ye’ll return soon?” she asked, stifling a yawn.

Rowan stood, bent over and gave her a chaste kiss
on her forehead. “I do so promise. I also promise to shave me beard and take a
much needed bath.”

Arline rather liked the beard. It gave him an even
more seductive and mysterious air. It was soft, too, and she liked the way it
tickled when he touched his cheek to hers. “Ye needn’t hurry to shave it,
Rowan.”