The Sinner

“That was just how it was,” he said. “I thought nothing I did before we wed should matter. But I didn’t realize how it might seem to ye, being here.”

Glynis was thoughtful for a long moment. Finally, she turned to him and said, “Would ye want to share a house with men I had bedded?”

“I had the impression there was only one man before me.” And if Alex had his way, that man would be weighed down with chains at the bottom of the sea. Speaking very carefully, he asked, “Have there been many?”

This, of all things, brought a smile to her face. She touched his arm, and it amazed him how the slight gesture could soften him. She had him in the palm of her hand. God help him if she ever knew it.

“There was only the one,” she said. “And he was worthless.”

Alex had the sense not to tell Glynis how much this pleased him, but he lifted her hand and pressed it to his lips. “We’ll leave for North Uist tomorrow, and we’ll make ourselves a different kind of home there.”

“For certain,” Glynis said, and gave a short laugh.

“I told my father he must change his household if he wants us to ever come here again.”

“He’ll do that?” she asked.

“I suspect my mother will do it for him.” Alex could almost hear her: I’ll stay just until Fergus’s whores can be replaced with decent clanswomen—preferably toothless, elderly ones. “She’s been wanting to do it for years.”

“I don’t want the women to be turned out with nowhere to go,” Glynis said.

Alex cupped her cheek with his hand. She was such a good woman—as Ilysa said, better than he deserved.

“I’ll ask my mother to send them home to their families or find husbands for them.” If Alex had to figure out how to deal with a wife, every man should.

“What about that woman, Mary?” Glynis asked in a quiet voice.

“I did bed her a few times, but I ended it before I went to the gathering at Shaggy Maclean’s,” he said. “I’m no proud of what I did, for she was married at the time, but I broke no vow.”

“I heard ye with her outside,” Glynis said, her voice still very low.

“I was asking her to leave.” He took her hand and kissed it again. “Glynis, ye are the only one I want. Are ye determined to make me suffer longer, or will ye come to bed with me now?”

Glynis looked at him with her clear gray eyes. “I will.”

Finally, he was taking his wife to bed—a place where he knew his ground.

CHAPTER 40

What are ye doing?” Glynis cried when Alex lifted her off her feet and started carrying her up to the house.

“I’m letting everyone know that I’m dying to ravish my wife,” Alex said, grinning at her.

Glynis felt embarrassed and pleased at the same time by his intention to proclaim to the entire household that she was the one he’d chosen, the woman he wanted. The guests who had stayed overnight cheered as Alex carried her around the hall—overjoyed, no doubt, that they would have a fine story to tell. As Alex carried her toward the stairs amid the shouts, Glynis caught a glimpse of Sorcha sitting between his parents. All three were clapping, and Alex’s parents both looked happy for once.

“Ye can put me down now,” she said when they reached the bedchamber door.

“Hell no,” he said. “I’m no risking the bad luck that lurks in doorways a third time.”

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help laughing when he kicked the door open and carried her through. As soon as he set her on her feet, he swung the door shut and pressed her against it. The laughter died in her throat when she saw the longing in his eyes.

“Ach, I’ve been wanting ye so much,” he said, holding her face in his hands.

Her eyes closed as his mouth met hers. For a long, long time, he just kissed her, not as a step to something else, but as if he wanted to do it forever. His fingers slid into her hair and supported her head as their tongues moved against each other in deep kisses.

Glynis felt adrift and breathless as he kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her hair.

“Cronaim thu,” he said. I missed you.

His hands slid down her shoulders and arms. As they fell into deep kisses again, he held her in a firm grasp with his hands splayed over her ribs and back. Her breasts ached for his touch. Desire swept through her. She reached between them and rubbed her hand over the length of his erect shaft, drawing a deep groan from him and a sigh of her own.

“O shluagh,” he said, calling on the fairies for mercy.

Alex’s mouth grew hungry, feverish, devouring hers as he ground his hips against her, pinning her to the wall. His fingers dug into her hips, and still they could not get close enough. When he lifted her up, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He ran his hands under her gown along the bare skin of her thighs until he cupped her bottom.

Through their clothes she felt his erection against the sensitive spot between her legs. She clung to him, urging him closer, but there was too much fabric between them. It had been days and days since he’d been inside her. She wanted to meld into his heat, to go to the dark depths of passion with him. She rocked against him, begging. Please, please, please.

Tension radiated between them as he tugged at her bottom lip with his teeth in barely controlled violence. But she wanted to feel the full force of his desire for her, unleashed, unshackled, freed of all restraint and caution.