Jamie shook her head. She stared down at her hands while he stared at her frown.
'I asked you a question,' he reminded her.
She shook her head. Alec held his patience. 'A wife must always obey her husband's commands,' he instructed.
'Is this another one of your Highland commandments?'
'It is,' he answered with a grin.
'Why is it the rest of the world only needs to obey ten commandments to get to heaven, but you Scots have need for so many extra ones? Is it because you're all such sinners, do you suppose?'
'When you get your grit back, it's with a vengeance, isn't it?' he said.
'Grit?'
'Never mind.'
He was smiling at her, indicating how pleased he was. She decided he was daft.
'I'd like to be on my way now, Alec.'
'Not until you explain why you were so frightened.'
'Worried, Alec. I was worried.'
'All right, worried, then,' Alec agreed, letting her have her way.
'Do you want the truth?' she asked.
'The truth.'
'When you were fighting… well, there was this moment when I thought you were looking right at me, and I did think to myself that I must never make you angry, for I couldn't defend myself against your superior strength.'
Alec had to lean forward to catch all of her explanation. She sounded so forlorn. He tried not to laugh. 'It's going to be difficult for me, Alec,' she continued. 'I know this will probably surprise you, but I think there will be times when I irritate you.'
'It doesn't surprise me at all.'
'Why not?' she asked, looking disgruntled.
'You're irritating me now.'
'Oh.'
'Jamie, I'll never hurt you.'
She stared into his eyes for a long moment. 'Even when your temper gets the better of you? The Scots all have fierce tempers, Alec. Surely you'll admit to that.'
'I'll never lose my temper with you. I give you my word.'
'But if you do?' she asked.
'I still won't hurt you.'
She finally believed him. Jamie quit trying to pull her hands away from his grasp. 'I've heard the Scots all beat their wives.'
'I've heard the same about the English.'
'Some do, others don't.'
'I don't.'
She nodded. 'You don't?'
Alec shook his head. He was convinced she was feeling safe with him. 'When we first met, I could see the apprehension in your eyes. While I believe it's good for a wife to be fearful of her husband, this unreasonable fear I saw-'
'Pray forgive my rudeness for interrupting you, but I simply must tell you it isn't at all good for a wife to be afraid of her husband. I was worried, not afraid, of course, but most women would be afraid of you. I'm made of stronger character, however.'
'Why?'
'Why what?' Jamie asked, confused by the way he was grinning at her and the way her heart was reacting to his devilish smile.
'Why would most women be afraid of me?'
She had to turn her gaze away from his handsome eyes before she could give him a proper answer. 'Because you happen to be a very… large man. 'Tis the truth you're the biggest warrior I've ever seen.'
'Have you seen others?' he asked, hiding his exasperation.
She frowned over his question, then shook her head. 'Actually, no, I haven't.'
'So it's my size that made you… worried.'
'You're also as strong as a legion of soldiers put together, Alec, and you just killed four men,' she added. 'Surely you haven't forgotten that fact.'
'Only one.'
'Only one what?' she asked, temporarily sidetracked by the sparkle in his eyes.
She had the dark suspicion he wanted to laugh at her.
'I only killed one man,' he explained. 'The one who dared to touch you. Most of them aren't dead, just indisposed. Did you want me to kill all of them?'
He sounded very accommodating. 'Good God, no,' Jamie assured him. 'But what about the man Daniel struck down when they tried to harm Mary?'
'You'll have to ask him.'
'I don't want to ask him anything.'
'The bastards tried to harm you, too, Jamie.'
'Mary's more important.'
'You actually believe this nonsense?'
'It's always been my duty to protect my sisters, Alec.'
'Why haven't you asked me about the man you struck down with your dagger?' Alec asked. 'Your aim was true, wife,' he added, thinking to give her a little more praise. 'You killed-'
'I don't wish to discuss it,' she shouted, dropping Wildfire's reins.
Now what had he said? His gentle little wife looked as if she might faint. The woman was a mystery to him. Alec shook his head. Jamie seemed to have a true aversion to killing. It was another quirk in her nature, to be sure, yet at the same time, he admitted to liking that flaw.
The woman would make him soft in all his attitudes if he let her. She was going to have to get used to killing. It was the way of life in the rugged Highlands.
Only the strongest survived. He was going to have to toughen her up, he decided, or she wouldn't make it through the first harsh winter.
'All right, wife,' Alec stated. 'We won't discuss it.'
The tension went out of her shoulders. Alec noticed she was a little unsteady on her mount, so he put his arm around her waist.
'What I did, I did in self-defense,' Jamie told him. 'If I injured that disgusting man, God will certainly understand. Mary's life was at stake.'
'Aye,' Alec agreed. 'You did injure him.'
'On the other hand, Father Charles will never understand. If he gets wind of this business, Alec, he'll have me wearing black for the rest of my days.'
'The priest who married us?' he asked, totally perplexed again.
Jamie nodded. 'You worry about the strangest things,' Alec remarked. ''Tis a flaw in your nature, to my way of thinking.'
'Oh? Then go and give Father Charles your confession, and after, tell me I worry for naught. The man's very imaginative with his penances.'
Alec started laughing. He lifted Jamie into his arms and started toward his mount.
Jamie put her arms around his neck. 'What are you doing?'
'You're going to ride with me.'
'Why?'
His sigh nearly parted her hair. 'Are you going to question everything I do or say?'
Jamie tilted her head back so she could see his face. Alec came to an immediate stop. The sparkle in her
