'I'm so tired tonight. It was a hard day's ride, wasn't it?'
He hadn't thought so, but he decided to agree anyway. 'Aye, it was.'
'Alec? I'd like to ask you something.' Jamie scooted upward, then let out a loud groan when his hands moved to her backside and he forced her against him. His thighs were harder than the ground.
He knew she didn't have any idea what her little motions were doing to him. Alec closed his eyes in reaction. She was too tired and obviously too sore to be attacked by her husband. He would have to wait, he told himself. It was the only decent thing to do.
It was going to be his most difficult challenge.
'Alec, please move your hands. You're hurting me.'
'Go to sleep, wife. You need your rest.' His voice sounded ragged.
She arched against him. Alec gritted his teeth.
'My backside is sore.'
He could hear the blush in her soft confession. Her gasp wasn't soft, though; it was loud and full of outrage when he began to rub the stiffness out of her muscles. He ignored both her struggles and her groans.
'Your education has been sorely neglected,' Alec told her. ' 'Tis the truth you're the most unskilled woman I've ever known. What think you of that, wife?'
'I think you believe I'm about to cry, husband,' Jamie answered. 'I know my voice trembled when I told you I was sore. And you're a man who hates a weeping woman, aren't you? Oh, don't be denying it, husband. I saw the way you watched my sisters when they were carrying on so. You looked most ill at ease.'
'Yes, it's true,' Alec admitted.
'And so, to prevent my weeping all over you, you insult me to prick my temper.
You've guessed I have a temper and you'd rather have me shouting at you than crying.'
'You're learning my ways, Jamie.'
'I told you I would,' Jamie boasted. 'But you've still to learn mine.'
'I have no need to-'
'Oh, yes, you do,' she argued. 'You confuse inexperienced with unskilled, Alec.
What if I told you I could shoot an arrow better than any of your warriors? Or that I could probably outride them-bareback, of course. Or that I could-'
'I'd say you were jesting with me. You can barely hold on to the saddle, wife.'
'You've already made up your mind about me, then?'
He ignored that question and asked one of his own. 'What is it you wanted to ask me? Something has you worried, doesn't it?'
'I'm not worrying.'
'Tell me.'
He wasn't going to let her change her mind. 'I merely wondered if you were going to give me similar instructions when we reach your holding and your men.'
'What instructions?' he interrupted. He didn't have any idea what she was talking about.
'I know you're ashamed of me, Alec, but I don't think I shall be able to keep silent all the time. I'm used to speaking quite freely, and I really don't-'
'You think I'm ashamed of you?'
He actually sounded surprised. Jamie turned in his arms. She pushed the blanket aside and looked into his face. Even in the moonlight, she could see his astonishment.
She wasn't believing it for a minute. 'You needn't pretend ignorance with me, Alec Kincaid. I know the truth. A woman would have to be daft not to know why you wouldn't let me speak to your allies. You think I'm ugly. And English.'
'You are English,' he reminded her.
'And pleased that I am, husband. Do you know how shallow a man is to judge a woman solely by her appearance?'
His laughter stopped her lecture. 'Your rudeness is worse than my appearance,' she muttered.
'And you, wife, are the most opinionated woman I've ever encountered.'
''Tis nothing compared to your sins,' Jamie answered. 'You're as riddled as an old shield.'
'You aren't ugly.'
Alec could tell by the way she continued to frown up at him that she didn't believe him. 'When did you come to this conclusion?'
'I've already explained,' Jamie answered. ' 'Twas when you wouldn't let me take my gaze off you, when you didn't introduce me to your friends, when you wouldn't let me speak a thought of my own. That's when I came to my conclusion. Make no mistake, Alec,' she rushed on when he seemed about to laugh again, 'I don't care if you think I'm pretty or not.'
He captured her chin and held it steady. 'If you'd stared at one man longer than another, by chance or want, he would have concluded you were fair for the taking. The Kerrys can't be trusted, at least not by my measure. They would have challenged me for you. 'Tis simple enough to understand, even for you, English.
Some would perhaps have thought your violet eyes were magical; others might have wanted to touch your hair to see if it felt as silky as it looks. All certainly would have wanted to touch you.'
'They would?'
Her eyes had widened in amazement during his explanation. Alec realized she had absolutely no understanding of her own appeal.
'I think you exaggerate, Alec. Those men wouldn't have wanted to touch me.'
She was pleading for a compliment. He decided to give it to her. 'They would. I didn't want to chance a fight because I know how the sight of blood distresses you.'
Jamie was stunned by his casually spoken explanation. Had he just complimented her? Were her eyes magical to him?
'What has you frowning now?'
'I was wondering if you… that is…' She let out a sigh, nudged his hand away from her chin, and rested her face against his warm shoulder again. 'Then you don't think I'm ugly.'
'I don't.'
'I never thought you did,' she admitted, a smile in her voice. ' 'Tis good to know you don't find me unappealing.'
'I didn't say that.'
Jamie decided he was jesting with her again. 'I never said you weren't ugly,' she said. 'Perhaps I think you are.'
He laughed again, a rich, full sound that made her smile all the more. Was it possible she was actually beginning to get used to him?
Alec brushed her hair away from her forehead. 'Your face was burned by the sun today. Your nose is as red as fire. I don't find you at all appealing.'
'You don't?' She looked startled.
Alec let her see his exasperation. 'I was jesting.'
'I knew you were,' she said, smiling again.
She yawned, reminding him of how exhausted she was.
'Go to sleep, Jamie.'
The tender way he was stroking her back took the bark out of his command. When he started to rub the stiffness out of her shoulders, she closed her eyes and let out a loud, lusty sigh. The palm of her hand rested on his chest. She could feel his heart beating under her fingertips. Almost absentmindedly, she began to stroke a circle around the nipple hidden beneath his chest hair. She liked the feel of him. His wonderful scent reminded her of the outdoors. It was so clean, so earthy.
Alec suddenly grabbed hold of her hand and flattened it against his chest. She guessed he was ticklish.
He guessed she was trying to drive him out of his mind. 'Stop that,' he ordered, his voice as gritty as sand.
Jamie didn't remember falling asleep, but she remembered waking up, all right.
She was having the most delicious dream. She was sleeping on a bed of wildflowers, completely unclothed.
