promise.
Alec groaned deep in his throat, then pulled her hand away. 'Not tonight, she can't,' he whispered. 'I can't hold back much longer, Jamie.'
He moved between her legs, cupped her thighs, and thrust inside her with one powerful surge.
She cried out in ecstasy.
Alec immediately stilled inside her. 'Did I hurt you, love?' he asked, his worry evident in his gaze.
'No,' she told him with a low moan. 'You didn't hurt me.'
'I'm being too rough,' he whispered, still unconvinced he hadn't harmed her. He tried to pull back, to ease himself away from her, but her legs held him in a grip that wouldn't allow retreat.
'Don't you dare stop now,' she whispered. 'I'll die if you do.'
'So will I, Jamie,' he admitted on a ragged breath. 'So will I.' He might have managed a smile, but he couldn't be certain. His body was demanding release, yet he was determined to give her fulfillment first.
He captured her mouth in a searing kiss as he thrust deep, deeper still. Her body accommodated him so completely, so tightly, so wonderfully. He wanted her fire to consume him, amazed she would so easily make him burn for more, more, always more.
Jamie felt as though he was taking her to the stars. She gave herself over to the wonder then, clinging to the man she loved to share the splendor only he could give her.
As soon as he felt the first tremors of her release, he gave a final thrust and spilled his hot seed inside her.
He didn't know how long they stayed together. He thought he never wanted to leave her, though, and it wasn't until his heart and his breathing had calmed that he remembered he wanted to tell her he loved her.
'You get better each time, wife,' he whispered as he rolled to his side.
Jamie rolled with him, tucked the top of her head under his chin, smiling over the teasing lilt in his soft burr. 'You said practice would make me better,' she reminded him. 'I had no idea we'd practice so often,' she admitted.
He could tell she was arrogantly pleased with herself. Alec smiled against the top of her head, then whispered in Gaelic, 'I know you don't understand what I'm saying to you, Jamie, but I've need to tell you in my own language. I love you, lass, with all my being.'
He felt her stiffen against him during his recitation, but when she tried to pull away from him, he held her secure. 'I love you because you're so gentle and loving, caring, too. Ye have a heart of gold, lass.'
She all but melted against him then. 'But most of all, Jamie, I love you because you're such a truthful woman. Aye,' he added when she stiffened against him again, 'I could never love a woman who'd try to deceive me, but I have complete faith in you.'
He thought she might have turned into stone. It took all Alec's determination not to laugh. 'Good night, Jamie,' he whispered, in her language.
'What did you just say to me?' Jamie asked.
She was trying to sound blase. 'I said good night,' Alec drawled.
'Before that,' Jamie whispered, a tremor in her voice.
''Tis not important,' he countered.
She pushed away from him so he'd be able to see her frustration. 'Did you mean whatever it was you said?'
He shrugged. Jamie almost lost her temper then and there, but she'd already determined to give Alec quite a surprise tomorrow: she was going to kneel before Edgar and recite her pledge in Gaelic.
She wasn't going to let Alec ruin her surprise. There was that, yes, but there was also the fact he'd just told her he loved her because she was so truthful.
She was good and trapped by her own hand. And why did she suddenly sense that Alec knew it?
It was the sparkle that came into his eyes, she decided. 'Why are you looking at me like that?' she asked.
'Because you look as though you're trying to solve all of England's considerable problems,' he answered.
'I have thought of a small problem that needs solving,' Jamie admitted.
'Tell me what it is.'
She shook her head. 'I will solve it tomorrow, Alec. It's my problem, after all.
I will take care of it. Trust me on this.'
'Oh, I do trust you, wife.'
'You do?' she asked, looking very pleased with him.
'Of course. Honesty and trust are like the right and left hands. They're both important… Now what's the matter?' he asked, trying not to laugh. 'You're frowning again.'
He decided he'd baited her enough for one evening. 'It's late, Jamie,' he said as he pulled her back into his arms. 'You must be exhausted after your long day.
You shouldn't be trying to solve your problems now. You should be-'
'Sleeping,' she interjected with a sigh.
'No,' he countered. 'You should be pleasing your husband.'
'I just did please you, didn't I?'
'You've still to get it right, lass.' He rolled her onto her back. 'But you're most fortunate to have a patient husband.'
'I have an insatiable husband, Kincaid. Do you know how many times we've-'
'Am I to keep count of our lovemaking, too?'
Jamie only had enough time to wrap her arms around her husband before he captured her laughter with a long kiss.
They made slow, sweet love. And all the while, Jamie kept hearing his pledge of love. Tomorrow, she promised, tomorrow I will give him my pledge in Gaelic.
She fell asleep before he'd rolled away. Alec covered both of them with his plaid and was sound asleep moments later.
He only awakened once during the short night, when the door was opened. He was reaching for his sword when Mary Kathleen came running toward the bed.
She ran to Jamie's side of the bed first. 'Don't bother your mother,' Alec whispered. 'Tell me what's the matter, Mary.'
When he added to his order by motioning to her, Mary finally obeyed. Her expression was solemn, and when she'd reached his side, he could see the fear in her eyes.
'What is it?' he asked her.
Mary held out the bottom of her nightgown. 'I'm wet,' she whispered. Tears welled in her eyes, then spilled down her cheeks.
Alec pulled her gown over her head and tossed the garment on the floor. 'Now you're not wet,' he announced.
Jamie had awakened to Mary's voice. She pretended to be asleep, though, for she knew her husband disliked women who wept. No, she didn't want him to see how misty her eyes were. He wouldn't understand the overwhelming love she felt for him when he picked up his daughter and rocked her in his arms.
She closed her eyes when he stood up and carried the sleeping child to the door and handed her to one of the soldiers.
She almost called out that it should be the father putting his daughter back in her bed and not one of his soldiers, then remembered that her husband was stark naked, after all, and Edith would certainly die of embarrassment if she woke up and found him in her room.
That picture was so amusing she had to roll over on her stomach to stifle her giggles.
Alec came back to bed, hauled her up against his side, and was snoring before she'd even gotten herself properly settled.
Her soft sigh of contentment filled the air. She could barely wait for morning.
Tomorrow was going to be a glorious day.
It was the worst day of her life.
