She angled her jaw. “I, too, have been known to be less than traditional.”
Aiden damned the soft challenge in her voice, the way her eyes flashed with defiance. Blast it, she and her foolish dreams weren’this to choose.
“I am a man of war. I know how to defend a castle and the intricacies of running a stronghold. Though I demand much from those who fight by my side, I am fair.” He paused, wanting her to ponder his comments before he continued, to believe his next words hard won. “So, I have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition?”
“Aye. Neither of us sought this marriage but agreed to comply with those to whom we give our fealty.”
Gwendolyn gavea hesitant nod.
He took a step closer. “I willnaforce a woman.”
Red swept up her cheeks, but she didn’t move. “For that I thank you.”
“But,” Aiden said, aware he could push the limit of expectations only so far, “Iwant an heir.”
Her eyes flared with apprehension, but she remained silent.
“Those beyond this chamber will believe we have consummated our marriage. Once weeks have passed and you are ready,” he said, confident such a time would never arrive, “you will joinme in my bed.”
Relief washed over Gwendolyn’s face. “I never…”
Her blush deepened, and guilt slid through him at his duplicity. “For now, we willna speak of this further.” He turned, but she lay her hand on his arm. Aiden froze, willed away the awareness burning inside him. “What?” he demanded without looking back.
“Imisjudged you.”
He shrugged away her hand. “Then we are even.” Mouth tight, Aiden strode to the window, needing distance, needing air, needing to blasted be out of this chamber. Nurturing their friendship played into his strategy, but he hadn’t expected to like her or, worse, have to speak of when he would bed her to complete hisdamnable plans.
Blast it, he refused to think of Gwendolyn’s slender body, curves that would make a man beg, or her full lips that he could too easily imagine crushed beneath his. He must focus on the fact that he’d found a way togain her trust.
The air, ripe with the scent of the sea, filled the chamber as the rays of the rising sun spilled into the pinkish-blue sky.
Aiden closed his eyes, relished this time of morning when, if only for a little while, peace descended upon the madness that had become his world. The habit a fragment of survival from his childhood that he’d hoardedover the years.
With a grimace, he rubbed the back of his neck and scoured the swells far below, watched as the gulls soared on the air currents, their lonesome cries entwining within the rumble ofincoming waves.
Near the shore, sea fog clung to the surface, thick and unyielding. How many times had he and his men damned the thick swath of white that could shroud the enemy or offer their foe a safe haven?
“’Tis myfavorite view.”
He stiffened as Gwendolyn stepped to his side, not wanting her close enough so that he could smell the scent of woman and heather. “I enjoy the beach,” he said, forcing the roughnessfrom his voice.
“As I. ’Tis where I go to think, to be alone.” She slid her thumb along the sill, her tone querying, almost gentle. “There is something soothing about the roll of waves upon the shore.”
Yet another thing they shared.
“Mayhap we—” She gasped.
Aiden glanced over. Surprised by the shock on her face, he followed her gaze seaward, stilled.
The tip of a mast bearing an English flag cut through the top of the thick bank of white. A breath later, another appeared. With each moment, more mastscame into view.
God in heaven, enemy ships! The possibility of a skirmish rushed through him.
“Why are English ships here?” she asked, her surprise confirming she hadn’t anticipated their appearance. She frowned. “Were you expecting them?”
How should he answer? Was Lord Balfour privy to the ships’ arrival? Worse, with the numerous masts streaming into view, ’twas more than a few ships. God’s sword, ’twas ablasted fleet!
