Slowly, the fragments of pain on her face faded until only desire glowed. “The discomfort has gone.”
“Just feel,” he whispered, nuzzling the curve of her neck, then easing up to savor her mouth. With slow, tender strokes to show her what she meant to him, he set the pace. With his next stroke, her body began to quake.
“Colyne!”
“That is it,” he urged and quickened the pace. As she arched against him and her body began to convulse, he drove deep and found his own release.
Sated, he rolled to his side and drew her with him, never having felt so complete. Sadness tightened his chest. “If I could,” he whispered, aching at the thought of letting her go, “I would wish this moment forever.”
Alesia tensed and then tried to pull away.
Her flash of guilt reminded him of her request to wait until themorning to tell him what she was hiding. A sword’s wrath, he needed to know. “What is wrong?” When she would have turned away, he caught her chin.
Her eyes pleaded with his. “Do not ask me now.”
“How can I nae? We made love, have given ourselves to each other in the ultimate act of trust.”
Silence echoed between them, warm with the scents of their lovemaking.
She didna reply.
Hurt, Colyne searched her face, trying to understand why she hesitated. “A few hours will change naught.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “I know that far too well.”
Fear, hard and cold, raked through him. The last time he’d seen her cry had been when they’d buried his friends murdered by the English. By the grace of God, could her secret begin to match such a travesty?
Then, as if impaled by a sword’s blow, he understood what drove her guilt, what had her pulling away from him even now. Colyne didna want to believe she’d lied to him. “Tell me.”
Red rimmed her eyes. “Whatever happens between us from this moment, I shall cherish the love we made this night. Neither will I forget you. Please remember that.”
“Who is he?” Colyne demanded, praying he was wrong.
Her breath hitched. “My betrothed.”
Chapter 11
“Betrothed?” Colyne boomed.
Marie flinched. The true depth of her betrayal weighed heavy on her soul.
Fear that Renard’s men would find her as she traveled through the unfamiliar Highlands had convinced her to ask Colyne for his help in reaching Glasgow. But it offered no excuse for their intimacy.
Eyes narrowed, Colyne released her and stood. He stalked the chamber. The candlelight, which had cast a golden glow over his body as they’d lain entwined, gleamed upon his nakedness, accentuating each taut stride. Now he looked more like a confined beast than her lover.
Shame filled her. However wrong her actions, she could not forget the feel of his hands upon her skin, their fine-tuned strength that could wield a blade as well as make love to her with infinite tenderness.
Each step he took expanded the emotional distance between them, his silence far more unnerving than if he’d spoken. She couldn’t just sit here. She had to say something. Anything.
With the sheet secured around her, she slid her legs over the edge of the bed.
His eyes cut to her. “Stay away.”
Marie swallowed hard. Damn her selfishness. She’d never meant to hurt him. She needed to make him understand that she’d wanted this time with him to take with her, for once they parted they couldn’t see each other again.
Her hand trembled as she fisted the sheet. How had she allowed the situation to unravel to such disrepair? “I only wanted to—”
Colyne rounded on her. “We made love, Alesia. Does that nae mean anything to you?” At her hesitation, he stormed over. “Answer me!”
