It wasn’t the answer Lavina had been expecting.
Theo watched as confusion flashed across her features.
“All right now, lass. Ye can get off. Ye’ll ruin yer dress if ye get dragged across the floor. I ruined many breeches as a lad, doin’ what ye’re doin’ now. So trust me, I ken what I’m talkin’ about.”
With a little hesitation, Amber unwrapped herself from his leg and stepped back from him.
Theo’s eyes widened as he noticed the rags she wore. His attention immediately shifted to Lavina.
“Are ye nae supposed to be tendin’ to the child’s needs?” he asked, his voice thick with accusation.
Lavina paused and folded her arms over her chest.
“It’s nae me fault. It’s the only thing the girl wants to wear. I’ve shown her other dresses.”
Theo grunted.
Lavina opened her mouth. But just as he put up a hand to silence her, Maisie emerged from the kitchen.
“Perfect timing. Maisie, will ye be so kind as to take Amber and get her something to eat? She needs some meat on her bones.”
Theo kept his eyes on Lavina, daring her to take a step past him. He watched as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her nerves rising under his stern gaze.
“I think I heard the cook mention bread pudding,” Maisie said cheerfully, taking Amber by the hand and leading her away from them.
“If ye’re about to tell me that I dinnae care for the girl or yell at me—” Lavina started to protest.
But before she could continue, Theo pulled her to a nook in the hallway, behind the tapestry. Then, he crushed his lips to hers.
How he had missed her, despite it only being a few hours since he had last seen her.
“And here I thought ye were goin’ to scold me,” Lavina huffed.
Theo realized his hunger had shifted. It was no longer food he needed, but pleasure only Lavina could give.
“The lass has been wearin’ the same thing since she came here. I ken she willnae give it up so easily, but she ran to me. Ye saw that, did ye?” he asked, the heat of embarrassment crashing against his steely resolve. “That was the first time she’d done that. She wouldnae have, were it nae for ye.”
“I cannae take credit for that,” Lavina murmured, twisting his hair around her finger.
The light tugs were distracting. It took all the strength he had not to bend her over the window, shove her skirts to her waist, and put his child inside her.
The thought rocked him to his bones.
He stepped back, wondering if she had enchanted him—or if he was making the choice of his own volition. Reaching up, he plucked a feather from her hair and realized it wasn’t just her. It was him as well.
It was far too easy to picture making a family with her. A child to bind them together.
The rumbling of his stomach masked his true desires, despite the increasing tightness of his pants. He couldn’t bear a moment longer without food.
“We need to get something in ye before ye pass out on me. And mind ye, I willnae hesitate to step aside and watch ye fall. Ye’re too big for me to even consider breakin’ yer fall.”
Theo laughed as he leaned in once again to steal another kiss.
If there was one thing he was starting to admire, it was his wife’s wit. She was more than a curvy, sassy lass—she was clever and witty. And one thing was absolutely certain: she was unlike any woman he had ever met.
His heart swelled as it dawned on him just how blessed he was to have a wife like her.
“And the barkeep slapped his daughter so hard that she went cross-eyed!”
