A man of few words, James put his stock in his actions, his behavior, keeping Tosia close whenever they were together.
And as the Bruce’s man, he didn’t share any military strategy with her. Whether it was due to his reticent nature or his desire to shelter her ears from his repugnant but necessary deeds, Tosia couldn’t guess. Perchance a mix of both. What she did know was that any rough or beastly tendencies he might have, he kept out of their chambers. Instead he plied her with kisses, laving her skin with his bold tongue, and delicate touches — far too delicate for a man whose hands commanded death and destruction.
Well,mostlydelicate.
His tease on their wedding day had sat in her mind, and one night as James’s eyes flashed like green lightning and his hands found her most intimate folds, she had asked him about it.
“Why would I want ye to bite me?” she’d asked.
James had stilled, and a slight wolfish grin spread across his dark face.
“Is it because ye are oft called a beast? Or do couples sometimes bite?” she continued.
He had shifted atop her and gazed at the curve of her neck.
“Both,” his raspy voice drawled before lowering his face and taking the thin skin under her jaw between his teeth.
Alternating between sucking and nibbling, James’s mouth had sent shivers curling through her. His delicate biting had blazed a trail to the quivering bounty of her breasts, taking one pinking hub and holding it with his teeth as his tongue worked her into a frenzy.
Her fingertips had clawed into his back, and she had sucked in a fierce breath.
“Aye,” she agreed into the darkness as she lost herself with him. “Both.”
Too often, memoriesof their marital interludes caught her during the day when her mind should have been on other tasks, and a burning blush warmed her cheeks as her loins roiled.
For a man who had frightened her to her core less than a month before, he had shown her the many faceted sides of even the most devilish man. In truth, Tosia had come to feel safer in his arms than anywhere else.
“Och, I know that look. Has that Black Douglas found his way into your heart with as much pleasure as he’s found in his bed?”
Tosia, who was supposed to be beating out the tapestry that hung from the line, whirled around to find the stately Lady Elayne standing behind her, a grin playing at one side of her refined face and a wee babe swaddled on her chest. Even with a bairn in hand, she held herself like a queen, and Tosia had to suppress the instinct to bow.
That impression wasn’t far off. With the king’s own beloved imprisoned by the English and few enough other women in the king’s entourage at Auchinleck, Lady Elayne ran the keep with a firm hand and the household, transient though ‘twas, ran with an efficiency that rivaled any royal court.
Tosia bowed her head slightly as she tucked an escaped lock of hair back into her kerchief. The tall woman’s silvery gray gaze, usually hard and surveying, crinkled at the corners as she clicked her tongue at Tosia.
“Dinna fret on it, lass. Many a woman has been caught up in the attentions of an eager, new husband, no matter how the marriage came to be.”
Lady Elayne’s tone held a light note, and Tosia found courage in the woman’s presence.
“Even if ‘twas assigned by the king to a man who’s known as an evil beast?”
Though she no longer saw James through that veil, she wasn’t deaf to the gossip of what new, vile strategy James envisioned for the king’s war for freedom, necessary though those strategies might be.
Elayne threw her head back and barked out a rich laugh. The swaddled babe squealed at the sound, its shock of blonde hair sticking past the plaid fabric. Elayne cast a soft gaze at her babe, then back at her.
“Och, Tosia. I forget ye are no’ from the Highlands. How do ye think I found my husband, Laird MacCollough? Or Caitrin found hers? Do ye no’ know who the MacColloughs are?”
Tosia shook her head, her eyes focused on the woman who possessed a fascinating tale, to be sure. Elayne’s eyes sparkled as she spoke, her hand patting the babe’s backside without thought.
“Declan MacCollough is laird of what was known for a long time as the beast clan. Wild men with nary a civilized soul among them. When Declan became laird, he’d recently served the Bruce and wanted to lead a clan that was worthy of that position. He’d made an offer for my hand to my father, as I had my own reputation as the willful, loudmouthed harpy. He wanted a strong wife to assist him in humanizing his clan. I didn’t know the man when I arrived at his stronghold, only the disheartening rumor.”
Elayne winked at Tosia. “There’s more to a man, to anyone, than the rumors, than their history, than their kin. If ye take the full measure of a man, ‘twill show ye his true nature.”
Tosia nodded as she released a long breath. Thinking something on her own was one thing, to hear someone confirm it, someone in a similar situation, was quite another — and a relief.
“And now ye have a babe?” Tosia asked, smiling at the fair child. Elayne’s face beamed at the babe again.
“Aye, a strapping son we call Gabriel.”
