Morbidly, he tucked his sword back under his body where he had learned long ago to sleep with it. The cool steel pressed against the heat of his chest as the hilt and chain mail bit into his flesh. It reminded him of what he was. A warrior. There was no place in his life for comfort. No place in his beleaguered heart for a wife.
Alone was what he knew and alone was how he intended to stay.
Callie stayed up most of the night, trying to think of ways to reach her husband. There had to be some way to get underneath his thick hide and make him accept her.
Morna would know. As soon as they reached her home, she would corner Morna and find out everything she needed. Aye, with Morna’s help, Sin would be a cooked goose.
She wasn’t about to grow old without children. Whether he admitted it or not, Sin liked children. No man watched over Jamie the way Sin did unless he had paternal feelings. And from what she’d seen, Sin would make a wonderful father.
“Sleep well, husband,” she whispered. Because on the morrow she intended to begin the war she hoped would conquer her husband’s heart.
Eight
So much for her war to win Sin’s heart. The entire next morning was spent just trying to get him to speak.
Callie was at a loss as to what to do. By the time she awoke, their horses were already saddled and he and Simon were waiting for her and Jamie to resume their trip.
When she smiled and greeted Sin, the best he gave was a noncommittal grunt. In fact, the only response he gave to any question or comment she posed that entire morning was a noncommittal grunt.
By the time they stopped for a rest at midday, she was quite ready to throttle him. Or at the very least set a pack of wild dogs onto his hide.
Miffed beyond measure, she laid out their food, then went to her husband who was busy tending the horses. “I was thinking of setting myself on fire tonight. Would you mind?”
He grunted again, then looked up sharply. “What?”
She smiled. “Ha! I knew it. I knew I could get you to talk. Just think, a whole word, too. Who knows? If I keep this up, I might have you speaking an entire sentence by week’s end.”
Sin tried to glower at her audacity, but the woman’s charm was infectious. Not to mention she looked just a bit too adorable standing before him with her hair braided down her back and her cheeks bright. What was it about this woman that every time she came near him, he wanted to kiss those plump, full lips? To bury his head in her neck and just inhale her sweet scent?
Her very presence set him on fire and left his entire body throbbing with need.
“I thought you wished to get home as quickly as possible,” he said, noting the deepness of his voice.
“Aye, but we can talk while we do that. Have you noticed Simon hasn’t had a bit of trouble asking me how I feel or if I am eager to see my family?”
He glanced to where Simon stood with Jamie while he added a feed sack to his horse. “I’m afraid I don’t speak quite as much as Simon.” Then again, he doubted if a herd of women spoke as much as Simon.
“I noticed. It’s not exactly something you try to hide.”
Sin picked his brush up and started rubbing down his horse. He couldn’t fathom why Callie chose to be here with him when she could be with her brother and Simon. Especially given the way he had treated her this morning. “Why are you being so kind to me?”
Callie paused at the words, and the emotions she saw swirling in his dark eyes. He was serious. “You say that as if someone being kind is highly unusual.”
“It is. In case you hadn’t noticed in London, most people won’t even meet my gaze.”
She thought about that for a minute. “I think it’s your glower that frightens them.”
“I have no glower.”
“I beg to differ that point. You are quite ferocious with it.”
“Then why aren’t you intimidated?”
“I have absolutely no idea. My father always said I had more courage than ten men.”
“I think your father was right.”
She smiled at him and it did the strangest thing to his breathing, made his groin tighten instantly.
