Sin closed his eyes, unable to deal with her and the raw emotions that were still churning inside him. He’d told her things tonight that he had never spoken of before. No one, not even his brothers, had ever known what his mother had said or done to him that night.
He was weak and he was tired and all he wanted was respite from his past.
“Go to bed, Callie.”
She didn’t. She merely snuggled down beside him and continued talking. “Why? Did I do something wrong on our wedding night? Did I displease you somehow?”
Sin choked as he remembered just how warm and welcoming she had been then too. She’d never done anything to displease him. Not until this moment when she refused to do as he asked. “Nay. I was not displeased.”
“Then why won’t you make love to me?”
An image of her naked and hot in his arms scorched him. His body roared to life over her handful of words. She was the first woman to beg him for his favor. It was erotic and sensual, and it made him burn. “I can’t believe I’m having this discussion with you.”
“Fine then, no discussion. You lie there with your wounded shoulder and just pretend I don’t exist. Which you’re very good at, by the way.”
The hurt in her voice stung him. He didn’t want to hurt her. All he wanted was for her to leave him alone. Just leave him to the little bit of tranquility his beleaguered soul could find.
“Callie, it’s not you. Why can’t you just accept the fact that I am a faithless, worthless bastard and leave me in peace?”
“Like everyone else does?”
“Aye.”
She sat up and leaned over him. Her breasts rubbed against his arm, making his shaft jerk in response to her innocent touch. Her unadorned beauty held him transfixed as her coppery curls tumbled around her face and the firelight gleamed in her green eyes. Her cheeks were pink from her anger and she narrowed a hard glare at him.
“Because I don’t believe you’re faithless and I know you’re not worthless. As for being a bastard, that was hardly your fault.” She rested her chin on his biceps and stared at him with a hunger in her eyes he found unbelievable. How could this woman want anything to do with him?
“I would love you, husband, if you would let me.”
Those words...
They tore him apart and left him so vulnerable to her. He didn’t dare trust in them. He knew better.
“And if I did, what of your family? Are you willing to leave them behind forever? Do you honestly believe for one minute they would accept an Englishman into their hearts?”
“You’re not English, you’re a Scot.”
“Nay. I was born in England, and for the most part raised there. I was cast out of Scotland and told to never return. I hate being in this place more than you can ever understand and the first chance I get to go back to London, I will take it. Will you be willing to stay with me then?”
Her eyes snapped angrily as she thought about that horrible place. “I despise London. The filth and stench. And they hate me there.”
“Then you do understand how I feel here.”
Callie’s breath caught at his words. Dear saints, she did know. That horrendous agony that had clenched her heart day after day as she feared she would never see her beloved Highlands again. It had been unbearable.
“Why did you marry me?” she asked quietly, half afraid of the answer he would give.
“Because I knew no other way to get you home. I saw what the others did to Jamie, how they treated and scorned him. He’s a good lad with good heart. I didn’t want him to become like me. So, I brought you back here before it was too late for the two of you.”
Callie froze at the wealth of emotion that overwhelmed her. In that moment, she knew she loved him. There was no doubt. The fierceness of the emotion ripped through her, filled her and made her want to take him into her arms and hold him for eternity.
This man so strong, so full of pain who could look beyond himself and still help others even though no one had ever helped him. It amazed her. It scared her. But most of all, it touched her profoundly.
She ran her hand along the edge of his jaw. “I am going to make you want to stay here with me.”
His eyes turned dull. “I assure you, you can’t.”
“Is that a challenge?”
