"I was a little chilly, but you're so warm." She turned toward him and snuggled against his chest.
When he put an arm around her, she released a long sigh against his throat, and he felt her delicate frame relax. His body did the opposite. Restrained arousal tensed all his muscles. He drew in a deep breath in an effort to settle down, but this only served to fill his head with her alluring fragrance—a hint of French perfume intermingling with her natural female scent.
"You know something? You're the only man I've ever trusted," she murmured.
Her unexpected confession warmed his heart, for he valued trust highly, but it also sent scorching heat to another part of his anatomy. 'Haps lying beside her was a terrible idea. He had to find a way to distract himself from his roguish thoughts, else he would wind up kissing her like he had earlier.
"In truth?" he asked. "What about your late husband?"
She shook her head against him. "Nay, I didn't trust him. My father forced me to marry him. This thrilled Da, for it cleared his debts and elevated his daughter to a lady. But I thought my life was over. The last thing I wanted was to marry a man older than my father. I was tempted to run away, but I knew I couldn't survive on my own. Nor could I leave my brother and sister to fend for themselves."
Anger twisted in Cyrus's chest that a lass so young had to wed a much older man that she didn't even like. He admired her strength in facing the difficult tasks, both in wedding the man and in caring for her siblings.
"How did you meet him?" Cyrus wanted to know more about her life.
"The year before the arranged marriage, I'd noticed that Baron Grey came into my father's shops often to buy things. Several times per week, in fact. He always watched me and went out of his way to talk to me. He'd been a widower for many years and had no heir."
So, she'd made a hopeless graybeard's dreams come true—a young new wife and an heir. Cyrus hoped he didn't end up an old man with no wife and no heir. 'Twould be hellish, but he couldn't think of that now. His normally sound decision-making ability had gone completely awry. He didn't want to consider what he was going to do about Elspeth.
"Did Grey treat you well?"
"He didn't hit me, but he rarely spoke a kind word either. He seemed to enjoy reminding me how he'd elevated my status by marrying me and how I should be grateful. 'Twas misery being married to him."
What a bastard. Had the old codger not even realized that he was the fortunate one with his beautiful wife and wee son? Cyrus would've hauled him over the coals if he'd had the displeasure of meeting him.
Cyrus tried to shove his annoyance away. "What about your da? Did you trust him?"
"I didn't have much choice."
She paused for an extended moment and he wondered if she would continue.
"When I was eleven summers, my mother died trying to deliver her fourth bairn." Moisture glistened in Elspeth's eyes.
"I'm sorry to hear of it." He stroked her shoulder, hoping to soothe her.
"My world was shattered. I was closer to her than anyone. And she was the person I depended on. How could she be gone so suddenly? What would I do without her? My da took to drinking more and staying out later. I had to care for my brother and sister. We felt abandoned. Sometimes we would sit huddled up in a blanket before a small fire, trying to warm ourselves, but the world had become a cold and barren place. We were scared, but as the oldest, I had to hide my fear."
"Saints," he hissed, his chest aching. "I've done the same thing many times."
"We were especially afraid when Da came home drunk. When he lost my mother, he changed and became someone else. Someone we didn't know."
"'Tis tragic."
"Shortly after I wed Grey, Da grew sick and passed on, too. I'm fairly certain he knew what was going to happen and felt that forcing me to marry a baron would secure my future. Jack and Emmaline came to live with me."
"'Tis hard to lose your parents. I was in my twenties when it happened, but you were far younger."
She nodded. "Were you close to yours?"
"Aye. Ma was warm and caring. Da was strict with me, especially, but 'twas clear he loved all of us. He was kind and generous, but he treated my younger brothers with more leniency. As his heir, I had to be the toughest and strongest."
"Clearly you are." Her words softening as if she were half asleep, she breathed against his chest.
He kissed her temple. "Go to sleep, lass."
Balling her fist in his shirt front, she tugged. "I don't wish to."
His body, which had been on a slow simmer during their conversation, suddenly leapt into a full heated boil. He should get up now and put some distance between them, but… he couldn't. He had to know what scintillating thoughts passed through her mind. "What do you wish to do?"
