“As far as I’m concerned, thisisthe day we first met.”
He laced his fingers together, his wide hands tightening and flexing. “We’re wed, Skye.”
“Or so ye say!” she snapped, with more vehemence than she’d meant. Certainly more vehemence than he deserved.
Reddening, she dropped her gaze.
“I’m tired,” she mumbled, hoping he would take it as an apology. Or an explanation, at least.
He nodded and said nothing.
She tried again. “Did ye say earlier that ye had burned down four villages for me?”
“Twelve.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Twelve,” he repeated pensively. “Only four in this part of the Highlands. But in total, I burned down twelve villages in me search for ye. All for nothing, as it turned out, since ye magically reappeared here without me intervention.”
Flabbergasted. That was the word Skye would use to describe herself at that moment.
“Ye burned downtwelvevillagesfor me?” she gasped, leaning forward.
He met her eyes coolly. “What part are ye nae understanding?”
“Daenae be glib. All the lives lost?—”
“Relax, lassie. I didnae burn down villages with people in them. The locals were driven out first. Nobody who didnae choose tofight back died. The ones who tried to hurt me were hurt. The ones who tried to kill me died. The ones who did nothing and kent nothing were left alone.”
Skye found that her mouth had gone dry. She swallowed, trying to work moisture down her throat, to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth.
“Well,” she managed at last. “That seems excessive.”
He shrugged. “One a month until ye were returned. No more burnings now.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
She shifted, catching his eye and glancing away, red-faced. Another question formed in her mind, an insistent one that refused to be quieted.
He met her gaze, narrowing his eyes.
Can he possibly ken what I am about to ask? Surely nae.
It was no good. She had to ken.
Coughing self-consciously, she spoke, trying to keep her words light and casual. “So, I disappeared on our wedding night, is that right?”
“Aye, it is.”
“So we hadnae… That is, we werenae… didnae… hadnae…” She groped for the correct words that would make the awful question take flight.
Did we kiss? Did we make love? Did I want it? Did I enjoy it?
Skye had not, of course, lain with a man before. Some women chose to be with their men before marriage, and that was their concern. Kitchen wenches gossiped constantly about their sweethearts, and she’d even overheard some of the ladies’ maids whispering and giggling about their men.
But a laird’s sister, a laird’s daughter, was meant to stay chaste. Skye hadn’t minded. No man had ever caught her interest enough to make her regret waiting. But if shehadlain with a man at last and didn’t remember any of it…
Well, it would be disappointing.
