Page 20 of The Highlander’s Untamed Lady

“Is loving them worth the risk?”

Diana sucked in a breath. She had known love. She had just not recognized it for what it was.

“Yes,” Diana whispered.

Evander searched her eyes. “That’s how I feel about ye. I want to love ye, Diana. Ye’re worth the risk.”

He leaned over her, close enough that his breath washed over her lips, warm and spiced, a delicious scent that made her heart skip faster. The same as it had when they were wed at the kirk, when his mouth brushed over hers. The gentleness of his touch, the way he looked at her, it all made her crave more.

Her eyes closed of their own volition and the warmth of his mouth swept over hers. An indiscernible sound came from the back of her throat – a moan, a whimper – a form of tangible longing. His hand slipped up to the nape of her neck, threading through her clean hair. Delicious shivers prickled over her skin. He lifted her face upward and pressed his mouth more firmly to hers.

Her heart pattered happily in her chest, eager for the affection while her mind screamed out a warning. This could not happen. She could not go through the act of consummating their marriage.

Yes, he’d said he wanted to love her. Yes, he’d said she was worth the risk. But how would he feel when he found her father had deceived him?

How patient and loving would Evander be when he realized she was no longer a virgin?

Evander desired his wife. Every fiber of his being hummed with want of her. To caress her silken skin, to lose himself in the heat of her mouth, to press her slender body against his.

Aye, Evander desired his wife the way a man should.

He teased his tongue over her lips and they opened for him. She shivered slightly in his arms. He held her more closely to him.

“I willna hurt ye,” he said against her mouth.

But her trembling did not cease. He put his hand on her waist to still her. She went stiff and drew back from him, her eyes wide. “I can’t. I’m not…I’m not…” Her hands balled into fists. “I’m not…”

“Ye’re no’ ready.”

The tension on her face bled away and she nodded. “Yes. I’m not ready.”

Evander tamped down the disappointment warring in his body. His blood still pounded with need, his cock hard and eager with it. “I understand.”

“You’re not angry?” she asked.

“Nay, lass. I stole ye from yer home, trapped ye in a carriage, and had us wed as soon as we arrived after over a fortnight of travel.” He smirked. “I expect most lasses wouldna be ready under such circumstances.”

She studied him for a long moment. She remained tense with wariness.

“I did what I did for my people,” Evander said.

She hesitated. “I know.”

“My people will have their food now.” He came closer. She snapped upright and met his stare with a challenging glint. “Everything between us now will be because we want to. We. Both of us.”

Her chest rose and fell heavier than normal. Finally, she nodded.

“I want to get to know ye,” Evander said. “What ye like and dinna like. To share yer memories and dreams. I want us to have a happy life together, to have love.” He longed to reach out to her, his right hand burned with the yearning to do so, but he clenched it at his side instead. “What do ye want?”

She lifted her face. “I want the freedom to come and go as I please, to be able to go out into the forest, on the land. I have no intention to become a wife trapped with needlepoint and children.” She watched him carefully as she spoke, as if daring him to deny her boldly stated desires.

He nodded. “And what do ye want for us?”

The soft hiss and pop of the fire in the hearth replaced the sounds of their conversation. Diana stared into its flames and stayed silent for a long while. “I don’t know.”

Evander could not help the stab of disappointment her answer delivered. Yet could he blame her? This woman had grown up with guilt in place of a mother’s affection, and a father who had bribed Evander to kidnap her.

Diana was a woman who had not had love in her world, save those of her wolves. Was it any wonder she did not know what she wanted from him?