Page 93 of Defy the Highlander

He was more at ease speaking on his father than Lilia had ever seen him. She leaned forward, eyes glimmering.

“Tell me about yer da,” she asked softly.

Brody smile as memories came flooding back to him about a man he’d not remembered in some time. “Arch McKay is his name,” he said. “Arch is short for Archer, my grandmother’s family name. He’s a big man, like me. In fact, people say we look just alike, but the way we behave – that’s where the lines are drawn.”

“What do ye mean?”

“My da is much more deliberate in his decisions,” he said. “He thinks things through. I dunna; I charge in and by the grace of God, I’ve not gotten myself killed. My da never understood that in me, although I know he told others that I would grow out of that impulsive behavior.”

“Have ye?”

He looked at her, chuckling. “A little,” he said. “I still charge in. I’m a man of action and I always will be.”

“Will ye tell yer da that when ye see him?”

Brody’s smile faded. “Not at first,” he said. “At first, I’ll tell him I love him. Then, I’ll tell him the rest.”

“When will ye tell him about me?”

He reached out, pulling her over onto his lap with one hand and pushing the food tray out of the way with the other.

“Right away,” he said, wrapping his muscular arms around her. “I never had any brothers or sisters, so I’m sure my da will be very happy tae know I’ve married well.”

“Well?” she repeated. “Dunna tell him that. I havena a cent tae my name.”

He hugged her, kissing her cheek. “I dinna mean money,” he said. “I meant everything else. Ye’re what my heart has been waiting for. I thought that when I first met ye and that hasna changed. My love for ye has grown deeper every day.”

Lilia wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him sweetly. But when he moved in for something more lusty, she stopped him. Rising from his lap, she went to bolt the door. Stirring the brazier, she moved to douse the spirit candles, two by the bedframes and another on a small table by the door. The chamber was warm and dim, shadows from the glowing coals dancing on the walls as she stood beside the two mattresses where he sat and removed her blood-speckled dress.

It fell in a heap on the floor. In only her shift, she sat down beside him again and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. Gazing at his masculine beauty, memorizing every line of his face, her eyes glimmered warmly as he studied her in return.

No words passed between them. They weren’t required. When Lilia reached out to touch his neck, he closed his eyes, relishing the sensation of her warm hand. Her fingers moved upward, feeling the stubble of his face and tracing the cleft in his chin. When he reached out to touch her in return, she pushed his hands down. This was her moment. She wanted him to feel her emotions based solely on her touch.

She wanted him to know how much she loved him.

Brody groaned softly.

“Ye’re going tae be the death of me, lass.”

She smiled. “What do ye mean?”

His eyes rolled open. “Because all I can think of at this moment is making love tae ye and ye willna let me touch ye.”

With a grin, she launched herself at him, putting her face in the crook of his neck as they fell back together on the straw mattresses. His arms went around her as they settled down by the brazier, facing one another.

“So much has happened,” she murmured. “Today was a day of days and now we find ourselves going home. Yer home. Ye know I’ve never had a proper home? Not in my entire life.”

“That will change,” he said confidently, releasing her long enough to pull his tunic over his head. When Lilia saw what he was doing, she pulled off her shift without hesitation. When his breeches were in a pile on the floor, he quickly gathering her into his arms again, his heat against hers.

“Trust me, my angel,” he said. “Ye’ll have everything I can provide for ye and more.”

Her naked skin against his, Lilia was giddily content. “But where?” she asked. “Ye’ll return tae The Cal tae train men for some time. Is that where we’ll have our home? Or do ye intend tae stay in the Highlands?”

He smoothed loose strands of hair away from her face. “I hope tae return tae The Cal soon,” he said. “Going tae Ledmore – that is simply tae make peace with my da.”

“But ye dunna intend tae stay?”

“I dunna know,” he said honestly. “I’ll know more when we arrive. But I do know one thing – wherever I go, ye’ll go. We’re family, now and forever.”