Page 32 of A Bride for the Kilted Beast

He wanted so much to comfort her and make her feel safe with him that he would have promised her the earth just then. The council would have a lot to say about it, but he didn’t care. He was the laird, and he was in charge. They would do what he told them or be damned.

He decided he was just going to have to make them understand why the marriage could not be consummated yet. They had to at least give him some time to establish the truth of Lillie’s claims.

“D’ye really swear?” she asked in a small voice that plucked at his heart strings.

He took her hand and squeezed it. “Aye, I swear on me life.” As soon as the last word left his mouth, she gazed at him, and her lips curved into a smile so sweet, he felt like hurling himself at her feet and begging her pardon for all he had done to her.

“Let’s have a drink, eh? One that’ll nae put one of us tae sleep,” he joked, getting up and going to the table. He poured two beakers of wine and brought them back, handing Lillie one. She moved further up the bed, leaning against the pillow and curling her legs beneath her, sipping the wine. Her nose and eyes were red, but she was smiling, and he thought she looked adorable.

Feeling suddenly weary, he too climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged opposite her, wine in hand. He took a long drink, feeling he needed it after all the emotional upheavals of the last hour. And now, learning more about what had happened to Lillie was making him think about his own sister Maddison.

“D’ye ken our sister’s been abducted?” he asked Lillie suddenly.

She nodded. “I heard ye and that man Lennox arguing about it at the auction. Ye accused him of keeping her prisoner. Is that right?” she asked, looking at him gravely, concern in her eyes.

He sighed. “We dinnae ken for certain, but me and me braither have been searching fer her fer the past year, and everythin’ we’ve heard leads me tae believe the Lennoxes have her. But we cannae prove it,” he admitted.

“That’s why ye baited him at the auction, tae try tae get him tae tell ye?”

He nodded, surprised by her perception. “Aye, but it didnae work, so I dinnae where tae go from here.”

“That Lennox threatened tae come here,” she said, “tae take me away. D’ye think he will?” She looked alarmed by the thought.

“I hope nae, but if he does, ye dinnae have tae worry. I’ll keep ye safe.”

She said nothing to that, and a few moments later, she asked, “What happened with Maddison? How was she abducted?”

CHAPTER TWELVE

He did not want to go into all the horrors of that night, which lived inside him at all times. He had only ever talked about it with Ciarán. But it felt strangely good to talk to Lillie about it. It was painful, yet he found it surprisingly easy to tell her. If she had indeed been kidnapped before, then he figured she would understand his pain. But he decided to limit the facts, to avoid souring the mood.

“She was taken from here. Someone inside the castle probably played a part maybe. We dinnae ken.” That much at least was true. “She was just gone when… when we got up in the morning. But everythin’ points to Murphy Lennox being the one who took her. That’s Odhrán’s father. He’s an even bigger bastard than his son.” He paused, quelling the frustration the subject always prompted in him

“The thing is, we dinnae even ken if Maddison’s still alive. Ciarán is her twin, and he’s adamant that he’d ken if she was dead. So, we just have tae have faith.”

Lillie’s expression changed to one of deep sympathy that touched him. She reached out and laid her hand upon his, startling him with her change in demeanor.

“Ye have tae believe he’s right,” she said, her eyes earnest. “Never give up hope. I’d almost given up hope of ever being rescued, but in the end, me braithers found me. I’m certain it will be the same with Maddison.”

“Aye, at the moment, hope is all we have,” he replied, feeling her conviction oddly comforting. He wanted to give her some of the same comfort.

“Thank ye fer saying that… Lillie, I have tae tell ye something.”

“Aye, what is it?” she asked looking at him attentively.

“I’ve written tae yer brother, tae ask him tae confirm what ye’ve told me.”

She sat up straight, her eyes suddenly alert. “Ye’ve written tae Aiden?”

“Aye. I sent a messenger with the letter today.” He was amazed when she clapped her hands with childish glee, and her eyes shone brightly, but not with tears this time.

“Oh, thank ye, Diarmaid, thank ye! That’s wonderful news. Och, I cannae wait until he gets the letter. What did ye say? Did ye tell him everything? About me being kidnapped and sold, and that we’re married?”

Diarmaid nodded. “Aye, I told him everything.”

“Och! I can hardly believe it!” Diarmaid watched her carefully. There was no doubt her joy was genuine. And that meant she had probably been truthful in what she had told him. With that belief growing stronger within him by the moment, he looked at her differently—as laird MacDonald’s sister, an innocent lass who had suffered terribly at the hands of men. It’s no wonder, he thought, she’s so scared of being bedded.

But she was also his wife, and the pressing need to consummate their union before Lennox arrived weighed on him. He knew he had to do something to gain her trust and convince her that loving between a wife and her husband was something to enjoy, not fear.