Page 126 of The Laird’s Sinful Obsession

"What if we married?"

Lachlann looked up from the letter he'd been writing. The candle on his desk had burned low, guttering in its holder, and the hour was late enough that the castle around them had gone quiet.

Alba stood in the doorway of his solar in a simple dress and a shawl, her hair loose.

He set down his quill.

"Alba."

"I'm serious." She went into the room and closed the door behind her. "I couldnae sleep. I kept thinkin' about the warrant, and Torquil, and what he's goin' tae dae next, and I thought—" She stopped in front of his desk, her hands wrapped in the shawl. "If we married, would it help? Would it make it harder fer him tae claim me?"

He was quiet for a moment, looking at her.

She could see him working through it. The legal complications, the political ramifications, the question of whether a marriage would strengthen their position or simply give Torquil a different angle to attack from.

"It might," he said finally. "If we could prove consummation and intent, it would complicate his position considerably. The king would be less inclined tae dissolve a marriage than tae simply enforce a custody arrangement." He paused. "But it's nae a guarantee."

"I ken it's nae a guarantee." She pulled the shawl tighter. "But it's somethin'. And right now somethin' feels better than naethin'."

He studied her face. "Ye're certain?"

"Aye," she said, looking at him. "Very certain."

He looked at her a moment longer, and then he nodded once, decisive.

"All right," he said. "Then we dae it taenight."

"Taenight?"

"Before anyone has time tae stop us. Before Torquil has time tae make his next move." He rose from the desk. "Can ye be ready in an hour?"

She stared at him. "An hour?"

"We'll need witnesses, nae many, but enough. And the chapel." He was already moving, his mind clearly several steps ahead of his words. "Ruadhri and James can stand fer us. Father Calum will perform the rite if I ask him tae."

"Will he nae ask questions?"

"He'll ask questions," Lachlann said. "But he'll dae it. He kens what's at stake." He stopped and looked at her. "Are ye havin' second thoughts?"

She took a breath. "Nay. Just, it's very fast."

"Aye," he said. "It is."

She held his gaze for a moment.

Her heart was beating very quickly, and she could feel the weight of what they were about to do settling onto her shoulders. Not the vows themselves, which she'd expected, but the speed of it, the finality of it, the way it would change everything between them in ways she couldn't fully predict.

But standing there in his solar in the middle of the night, looking at the careful steadiness of him, she found she wasn't afraid of that.

"An hour," she said.

"An hour," he agreed.

The chapel was cold and dark when they arrived, lit only by the candles Ruadhri had set in the sconces along the walls.

Father Calum stood at the altar in his vestments, his expression carefully neutral in the way of a man who had been woken in the middle of the night and told to perform a wedding and had decided not to ask the questions his face was clearly showing.

James stood near the door, his presence more guard than witness, and beside the altar Ruadhri waited with his hands clasped, looking at Lachlann with an expression that was equal parts concern and approval.