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“Lord Angus, I was desperate. I…I wanted ye, and I hated that ye took a lover, and that ye didna want to bed me. I always get what I want. I’m of a strong mind, and even my brother is afraid of me. But ye’re the first man who showed me ye can be my master.”
To his surprise, she dropped to her knees, still holding his hand and looking up at him.
“Only ye. And I didna ken how to behave. What to do. And still ye didna want to bed me, even though I forced ye.”
Uncomfortable, he pulled her up so that she stood. “Please, Lady Euphemia. There’s truly nae need for that. I will bed ye of my own will. Ye’re right that ye canna force me. Especially if ye want my respect and my…”
He trailed off. He couldn’t say love, because as long as he lived, he’d never love a woman who wasn’t Rogene.
“Love?” Euphemia finished.
With reluctance, he squeezed her hand back. “I will promise that as long as I’m yer husband, ye will be the only woman for me. I wilna have a mistress and I wilna bed servants. ’Tis nae in my nature to do that. And I must insist that ye do the same.”
Her blue eyes sparkled, and she beamed. “Of course.”
She looked pretty.
Almost.
“Before we marry, I must make sure ye’re nae pregnant from another man. The lad will be my son. Mine.”
“Aye. I’m nae pregnant. I was angry at ye, and I did bed one man, but I took precautions.”
“We shall see. With yer agreement, I’d like a healer to examine ye. Or we must wait for half a year to make sure.”
“I dinna mind if a healer examines me. I’m nae pregnant as I just had my course. Anything else?”
“Ye accept all the conditions we had tried to negotiate in the contract. Kintail stays with Mackenzie clan. The dowry. We live on my estate.”
She blinked and something dark flickered through her face but disappeared. “Aye.”
He nodded and still held her hand.
“Do ye forgive me now?” she said.
He inhaled deeply. “Aye.”
She smiled, then her face gained a more menacing expression, and his blood chilled.
“Good, because I do have one condition of my own.”
“What is it?”
“That Lady Rogene dies.”
He inhaled sharply, feeling as though a knife sliced his stomach. “Ye dinna need to worry about her. She’s gone. As good as dead.”
She frowned. “How?”
“She’s gone overseas. So far away, ye can never reach her. Forever. Ye may consider her dead.”
She narrowed her eyes. “How can I trust ye? Can ye swear?”
“I swear on God’s name, Lady Euphemia. She’s gone.”
She studied his face for a while, then relaxed and gave a satisfied nod. “I believe ye.” And then she beamed and laid her hand on his chest. “I didna think that ye’d come back to me. I thought I’d lost ye.”
She caught his eyes, and for the first time since he’d known her, he saw a human soul behind them. Her eyes watered. She was vulnerable, and open, and fragile before him. And he thought that if she could be like this, this marriage could go better than he’d ever thought it could. He could respect this woman and get to know her and mayhap even become friends with her.
