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“Or ever.”
She smiled and went back to gazing out the window. The uncertain light of a slipper moon traced the edges of the garden shrubs, creating odd and fanciful shapes. The loch was a gigantic inkblot at the base of the wide lawn, the occasional whitecap momentarily glittering into life. On the other side of the water, Highland peaks reached up jagged and black against a starlight sky.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured. “Quite my favorite view here at Kinglas.”
“Aye, it’s grand. But I wasn’t aware you had a favorite view. I always thought you loathed everything about this place.”
“No, just the inhabitants,” she said drolly. “In fact, when we were stuck here last January, I often snuck down to the library to read when the earl was busy elsewhere.”
“And when you weren’t helping Victoria care for my stupid, sick brothers. Which, now that I think on it, you shouldn’t have been doing since you were pregnant.”
“I didn’t mind. It was a good distraction from my troubles.”
“That’s one way to put it.” He gently tugged one of the glossy curls framing her face. “I wasn’t nearly as careful with you as I should have been, lass. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about that.”
She turned to face him. When she placed her palms flat on his waistcoat, he covered her hands with his.
“You didn’t know I was with child,” she said earnestly. “So there’s nothing to apologize for.”
“But I knewsomethingwas wrong. I should have done more to help you, instead of letting you slip off to Cairndow all by yourself.”
“If there is one person who should never apologize to me, it’s you, Royal Kendrick. I owe youeverything.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Ainsley. Truly.” Thelastthing he wanted from her was the sense that all that bound her to him was obligation.
Gravely, she studied his face. He had the uncomfortable feeling she could read his mind.
“You are a very foolish man if you think that’s the only reason I’m here,” she said, confirming his suspicions. “I’m here because I want to be with you, not because I have to be with you.”
Under her slender fingers, he could feel his heart begin to pound. “Do you think you could be more specific, Mrs. Kendrick?” Emotion had made his voice gruff. “Why are you here right now?”
A teasing smile, blessedly confident, curled up the corners of her lush mouth. “Why, for a good night kiss, of course.”
She went up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. It was so sweet and yet so determined that it all but took him out at the knees. He repressed the instinct to drag her into his arms, and instead carefully wrapped his hands around her waist.
He gently pressed close, relishing the soft feel of her luscious lips. For glorious moments, their mouths played with each other, slowly building in intensity. For so long he’d yearned for her kisses, reverently storing in memory the few they’d shared. Now that she was finally secured within his embrace, Royal practically shook with desire, fighting the overwhelming, visceral need to claim his woman. But he could not and would not rush, for her sake and also for his. This was a moment to cherish and remember for as long as he lived.
When he teased along the seam of her lips, silently asking permission to enter, she responded with a breathless chuckle that turned his heart inside out. God, he loved this woman. Ainsley had courage and pride enough to conquer kingdoms, yet she trembled in his arms, so vulnerable and sweet that he wanted to tear down the world and build a fortress to keep her safe.
Gently, he slipped inside and tasted brandy and his wife.
She murmured deep in her throat and wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck, responding with a delicious tease of silky heat. When she drew back a few seconds later, he almost groaned. But then she traced the shape of his mouth with the tip of her tongue, sending fire through his veins, before stealing back inside to torment him with languid, delicate kisses.
For a few moments, he endured it, clamping down on the urge to take. But when she nipped his lower lip, desire blasted through him like a thunderstorm raging across the loch. Royal swept past her ladylike caresses to claim her mouth with all the passion and need he’d locked down and hidden away for long, lonely months.
When Ainsley froze, as if startled, his heart slammed into the wall of his chest. But then she moaned, snuggling even closer. The feel of her full breasts pressing against his waistcoat set him on fire.
Without breaking the kiss, Royal started walking her backward toward the chaise. When she willingly followed his lead, his heart soared. She wasn’t afraid of him. She wasn’t afraid, period. Because she was Ainsley. If Royal weren’t so overcome with need, he’d be dropping to his knees and sending up a thousand prayers of gratitude to all the angels that his beautiful wife was the strongest woman he’d ever met.
You can light a candle later, you lucky bastard.
They were just about to sink down onto the plump cushions of the chaise when the library door flew open and thudded against the wall. Ainsley jerked back, her foot tangling around his boot, and they almost tumbled to the floor as Angus stomped into the room.
“Oh, my God,” she gasped as Royal set her upright.
His grandfather scowled at them. “I’ve been lookin’ all over the bloody castle for ye.”
Ainsley leveled an accusatory glare at Royal. “You promised your family would leave us alone. Youpromised.”
