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"Oh aye." Clearing his throat, Rory said, "First, Aulay and I came to loggerheads several times o'er his behavior around ye. He appeared to ha'e trouble remembering that the two o' ye were no' really married."
Jetta immediately began to blush and Aulay suspected she was recalling those times in question. He certainly was now that Rory had mentioned them, and for a moment he basked in the memory of the taste of her, the sound of her excited cries, the way she'd responded to his kisses . . . and waking to find her mouth on him. That memory was particularly piquant, he thought and then grunted and looked around with surprise when someone punched him in the arm. Spotting Saidh standing next to him, scowling ferociously, he frowned and raised his eyebrows in question. His sister gave him a meaningful look and then nodded toward Jetta.
Turning, he glanced at her and saw that she was not experiencing quite the same joy in the memories as he had been before Saidh punched him. In fact, she was bright red and nearly squirming in the bed with apparent embarrassment and what might be shame.
Scowling, he patted her hand again and said, "Ye've naught to be ashamed o', lass. Ye believed we were married. Besides, yer innocence is still intact."
Rather than soothe her, that made her blush deepen and she looked more distressed than ever. Aulay was relieved when Rory continued, "The other trouble it caused was with Saidh. She was most upset that we were no' telling ye the truth, and took both Aulay and me to task for it. She e'en tried to convince us to tell ye everything."
"I did," Saidh assured her. "Unfortunately, men are stupid. At least me brothers are. They would no' listen to me."
Jetta offered Saidh a crooked smile.
"The fact that they're sitting here telling ye this instead o' telling ye what's most important proves it," Saidh added, turning to scowl at Aulay briefly.
Not having a clue what she was referring to, Aulay glowered back.
Apparently recognizing that he didn't know what she was talking about, Saidh said with exasperation, "Greer told me ye planned to tell Jetta everything after the sup and to ask her to marry ye?"
"Oh aye," he agreed quickly and turned to Jetta, nodding his head firmly. "I planned to tell ye tonight."
"Why?" she asked at once.
Nonplussed, Aulay stared at her. "Why what?"
She hesitated and then asked, "Why were you going to tell me now after so long leaving me in the dark?"
Aulay paused to consider before answering, suspecting he was treading on uneven ground here, and then he said, "I wanted to tell ye from the first, but did no' wish to risk yer healing. However, what with someone pushing ye down the stairs and whatnot we began to worry this may ha'e something to do with yer family or who they were trying to make ye marry and it did seem ye'd be safer if ye were married, and ye had to ken ye were no' married before I could ask ye to marry me."
"So you were going to tell me so that you could ask me to marry you, and you want to marry me to keep me safe?" she asked with a small frown.
"Aye," Aulay said, and then glanced around when one of the women gasped. His eyebrows rose as he took in the various reactions of his family. His brothers, as well as Cam and Greer, were all nodding as if he was making perfect sense. The women, however, at least Edith, Murine and Jo, all looked horrified. But it was the reactions of Uncle Acair, Rory and Saidh that troubled him most. Rory was wincing, Uncle Acair was shaking his head and rolling his eyes skyward as if silently asking his dead brother, Aulay's father, how he had managed to raise such an idiot, and Saidh had her lips pursed and a somewhat confounded expression, as if she thought his answer made sense, but also thought it was not quite right and she could not for the life of her figure out why. That was most troubling to him. He understood ladies expected sweet words and romantic gestures, but he was not that kind of man. However, if his own sister, who was--in his estimation--as far from a romantic as could be found . . . well, if she thought his answer lacking, that was bad.
Scratching the back of his head, he peered back at Jetta and noted her dejected pose. She was peering at her hands where they lay on her chest, and she looked disappointed. Wounded even, he thought.
"Tell the lass how ye feel about her, ye dolt," Uncle Acair hissed.
Aulay took a moment to scowl at the man, and then turned back to Jetta to see that she'd raised her eyes and was watching him hopefully. That was when it suddenly occurred to him that he'd never given any indication that he even had feelings for her, which he supposed wasn't fair. After all, Jetta had said how she felt about him repeatedly since waking. She'd told him she wanted him, that she felt lucky to have him to husband, even that she loved him. Of course, that had all been influenced by her belief that they were married, but that didn't make it any less true. He, however . . . well, he had not even told her he liked her, Aulay realized now. He had a vague recollection of saying she was wee and cared for in response to a comment of hers once, but other than that he'd not said one word about his own feelings for her. And it seemed to him that he probably should.
Slipping off the bed to kneel on the floor beside it, Aulay took her hands in his and said solemnly, "Lass, I thought ye beautiful the minute I laid eyes on yer face. I've wanted ye from the minute we dragged ye out o' the ocean and onto me boat. And I decided to keep ye the minute ye saw me face and did no' flinch, weep or scream at the scar, but instead called me yer angel."
"Did she?" Edith asked eagerly.
"Aye," Alick said. "She said he was an angel sent by God to save her, and touched his cheek as if he were a precious gift."
"Oh," the women sighed together.
Ignoring them, Aulay continued, "Fer the three weeks I tended ye, I worried every minute o' every day that ye'd no' survive, and the thought distressed me something terrible. But ye did survive. Ye woke and thought me yer husband and . . ." He shook his head and then took a deep breath, let it out and said, "I do no' ken if what I feel is love. But I think o' ye all the time, even when ye're no' with me. And these days since ye've woken have been the happiest o' me life."
When her smile widened, he added, "And not only that. I see ye everywhere, lass. Every maid I see with long black hair reminds me o' ye. Even some without hair, or well, with their hair covered," he explained and shook his head before continuing, "I worry about ye constantly too. I hated being away from ye when I had to return to Buchanan without ye. I like spending time with ye. I like playing chess with ye, and Nine Men's Morris, and I like talking to ye. I just enjoy yer company. But I like kissing and touching ye best o' all, and I'm aching to bed ye. I want ye fer me wife, lass. I want to wake every day to yer smiling face, I want to ha'e beautiful bairns with ye that we can raise together to be fine, strong men and women, and I want to live to be an old man and die in yer arms, for 'tis as close to heaven as I've ever been."
Someone snuffled behind him, and Aulay glanced around, scowling when he saw that the women were all weeping like bairns. Christ, even Alick was weeping like a girl, but not Saidh. Her eyes were glassy, but she was manfully keeping her tears from dropping. He could always count on Saidh.
Turning back to Jetta, he blew out a breath and said solemnly, "But I do no' want ye to marry me only fer the safety it offers. I'll keep ye safe, married or no'. But I'd rather ye only marry me if ye have soft feelings fer me too, and want to spend yer life with me the way I do you."
"Aye," she said softly.
Aulay hesitated, and then asked uncertainly, "Aye, what?"
"Aye, I want to marry you for you," she said on a soft laugh, and then tugged her hands from his and framed his face with them. "Have I not already told you I love you? Mayhap at first it was because I thought you my husband, and assumed that I had loved you ere the shipwreck where I lost my memories, but I quickly came to see why I would love you. You are all I could wish for in a husband, Aulay. In truth, you are probably more than I ever dared hope for. I would consider myself lucky to be your wife, bear your bairns and die an old woman in your arms. I see a happy future with you."
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nbsp; Aulay grinned, but hearing more sniffling behind him, asked, "Even if marrying me means ye'll be stuck with me large, nosy and interfering family?"
Glancing past him, she grinned as she took in the people surrounding them and nodded. "Aye. Even then, husband. I mean, Aulay." Grimacing, she added, "Sorry. I am so used to calling you that, I just--"
"Well, in truth, ye've every right to call him that, lass," Uncle Acair said now. "Ye may no' ha'e had benefit o' a priest, but yer married by habit and repute now." When she peered at him uncertainly, he explained, "Ye've lived together as a couple, ye calling him husband, and him even calling ye wife a time or two. Ye presented yerselves as a couple to society, or at least to us." He shrugged. "Ye're handfasted, which is as good as married here in Scotland. The courts would say that legally, ye are wed."
"Oh," she murmured, but then frowned.
Certain he knew what she was thinking, Aulay assured her, "We will have a priest marry us all good and proper though. In fact--" Turning, he glanced to Alick, who was still looking wet-eyed, and said, "Alick, go fetch--"
"Damn! The priest," Niels said suddenly, interrupting Aulay.
Noting his expression, Aulay narrowed his eyes. "What? Is there something wrong with Father Archibald?"
"Not wrong exactly," Niels assured him. "But Edith wanted to have a word with him when we arrived, and Alick said--"
"The stable master told me he rode out this morning just ere I arrived with Saidh and Greer and the chests," Alick said, interrupting Niels.
"Damn," Aulay breathed with a frown.
"Aye. That's how we lost Father MacKenna," Dougall reminded him grimly.
"What?" Cam asked with confusion.
"Our last priest was Father MacKenna," Niels explained. "But when Dougall brought Murine here and they hoped to marry, he suddenly rode off, never to be heard from again."
"We suspect Murine's brother and cousin had something to do with it," Dougall said grimly. "They would no' ha'e wanted him to marry us and ruin their plans."
"I'm sure this is no' the same as MacKenna," Greer said soothingly. "Archibald is fine and will return tonight or in the morn."
"And if he does no', Drummond is no' far from here," Edith pointed out.
"Aye." Niels smiled. "Our priest could marry ye."
"MacDonnell is close too," Saidh added. "If we held the wedding there, ye could meet Alpin and see yer nieces."
