Border Fire(49)

"You just want to give me orders," she muttered. "All men are the same."

"I'll warrant we all have traits in common," he said, "but we are not all the same. Would Hugh react to what you did in the same way that I have reacted?"

She was silent, but when he saw her nibble her lower lip, he knew she realized that Hugh would have been just as angry with her, if not much more so.

"More to the point, lass, you say you followed us because you were afraid that something would happen. You have told me that you care about your brother, too. Would you have followed him and his men on a raid?"

He felt her shudder.

"Answer me, Jenny. Would you have done that?"

Her gaze flicked toward him resentfully. "You know that I would not, but neither did I allow Hugh to dictate my every move and opinion."

"I have not attempted to do that either," he pointed out. His anger had dissipated the moment he had climbed into bed with her. The stirring in his loins had not. It took every ounce of his will to lie quietly beside her without touching her. This matter was too important to both of them to let his baser instincts guide his actions, however. He just wished the lower half of his body understood that as easily as his mind did, or that his mind could control his lower half more easily.   





 

She moved, and he suppressed a groan at the sensations that radiated through him. Then she said quietly, "It's true that you do not try to order my every breath, sir, and you have been generous about the household and … and my clothes. You have also exerted yourself to be patient with me, perhaps more patient than I deserve. I do know that. But you also dismiss my feelings and my opinions as if they held no merit. Had you not simply sent me away when word came of the raid on Cotrigg, had you allowed me to take part in the discussion, at least, and to know more about your plan, perhaps I would not have felt as fearful."

"It is not the business of men to discuss their battle plans with womenfolk, lass, and raiding is much like going into battle. I have told you that I will protect you, and I will. Truly, you can trust me on that head."

"It is not that I do not trust you," she said. Then, catching his eye, she grimaced. "You may be partly right about that. Perhaps I would not have reacted so impulsively to my feeling of unease if I had not met you in a dungeon. I cannot be certain one way or another about that, but your point is reasonable. I can see that now. Why can you not see that my feelings of unease were likewise reasonable? Had those men not stumbled across me, you would have run right into them."

"Most likely they would have ran into Tip first," he said.

She met his steady gaze, and kept silent.

He realized then that he had made her point for her. "Very well, they might have surprised us," he admitted. "They might even have succeeded in calling down a large patrol around our ears. I will grant that your instinct for trouble was a good one, but what you did in response to it was not, Jenny. You know it was not."

"Aye, I can see that now," she said. "Indeed, if I must speak honestly, I knew it when Tip and I reached the bailey and I realized that on my own I would not have been able to order a horse to ride out, that anyone I asked would most likely have refused to do my bidding." She paused, and he knew as if she had spoken the words that she wanted to ask him again about Tip's fate.

"I do not know that anyone would have dared defy your direct order," he said, deciding that her honesty demanded a like frankness on his part. "What I hope would have happened is that you would have found it necessary to explain yourself, and that someone would have ridden after us to warn … " He fell silent, realizing that the point was no good.

"You know that no one would have paid my instincts any more heed beforehand than you did afterward," she said.

"Including myself," he admitted. "I do see that. I did not even heed my own custom last night, and I've been thanking the fates that Buccleuch did not learn about that when he learned the rest. The only place I left anyone to watch our back was near Kielbeck, so we would know that our route out of the dale was safe. I did not take enough men with me to leave lads at points all along the way."

"Thank you for admitting as much," she said. "Now, if you would just call me Janet, instead of Jenny … "

He shook his head. "I don't do it to annoy you," he said. "I just like Jenny, for it has a softer sound in my mind than Janet does, and it's the way I think of you in my mind. Mayhap, Jenny just sounds more obedient," he added with a sigh.

Shifting so that she looked directly at him, she said, "I know that I've made mistakes, Quinton. I acted without thinking things through both in following you last night and in riding to Branxholme this morning. In fact, I suppose Hugh would say that I acted impulsively when I freed you from your cell at Brackengill."

"I have not objected to that impulse, however," he said with a little smile.

"That's not really true," she said. "You were angry when you first saw me that night, because you had told me to stay away. Then you abducted me because you did not think I could deal with my brother's anger. I do see now that I cannot leap to action here in the same manner that I might have at home, because I do not know the way of things here as well. Still, I will learn, sir. My being a woman does not make me a fool."

About to reassure her that he had never thought her a fool, he realized that he had dismissed her, that he had sent her away whenever something important arose, and that he had done so the night before knowing that she opposed the raiding. Not only had she feared for his safety and that of his men but also for the people of Kielbeck, who were her countrymen.

She moved and her hand inadvertently touched his bare thigh. Inhaling sharply, he forced himself to focus on their discussion, saying, "We both have been thoughtless, Jenny. If I try to do better, will you do likewise?"   





 

"Aye," she said, but her expression looked wary again.

"What?"

"Will you expect me to obey your every command without question?"

"I should be able to expect that," he said, but the amusement her words stirred revealed itself in his tone, and he knew she heard it.

Her eyebrows shot upward. "I do not believe that even the Scottish marriage rite made me your slave, sir."

"You promised to obey me."

"Aye, and I will when your commands are reasonable."

He sighed. "Jenny, lass, I have admitted being thoughtless. I know that in fairness I ought to have taken time to hear what you had to say before sending you away, both before I left for Kielbeck and later, before I sent you to your room. But do not take that to mean that I will debate my every command with you, for I will not. If you insist on defying me, you will invite grief, so from now on, if you decide to ignore an order of my giving, be prepared to suffer the consequences. I promise you, I am not always as understanding as I am trying to be now. Our marriage is young, and I want it to grow strong. Thus, I am willing to compromise, but only a bit, lass. You will not usurp my position as master of Broadhaugh."

This time, when her hand touched his thigh, he knew she did it deliberately. His body did not know the difference, though. It leapt in response.

She said softly, "Hold me close, Quinton. I want you to make love to me."

He did not hesitate, and if there was any question about who won the final point, he did not care.

Janet lay awake for some time after her husband had fallen asleep. The fire had died to embers, and she could no longer make out his features, but she liked to listen to his breathing and to feel his body close beside her while he slept.

Their lovemaking had taken on a new dimension. He had taken her as if he had meant to conquer her, to force her to abject surrender, and it seemed curious that she had not minded. Indeed, when he had teased her body, taking her to heights of sensation beyond any she had experienced before, she had responded in a way that surprised her. Learning from his actions, she tried many of the same tactics with him, and learned that she could enjoy tormenting him and making him beg for more. In the end she was not certain who had conquered whom, but the encounter had been more than satisfactory. She looked forward to repeating it.

During the next ten days, she gave him full marks for keeping his word. She noted on more than one occasion that before issuing a command he took a moment to explain to her what he was about to do. Instead of simply disappearing from the castle with a party of men, he told her where he was going. And twice, when he went elsewhere, he even sent someone back with a message. It was far more than Hugh had ever done.

She kept busy, too, preparing to go with him to the wardens' meeting; and she kept her end of the bargain. She did not even attempt to leave the castle without an armed escort of at least two men, and once, when Quinton said that he did not think it safe for her to go out, she submitted gracefully to his decision.

They remained at Branxholme for two days, so that Buccleuch could prepare his deputy as much as possible for the meeting. Before they left, he had accepted the fact that his leg would not mend in time for him to make the journey to Dayholm and made it plain that Quinton would act in his stead.