She ran her hands across his broad chest, kissing and nibbling the way he had the night before.
Stilling her hands, he said, “Ah, God’s teeth, lass, ye could tempt a saint.”
“Can we not do it again?”
“Aye, we can, I just thought—never mind what I thought.” He captured her lips, rolling her onto her back, making tender love to her once more.
They slept again in each other’s arms, waking well after the sun was up. In the light of day, some of her bashfulness returned and she wrapped the sheet around her before climbing out of bed.
“Nay, lass,” Tadhg said huskily, tugging at the sheet. “Ye are truly beautiful and it gives me joy to see ye. Don’t hide from me here.” She blushed and looked away, but left the bed, leaving the sheet behind, enjoying the sound of his rich chuckle.
She found her clothing had been moved into the wardrobe and one of the chests. She washed quickly, dressing in a deep russet léine cinched at her waist with a leather belt.
He, too, rose to dress and picked up a small vial that had been on the bedside table. “Well now, we don’t need this.”
She gave him a quizzical look over her shoulder. “What is it?”
“A vial of sheep’s blood.” At her confused expression, he grinned. “Do ye remember the promise I made ye in the chapel, the night ye arrived?”
“Oh. That was—ye were going to…” she glanced at the evidence of her virginity on the bed. She giggled nervously. “Nay, I suppose we don’t need it. But, Tadhg, thank ye for thinking of it.” She blushed crimson.
He chuckled, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her soundly. “Ye have nothing to be embarrassed about, sweetling, but I do love to see ye blush. Ye are so very beautiful.” He kissed her again before releasing her to finish dressing.
She removed a cream-colored plaid with green, gold, and russet stripes from the chest containing her clothing and started to fasten it around her shoulders. He stopped her. “I would like for ye to have this.” He fastened her plaid for her with an intricately filigreed gold brooch. In a voice tinged with sadness, he added, “It belonged to my mother.”
“Tadhg, I would be honored.” She rested her hands on his shoulders while he adjusted the brooch. Her brothers had told her Tadhg’s mother and younger brother had died of the plague ten years earlier while visiting the royal court in Edinburgh. When Tadhg had the brooch secured, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him, wanting to banish the shadow of loss from his eyes.
When their lips parted he said, “Now, no more of that, lass, or ye’ll have me taking ye back to bed.”
She laughed at him. “Ah, ye have discovered my evil scheme to avoid the throng of MacKenzies who no doubt lay in wait below.”
“There is no point trying to avoid them, little one. In just a few short days, I have learned it is nigh on impossible to do that. We will brave them together.”
“Oh, Tadhg, I’m so sorry if they have been a bother.”
He laughed. “They are no bother to me, pet. I always envied your brothers for the close relationship they had. Being part of a large and loving family is a good thing. But I do see how ye can be overwhelmed by them.”
“When Da returned from the Michaelmas Fair, they were all surprised to learn the betrothal he arranged would require me to leave home. When they protested—”
“They protested?”
“Aye, well, not Peadar and Quinn. It was mostly my sisters and really only because they knew I didn’t want to leave home. But I overheard Da say perhaps it would be best if I had to ‘stand on my own two feet’ and didn’t have them to shield me.” Admitting this left her feeling somewhat ashamed. She looked down, avoiding his gaze.
He nudged her chin back up. “Mairead, there is nothing wrong with guarding something which is precious to ye. Yet I think in their love for ye, they built walls to protect ye without ever looking inside them. They didn’t notice how much ye were hurting.”
Mairead was astonished by how accurately he had assessed the situation. Clearly, she had allowed it to happen because she too had walled part of herself away to avoid the pain of facing the trauma. In a few short days, the man who stood before her had destroyed those walls, allowing her to share her pain with him and thus release some of it. She felt stronger and surer because of it. She didn’t know if it was possible to love someone in so short a time, but she believed she might love him already. Perhaps it was a ridiculous notion, and she couldn’t quite bring herself to voice it. Instead, she palmed his face and pulled him into another kiss.