His words made her tingle, sent delicious shivers all through her. “You are mad, a brazen charmer.”
“Nae.” He shook his head slowly. “I am a man in love, desperate for the woman I married.”
“Oh, Grim.” Breena swallowed, unable to say more for the lump rising in her throat.
Releasing her, Grim glanced across the hall to where Archie held court at the high table. Greer MacGregor sat to his right, laughing heartily at something Archie was saying. Dermot O’Doherty was to Archie’s left and appeared equally amused. Turning back to Breena, Grim touched her cheek, his caress sending more quivers of delight through her.
“The Christmas celebrations will continue for days yet,” he reminded her. “You cannae expect me to act a saint that long. There isn’t a moment I dinnae want you. There’s no’ a place I can go where you aren’t on my mind, in my heart.
“Truth be told, I’d be alone with you now.” He took her hand and drew her with him to the hall’s gaily decorated entry arch. He glanced at her as they passed beneath a bower of beribboned holly and ivy and stepped into the dimly lit passage beyond. His expression was strangely somber. “Will you come with me to the Winter Tower?”
Breena blinked. She glanced down the corridor to where she knew the ancient tower waited. Late as it was, and so far from the great hall, that part of the castle would be cold, dark, and silent.
She had been enjoying the Christmas festivities. She appreciated the light and laughter, the goodwill and camaraderie among kith and kin, friends and allies, and even the clan’s erstwhile enemies.
Yet she cared for Grim more. And chose to be with him.
But there was the magical room of stars at the top of the old tower. On such a clear, still night as this one, the views would be breathtaking. She’d been enchanted when Grim had first taken her up there. That was surely his reason for wanting to return now.
“Well?” He lifted her chin, looked down at her. “Shall we slip away?”
“To be sure,” she agreed, hoping he didn’t sense her one flicker of disappointment.
Despite the magic of the room of stars, she’d expected him to sweep her into his arms and carry her up the main turret stairs to their bedchamber. She’d hoped he’d then tumble with her onto their great four-postered bed and make passionate love to her.
She bit her lip, an almost unbearable yearning inside her.
She loved him so much.
“You willnae regret it, sweet.” He leaned in, kissed her brow.
Breena blushed. “I didn’t say—”
“You didn’t have to.” He smiled, leading her around the corridor’s curve, into the shadows. “I ken you that well, my heart. We shall return to our bedchamber after we’ve visited the Winter Tower.”
Then they were at the tower’s entrance. And just as on the night before their journey, he opened the door to a rush of cold, stone-scented air.
But this time there was something else.
An unmistakably festive scent greeted them: holly and ivy, cinnamon and spice, and the rich, woodsy headiness of fresh-cut pine.
Equally surprising, a sea of tiny candles lit the way upward. Each winding step was graced by small stone jars holding the flames.
“Grim!” Breena’s eyes widened, wonder filling her. She glanced at him, her pulse quickening at the pride on his face. “What have you done?”
“Och, well…” He tugged her into the stair tower, up the circling steps. “It could be I’ve arranged a wee Christmas celebration just for us.”
“But how?” Breena’s heart beat faster as they climbed. “When did you—”
He laughed and paused on a landing to kiss her. “Remember when Lady Moira asked you to join her in encouraging Archie to share some of his storytelling skills of old? When the three of you went to sit before the hall’s fire?”
Breena nodded, her eyes beginning to mist. “You asked her to do that?”
“It was necessary so that Malcolm, Greer, and I could carry a few things up to the room of stars. Your uncle also helped.” Grim took her hand and started leading her upward again, his pace quicker now. “You’ll see in a moment.”
“And the candles?” Breena glanced at the tiny lights flanking every step. “They haven’t been burning long, not as small as they are.”
Grim chuckled. “Well met, my lady wife. Aye, two kitchen laddies lit the candles as we danced. That’s why I insisted on three reels.”
“You planned all this?” Breena’s heart was near to bursting now.
“So I did.” Not denying it, Grim led her around the stair’s last curve.