Lachlan walked off laughing.
Artair walked with Zia to their bedchamber, yawns attacking Zia the whole way.
“I am bone-tired,” she said when they entered the room.
“I’ll see you settled in bed and then I must go see to the bishop. With Cavan occupied, I can’t have the bishop roaming around on his own, especially with those from your village here.”
Zia sighed as if she didn’t want to ask but felt it a necessity. “Tell me of the bishop.”
Artair told her as he helped her disrobe and slip into a soft wool nightdress. Her beauty wasn’t lost on him, but he contained his passion. She was tired and he had to see to the bishop.
“He is a man sharp of mind and clear of sight. I do not believe he is a man easily fooled, though I do believe he is a fair man.”
“Why?” she asked, standing still as he tied the ribbon at her chest.
“I can’t say why. There’s something about his eyes that tells me as much.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. It’s as if I know him, and yet I don’t.”
“I trust your opinion,” she said on a yawn.
“And you trust me to keep you safe?” he asked spreading his arms around her to draw her up close against him.
“You needn’t keep asking me that,” she said, and with another yawn rested her head on his shoulder. “I know without doubt that you will protect me.”
He scooped her up into his arms, fighting the notion to drop down in bed with her and make love to her. “Good. Then you can sleep without worry.”
She slipped her arms around his neck, nuzzling the crevices with her lips before whispering, “If I weren’t so tired we would—”
“Don’t say it!” he snapped. “I’m already fighting the overwhelming urge to make love to you.”
“Good, then it isn’t only my passion I feel.”
He laid her carefully down on the bed and pulled the wool blanket over her.
She grabbed his arm and tucked him down close to her. “It is you, not I, who cast a spell, for I cannot be near you without my passion soaring.”
“You tempt me too much, woman,” he said with a growl, fighting the lust that had grabbed firm hold of his loins.
“We could be quick,” she teased with a gentle nip at his lips.
“Damn,” he mumbled, and continued mumbling as he threw the blanket back to touch her intimately, only to find her wet and ready. That was it, he was finished, he had to have her and he entered her with a sharp quickness that had her crying out in pleasure.
It was a fast mating, but a thoroughly satisfying one that had both of them sighing with the beauty of it.
“Tonight, I will take my time with you,” he said, bending over the bed to kiss her before he left.
“Promises, promises,” she chortled, and waved him off.
He playfully grabbed her chin. “I will make you squirm with the want of me.”
“You always make me squirm with the want of you.”
“Then I will make you beg.”
She laughed, though a yawn interrupted. “You’ve done that too.”
He caressed her cheek gently. “Then tell me what it is you want.”
She sighed, her eyes already closing. “Simply love me.”
Chapter 31
Artair went in search of Cavan an hour later. He found him just coming out of the bedchamber after visiting with his wife and newborn twins.
“They all sleep,” Cavan said softly. “Now what of the bishop?”
“He is exploring the village and talking with the people,” Artair said.
Cavan said nothing until after they walked down the stairs and entered the solar, closing the door behind them. “He will also come upon those from the village Black.”
“They have been made aware of the situation.”
“Zia knows to remain out of sight?” Cavan asked.
Artair nodded. “No doubt it will be hours before she wakes, and when she does she will immediately want to check on Honora and the babes, and then there is her grandmother to visit with.”
Cavan nodded. “Bethane. A most gracious and wise woman, so I’ve learned. And I believe one who knows more than she says.”
“You intend to speak to her about Ronan.”
“I do, and she knows it, for she told me privately that she would talk with me about my brother when I was ready.”
“Ready?” Artair asked.
“I wondered what she meant, the same as you. Then I thought perhaps I should be ready to hear dire news.”
Artair shook his head. “I don’t believe so. Besides, Bethane could have meant that with so much going on—the birth of the babes, the bishop’s arrival—you had no time to talk about Ronan just now.”