Nora felt heat rush to her cheeks.
How did she tell the man that she had no idea?
"He"s in the back of the crowd, bleeding," came a deep, rumbling English voice.
Nora couldn"t breathe as she recognized the voice.
It belonged to Sin MacAllister!
Shaking now, she searched the crowd to find him. There at the very rear of those gathered was one man who towered over all the others.
It was Ewan, and he was flanked by his three brothers.
She smiled so widely that she had a good idea she looked foolish.
She didn"t care.
Ewan elbowed Sin in the stomach for his announcement, then moved forward through the crowd that now parted before him like the Red Sea before Moses.
Ewan moved slowly, carefully.
Deliberately.
Nora wept at his approach. His face was pale, and he had a fine sheen of perspiration on his brow.
It was obvious that he was in pain, but why?
Surely his injury had healed.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as he climbed the stairs to stand by her side.
His eyes danced with love as he took her hands into his and kissed each one in turn. "I"ve come to claim my wife, if she"ll agree to have a fool for her husband."
Joy exploded through her. He had come!
Catarina had been right.
Ewan had come for her...
But why had he waited so long?
Why had he put her through such torment?
"Twas cruel what he"d done, and had he waited another few minutes, she might have found herself Lady MacAren.
That didn"t sit well with her.
In fact, it made her want to torment the man who had tortured her.
"Why did you wait so long to come?" she asked.
He brushed his finger down her cheek, raising chills all over her body. "The infection from my wound returned and I couldn"t."
"He shouldn"t be here now," Lochlan said as he stood at the foot of the stairs. "He"s still too weak to travel, but when he learned you were to marry Ryan, he refused to stay abed. No doubt you"ll be paying for this bout of stupidity as well."
Ignoring his brother"s words, Ewan tipped her chin up so that she had no choice but to look up at him and see the fire in his blue eyes that devoured her.
"Run away with me, Nora," he breathed. "I"ll take you anyplace you want to go. England. France.
Rome. Outremer. You name it, and I"ll gladly take you there."
Tears fell down her cheeks at his loving words. It was more than she could have asked for. "Anyplace?"
"Aye."
"Then I wish to take you to bed..."
Shocked gasps filled the crowd.
"To heal!" she said irritably as she glared at them as a whole. She shook her head at them. "What good would he be if dies of his wounds? Then I still end up married to Ryan. What good would that be?"
"I should be offended by that," Ryan said as the crowd laughed. "But she"s said much worse to me than that over the years."
He clapped Ewan on the back. " "Tis just as well, I would have more than likely killed her within a year anyway, or run off with another. Peace be with the two of you, Ewan and Nora, and may the saints in their mercy bring early hearing loss to all the MacAllisters."
Nora gaped at Ryan"s words.
"Nay," Ewan said. "I want no deafness in my life to deprive me of the beauty of her voice."
She smiled up at him, then threw herself into his arms.
Ewan staggered back, and only Lochlan"s quick actions kept him from falling with her.
"I"m sorry, Ewan," she breathed. "I forgot."
"I don"t mind." By the happy look of his face, she could tell he meant that.
"So, do I need to retire from this?" the priest asked.
Ewan shook his head. "Nay, Father. You"ve a wedding to be about. I want no one to ever question my right to this lady again."
"Ewan," Lochlan growled. "You"ll pa.s.s out before it"s through."
"Then toss some water on my face, prop me up and make sure I say "I do" when I need to."
Nora squeezed his hand as the priest began the ceremony.
Ewan listened to the priest while he stared in grateful relief at the woman before him.
He"d been terrified that they wouldn"t make it in time. His body throbbed and burned in protest, but he didn"t care.
Nora was his.
There was no way he would ever let her leave him again.
No way he would ever allow anyone else to come between them.
Luckily, he made it through the ceremony and Ma.s.s, but Nora refused to partake of the feast that awaited them.
Instead she forced him up to her room and into her bed.
Ewan sighed as he lay on the softness of her feather tick mattress and she fluttered about the room.
The walls of her room were painted soft pastels that were soothing and cheerful. Just like the lady herself.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Nora?"
Ewan recognized Catarina"s voice.
Nora went to answer it while he closed his eyes and inhaled the pillows underneath his head. Pillows that smelled of flowers and woman.
Nora"s scent.
It burned through his body, making him instantly hard for his wife.
His wife...
Even now he couldn"t believe it. How had he been so lucky as to have her stumble into his life?
She rejoined him on the bed.
"What did Cat want?" he asked.
She bit her lip, then held up the dress she"d worn the night at the inn. "She thought you might want me to dance for you tonight."
Ewan forced himself up on his elbows as he raked a hot, l.u.s.tful stare over her body. "Aye, my love. I want you to dance for me tonight. But I"d rather you do itnaked ."
Nora squeaked at his suggestion. "Why, Ewan MacAllister, you are an evil one, aren"t you?"
"To the bottom of my rotten and depraved soul, Nora. Now come here, wife, and let me make sure we consummate our union."
She lifted the hem of her gown and stepped up into the bed. Leaning over him, she straddled his swollen groin.
"Hmm," she said as she rubbed herself against his erection. "What have we here?"
Ewan cupped her face in his hands and pulled her to his lips for a scorching kiss.
He pulled back a moment later to answer her question. "What we have here, my lady, is a bear who wants to be tamed. Know you someone with a stout enough heart to lead him home and suffer his dismal ways?"
She kissed him lightly on the lips. "Aye, my lord, I do. But having been brought home, is it possible for the bear to stay happily away from his cave?"
He smiled at that and the winsome look on her face. "Aye, it is. I want only you in my life, Nora."
"Only me? What then should I do with our baby when it comes?"
Ewan couldn"t breathe as her words permeated his head. "What do you mean?"
"Well, "tis early yet, but I missed my flow. I think my bear may have a cub coming to follow in his father"s footsteps."
Joy made him delirious. "When will you know for sure?"
"A few weeks."
He pulled her on top of him, then groaned as her body contracted with his wound.
But he didn"t care.
His wife, nay, his heart, carried his child. This was the sweetest moment of his life. "I love you, Nora.
With every fiber of my soul. I love you."
She smiled at that. "And I love you, too."
Chapter 14.
It was long after dark when Lochlan, Braden and Sin sat with Nora"s father alone in the great hall of Alexander"s keep. The overhead candles had been doused and the hall was illuminated only by the fire in the large fireplace that was built along the right wall.
Its light played against the banners and weapons that decorated the whitewashed walls, dancing strange shapes all around them while they joked and sampled the food that had been left out before the servants had taken their leave of them.
The happy couple had retired hours ago, and no one had seen a single sight of Nora since.
Not that they expected to.
Indeed, Lochlan fully expected days would go by before either of them showed themselves again.
It was something that made his heart soar.
He was glad happiness had finally come to his brother. Ewan had needed it.
"I can"t believe we got Ewan married off before Lochlan" Braden said as he picked at a platter of sliced fruit that was set before him. "We needs be careful, Sin. I think the Second Coming might be upon us. I feel the sudden urge for confession."