Page 47 of Wedded to the Devilish Highlander
“I want ye to ken that I willnae try to escape or run away or make any trouble. I ken ye had Calum follow me, and I appreciate that ye’re still lookin’ out for me, but I willnae do anythin’ that keeps yer men from lookin’ for Reid or dealin’ with O’Gunn. I willnae risk anythin’ for the people here. Ye have me word on that.”
“What’s gotten into ye?” Archer asked.
“What do ye mean?” She frowned.
“I ken ye arenae inclined to make trouble on purpose, and ye’ve proven that ye care about right and wrong, but something has changed. Usually, ye would stand afore me all defiant, but ye stand here now like a meek mouse.”
“I’m nae a meek mouse!” Eileen snapped.
Archer’s chest rumbled with a low chuckle. “Ah, there ye are!”
“I’m tryin’ to be pleasant here, and ye mock me?” Eileen scoffed.
“Nay, I’m nae mockin’ ye, lass. Ye’re different as ye stand afore me, that’s true, but it’s nae a bad thing.”
Eileen shifted her weight from foot to foot and looked down at the floor as if she were about to cry.
Who did this to ye?
He stepped into her space so he could be closer to her. “Something’s troublin’ ye. Tell me what it is.”
Eileen sighed and looked up at him. For the first time since they’d met, his thoughts didn’t stray to carnal pleasures. He wanted to know who had hurt her and how he could make it right.
“I spoke with yer sister,” she admitted.
“Och, she often says things she doesnae mean,” he told her. “Dinnae pay her any mind. She likely didnae mean what she said.”
“Nay, she was so kind to me and made me feel a hundred times better. It’s just… when this comes to an end, she’ll be distraught. So will yer maither. I like Ivy, and I want to get to ken her better, but I cannae get close to her kennin’ that this will all end.”
Archer sighed. “Aye, I ken. I ken, and I ken it’ll hurt, but it has to be done.”
He wanted to talk to her more. She understood the very thing he’d felt for the past six years. He couldn’t let himself get close to someone only to see them taken from him, just like his father.
Under different circumstances, he might have gone through with the wedding, and he was sure Eileen would make a fine wife, but she would complicate his life more than most women. His marriage to her would forever be a slight against O’Gunn, putting both of them at more risk. He wouldn’t let the past repeat itself.
“Bein’ a laird is about makin’ the hard decisions,” Archer continued. “I ken ye dread what’s to come, but it’ll be temporary. We have to make the most of what is temporary. That’s all we can do.”
Eileen’s eyes flickered down to his lips for the briefest second, and he saw something in her gaze.
He thought the same thing. There was necessary pain, but there were also ways to manage that pain, and pleasure was one of them.
When she looked back up, she flushed, caught in the act.
Saints, would ye just look at that lovely pink blooming across her cheeks?
“Is it true that ye’re a rake?” she asked, a bite in her voice now.
He thought about teasing her, asking her if she was jealous, but he answered simply, “Aye. And I’m nae ashamed of it. And neither are the women who’ve lain with me.”
Eileen bit her lip unconsciously, and his hands instantly itched to grab her.
He leaned in closer, murmuring in that low, sinful brogue that never failed to make women shiver, “I’ve never had any complaints, and I dinnae foresee any. Of course, with our recent betrothal, I cannae be seen with any other women except ye, or else people might talk. I only want them talkin’ about us.”
Eileen swallowed hard, breathing heavily. She looked into his eyes, and he saw exactly what she wanted, even though she wouldn’t admit it.
“I… I came to ask about Reid,” she mumbled.
Archer straightened slightly but stayed close enough that she had to tilt her chin up to meet his eyes.
