Page 27 of A Temptress in Tartan

“Aye. Quinn was worried he might lose the very thing that has given his life meaning. He needed his own twin at his side to help steady him.” Reid offered Lachlan an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry we missed your wedding.”

Lachlan shrugged. “One wedding is like any other.”

Reid and Lucy shared a glance.

“Speaking of your lovely bride,” Lucy said, stepping forward and pulling Elizabeth into an embrace. “You must be Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth, meet my cousins, Reid and Lucy.” Reid was tall and lean, just like Lachlan, and they had the same intense blue eyes. Lucy was a firebrand of a woman whose head barely reached her husband’s chin, but whose hug nearly lifted Elizabeth off her feet.

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance,” Elizabeth replied.

Reid grinned. “Come, dear cousin-in-law, we are not so formal as all that.” So saying, he gathered her into his arms and twirled her around once, with enough speed that her skirt belled out in the wind.

Elizabeth’s response was a gasp of surprise that slipped into laughter. When he set her back on her feet, she wobbled slightly, but steadied herself. “Thank you both for such a kind welcome. I will admit to being slightly terrified to be among so many Douglases.” She regretted the words the moment she uttered them.

Reid appeared not to have taken offense at her statement, but Lachlan’s features darkened once more as he said, “We are not Douglases or Ruthvens here. Only people joined in a common purpose to live the lives we were destined for.”

Fresh shivers of apprehension moved through Elizabeth. That was what she was worried about: what was she destined for? At the beginning of their journey her purpose had seemed so clear, but no longer.

“As happy as we are that you’ve returned to your home, Lachlan, you have other, more important things to contend with,” Reid said.

“Such as?”

“If you would but look at your wife, you might have noticed how tired she is.”

Lachlan’s gaze intensified on her face.

“I’m not tired,” she objected, then changed her mind. “Well, perhaps a little.” She swayed on her feet once more.

Lachlan stepped past his cousins. “Why didn’t you say something?” His hand was on her elbow, propelling her inside the castle and up the grand staircase. “We could have stopped to let you rest.”

“You said you were in a hurry to reach Whittingehame.”

“I was, but not by way of your demise. Stop being so obliging.” Lachlan escorted her down a long hallway. At the end, he stopped and threw open a door, ushering her into the large chamber. “Lie down.”

When still she didn’t at once step toward the large, heavily canopied bed in the center of the room, he swooped her into his arms and settled her upon its surface. “I have neither the patience if you become ill, nor the time to tend you as your nursemaid. Rest. Agreed?”

The ghost of a smile came to her lips at the thought of this warrior tending her in the sickroom. He was so big and full of life. She had a hard time imagining him as anything but filled with energy and vitality as he was now. “If you insist.”

“I do.”

The door shut behind him before she could reply.

She gazed at the door for a long time. As the new mistress of the castle, she should be preparing to meet her staff and to start assisting in the daily needs of those under Lachlan’s protection. Yet she yawned, and settled her cheek on the pillow, then closed her eyes. Perhaps just a few moments of rest would rid her of her soreness and help her stop thinking about the gentleness Lachlan had used when he’d lifted her into his arms just now.

*

Lachlan found Reid and Lucy in the great hall. He still wasn’t used to the idea that this ancient castle belonged entirely to him. He’d only lived there for three weeks, since the king and queen had given it to him as part of his marriage agreement. It still felt a little odd when he stepped up to the seats by the hearth where his cousins waited and he took the biggest chair—the laird’s chair.

Reid’s keen blue eyes studied him intently. “Dare I ask how things are proceeding between you and your lovely wife?”

“As well as can be expected.”

Reid frowned. “Is something amiss?”

“Elizabeth’s father and a retinue of approximately fifteen men are following us. I expect them to arrive here by mid-afternoon tomorrow.”

Reid stood, suddenly tense. “Will he and his men be sharpening their clai’mors and preparing for battle?”