Page 34 of The Seer

Alternating between wanting more and asking him to hold back, she ended up mewling while digging her fingernails into his flesh as time after time, she feared losing consciousness.

Suddenly, her entire being exploding into tiny bits. Dallis cried out unable to gain purchase, floating in a realm much like the sky Alasdair had shown her.

Darkness and flashes of light.

Through the dullness of her senses, a hoarse cry penetrated through, and Alasdair fell over her, spent and shuddering.

“We should speak,” Dallis said while she dressed. “Although I feel very strongly, I barely know ye.”

In truth, he would have preferred to remain in bed with the minx and make love again before morning. However, after only a few moments laying on his chest, she suddenly slid from the bed.

“Why are ye getting dressed?”

Dallis gave him a pointed look. “Because ye and I are not married as yet. My mother would not approve of this.” She motioned between them.

She sat down on the bed and met his gaze for a long moment. “Are ye going to be able to settle? To remain here?”

In his mind, he would withstand being locked in a box for hours as long as he could see Dallis every day. Instead of answering quickly, he considered it.

“I do not know what it is like to remain in one place for long. Since very young, I have never settled. My mother and I would move to different villages to live with relatives for temporary spurts. She feared I’d be killed because of my gift.”

Dallis reached forward and took his hand. “I cannot imagine. At the same time, ye have seen more of this country that I could ever hope to.”

“Perhaps when I become restless, we can do it. Travel together. Short trips, of course.”

Her eyes lit up. “That would be exciting. It could work.”

Alasdair considered that it would mean traveling with guards and in the comfort of a carriage perhaps. Yet the idea of Dallis experiencing new places made him happy.

“Dallis do not worry. I will remain here with ye. Although I had never expected to marry and settle, I know that I can do it and not regret it.”

Lips curving, her gaze traveled from his eyes, to his lips and then to his chest. “I did not expect to marry someone I find so very lovely.”

“Lovely? I am scarred and not what most could ever consider attractive.”

Her soft chuckle made his heart expand. “Then ye must have been around blind women. Most here find ye quite handsome.”

Before he could react, she came to be over him. “I find ye irresistible.”

Her lips pressed against the top of his scar and then Dallis trailed kissed down the rugged skin to the bottom. Alasdair closed his eyes as his breathing hitched.

He pulled the beautiful woman into an embrace. “I do not deserve ye.”

At first she squirmed attempting to move away, but she gave up and relaxed when he kissed her.

“Is there something else ye wish to discuss?” Alasdair said after breaking the kiss.

After a long sigh, Dallis shook her head. “I needed to know if ye would be able to remain here with me. I feel assured.”

“What about ye? Were ye hoping to move away to a home of yer own?”

When she pushed away, this time he allowed it. Dallis sat crossed legged on the bed. “Goodness no. I would have ended up at some keep where my husband’s mother would ensure I was aware I did not have any say in the running of the household.”

“Does not yer mother do that here?”

Dallis considered it for a moment. “Mother and I have always shared duties. Now, however, I suppose Fiona will be who will work with mother. I will be relegated to plucking strings from an embroidery cloth.”

“Sounds dreary.”