Lena’s eyes narrowed, and her lips pressed together in a tight line. She stared at him for a long, tense moment. “I can accept that. But only that. Ye are mine.” She pressed a passionate kiss to his lips, making him wish they had more time to love each other this night.
“Aye, Wife. I am yers.”
“Ye kinnae leave me like this!” Euphemia bellowed while tugging at her wrists, which were tied to the bedposts. “Alex!” she cried out when he did not answer.
Scowling, he picked up the gown she had removed, ripped off a long piece of material, and grasping it tightly, strode to the bed and moved closer to her.
She craned her neck back to look at him, eyes blazing. “Alex! She kinnae give ye what ye need!”
“She gives me exactly what I need,” he said quietly while securing the material around Euphemia’s mouth, cutting off her protest but not her growls.
He stood and stared down at her. It had not taken much convincing to make Euphemia believe that Lena disgusted him and that he still wanted Euphemia with the same dark, ravenous hunger he had long ago. She’d hurriedly undressed and insisted he bind her as he used to. Once she had been tied up, he’d searched her room for the potion, all while she had squirmed on the bed. He knew she had thought he was gathering things to bring her pleasure laced with pain, and she had called to him to come to her.
The potion had been tucked away with her combs; it was the only bottle there. He felt certain it was the right potion, and as it was the only one, there was nothing to be done but try it. Once he had it, he’d kneeled by the bed where she could easily turn her head to see him, tied as she was with her stomach on the mattress.
“I love my wife,” he said. “Ye and I have long been finished. Put me out of yer head, as I have done ye.”
Gripping the potion, Alex quickly slipped out of the room and shut the door firmly on Euphemia and his past.
“Did ye touch more than her wrists?” Lena demanded of him in a hushed tone while his men, who were gathered around her in a protective circle, gaped at him.
Alex chuckled at the emboldened lass his wife had become as he handed her the potion. Even outside in the darkness, there was enough moonlight that he could see her narrowed eyes flashing her ire.
“Nay, Wife,” he whispered, aware of the two sentries not far away, standing guard at the entrance to the narrow stone passage that led to the dungeon. “Only her wrists as I vowed to ye.” As Lena took the potion from him, he caught her fingers. “I’ll be here. Dunnae fear.”
“I dunnae, Alex. I ken ye and yer men are only a call away.” Quickly, she poured the potion into the wine skin that Munroe had handed her. When she was done, she turned to Donald. “Do as we discussed.”
As Donald nodded with a sigh, Alex said, “What did ye—” Suddenly, Donald gripped him by the right arm and Munroe grabbed his left. “What the devil? Release me,” Alex hissed under his breath.
Lena set her hand to his chest. “Shh. Ye kinnae make a fuss,” she whispered. “I have instructed the men to hold ye because I fear ye will nae stay out of sight if a kiss is stolen or a caress given while I’m convincing them to drink the wine.”
Jealous rage coursed through him as he attempted to surge forward, but his men held him back. “Lena,” he said darkly, his blood pounding in his head. “Dunnae do this.”
She sighed. “Trust in me,” she said, her voice steely. “Trust in me now, as I did in ye earlier when ye went to Euphemia.”
“I do trust in ye,” he said, his anger and worry making his jaw tick. “But ye dunnae have to endure those men pawing at ye. We will find another way if they will nae drink the potion.”
The silence was taut around him. “Alex,” Lena said, her tone soothing, “I am strong. I can endure this.” With that, she turned from him, and he watched with a pounding heart as she made her way to the guards in the distance. From where he and his men were hidden, he could see Lena’s profile in the moonlight and could hear murmurings of them talking and her husky laughter. His gut twisted into knots as her head tilted back and she chuckled. One of the guards stepped toward her and yanked her to him.
Alex’s anger became a scalding fury as his muscles jumped, yearning to go to his wife. “Release me,” he demanded, his tone lethal.
“Give her a moment,” Donald beseeched him.
When the guard who had pulled her to him kissed her, rage made Alex clench his jaw on bellowing. “Release me now, or I will banish ye from the clan.”
Instantly, his arms were released, and as he drew his sword, Donald said, “If ye must intervene, wait until he’s released her. He could hurt her if he tries to use her as a shield.”
Alex jerked his head in a nod, fingers curled tightly around the hilt of his sword. To his astonishment, Lena stepped away from the guard and raised the wine skin to his lips. The guard tilted it up and drank for a long moment before passing the skin to the other man, who did the same and then tossed it to the ground.
Voices once again filled the night, along with the hard beat of Alex’s heart in his ears as he watched his wife bravely and quite expertly flirt with the guards. Pride and awe swelled within him. “She is fierce,” he murmured.
“Aye,” came a chorus of hushed agreements around him.
Within moments, the guards began to sway, and when one crumpled to his knees and fell over, the other gave a cry of alarm that was cut off when Lena pressed a hand to his mouth. When he raised his arm to strike her, Alex surged forward to go to her, but he need not have. Lena shoved the man away, and he careened backward, tripping and falling on his bottom. By the time Alex got to Lena’s side, the man sat heaving on the ground, staring up at them both in astonishment.
“What is happen—” He slumped to his side in utter silence.
Alex and Lena looked at each other and smiled. “Ye amaze me, Wife,” Alex said simply.
