"If you tell me I must, I will try. Will you at least think about your decision a little longer before you make it final?"
Connor finally conceded. "I'm not an unreasonable man, and so I have decided to think about it."
Less than a minute later, he admitted Quinlan's father would be willing to have Gilly.
She was so pleased he'd decided to cooperate, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. She only meant to give him a quick kiss to show her gratitude, but what she meant to do and what she ended up doing were vastly different. It was all Connor's fault anyway, because he'd shown her how wonderful a kiss could be. She thought she was only following his lead, and before she could pull away or draw a proper breath, his mouth was moving over hers in a long, deep kiss that made her tremble for more in no time at all. He became more demanding and she became even more uninhibited, until her tongue was every bit as wild as his in her quest to satisfy him. The taste and texture of him mingled with his scent, and God help her, it wasn't long before she felt her control slipping away.
She forgot all about the outside world. They could have been surrounded by an army of heathens and she wouldn't have noticed, or cared. Nothing mattered but the warlord in her arms.
Fortunately, Connor didn't lose his sanity. He abruptly pulled back, then grabbed hold of her hands and forced her to stop tugging on his hair and let go of him.
He knew she didn't have any idea how shaken the kiss had left him. He told himself not to look at her mouth again until he was in complete control, but damn if he didn't look anyway. Exactly what he knew would happen did happen, of course, because he ravaged her mouth a second time to keep her from tempting him to do far more intimate things to her, and when at last he found enough strength to end it, he was furious with himself.
"You make me forget where we are, wife."
Believing he must have enjoyed the tender moments as much as she had, she smiled with pleasure.
He lost his temper then and there. "What in God's name did you think you were doing?"
The radical change in him took her breath away. "I was…" Lord save her, what had she been doing?
He wouldn't wait long enough for her to regain her wits. "Yes?" he demanded.
"I was showing my appreciation."
"If this is how you show your gratitude, I wonder how you were able to remain innocent until your wedding night."
She was stunned. How dare he ruin such a perfect kiss by making such a vile remark about her character?
Her temper rose to the occasion. "It's miraculous really. My father was constantly dragging me away from the men I attacked. They were all completely helpless, of course, and like you, they never kissed me back."
Her comment was laughable, given the fact that she'd been so timid and terrified on their wedding night.
Although he still thought she should learn to be more demure around him, he had to admit he continued to be impressed by her boldness in standing up to him. Didn't she understand she wasn't supposed to give him her opinion unless he asked for it? She should give him her undying loyalty and faith in everything he said or did… shouldn't she?
Hell, he didn't know what she was supposed to do. He'd never been married before and was basing his beliefs on observation and past experience with women he'd taken to his bed. They'd been thankful, damn it, and certainly had never shown any boldness. And he'd become bored in no time at all.
Brenna was a refreshing change from what he was used to, no doubt about it, but he didn't have the faintest idea how to get her to do what he thought she should do.
Connor wasn't certain why he tried to provoke her again, but he thought perhaps it was because he wanted to hear another of her outrageous remarks.
"Dare you try to placate me by giving me such an ignorant rebuttal?"
"Nay, Connor. I was simply trying to give you what you wanted. It was apparent to me that you were deliberately trying to make me angry. I let you succeed. You may thank me later."
His smile gave him away of course. "You really don't understand why I became irritated, do you?"
She wasn't at all happy about his amusement. "No, I don't, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me."
"It isn't proper for you to kiss me unless I have given you permission."
She could feel her spine stiffening in annoyance. "Then I won't be kissing you much in future."
"Ah, wife, you will."
The conversation abruptly ended when he shoved her face against his chest.
"Will you stop doing that?" she demanded. "It's rude." He didn't acknowledge her demand and in fact didn't speak to her again until late that evening when they finally stopped for the night.
He waited for Brenna to notice Gilly wasn't tethered near the other horses. The woman would probably pitch a fit then and possibly weep, God help him, which he was fully prepared to stop before she started.
She didn't say a cross word to him, but after he saw the look on her face, he began to wish she were shouting at him. The sadness in her eyes was far more bothersome.
He suffered her disappointment in him throughout supper because he was determined not to explain his actions to her, but an hour later, he changed his mind. He told himself he was making this one exception because she was so fond of the mare. Hell, she'd elevated the creature to a family member.
He waited until he caught her alone near the water to talk to her.
"Brenna, I haven't betrayed you, and I want you to stop looking as though I have. It wasn't possible for me to take the time to send someone with Gilly to Quinlan's family."
"I understand." Her voice was completely devoid of emotion, and she gave her reply to the ground so she wouldn't have to look at him.
"No, you don't understand," he muttered. "MacNare and a fair number of his clan were following us, and though I would have loved a good fight, I couldn't give in to the pleasure because you would end up in the thick of it. I wasn't about to put you in such danger."
He raised his hand when she tried to interrupt him, and continued on. "However, as soon as we get home, I'll send one of my soldiers to find your mare and take her to Quinlan's father then."
"Thank you, Connor. Is our enemy close now?"
"Close enough," he answered.
"I didn't hear them."
"They weren't close enough to hear."
He was ready to dismiss the topic and turned to leave.
She wasn't. "Connor?"
"Yes?"
She hurried after him, then suddenly stopped. She'd thought to kiss him on the cheek to let him know how much she appreciated his taking the time to explain the circumstances, but the memory of how he had reacted to her affection the last time was still fresh enough to hurt, and so she decided not to provoke him again.
"Thank you for confiding in me."
"Don't get used to it. It isn't customary for me to explain my actions to anyone. I doubt I'll do it again."
He seemed determined to ruin every kind moment with a nasty remark. He also had the discourteous and grating habit of walking away from her whenever he wanted to end a conversation, forcing her to chase after him.
"Are we safe now?"
"Yes."
He refused to give her any other details, such as explaining why they were safe now but hadn't been safe earlier in the day, and she was simply too worn out from trying to get along with him to attempt to coax him into giving her additional information.
She went to the creek and washed as quickly as she could. The water was much colder here than the water she'd bathed in the night before. By the time she put on fresh undergarments and stockings, even her scalp felt numb. She hadn't been able to locate the trunk filled with her gowns, but thankfully she still had two clean but wrinkled ones left in her satchel.