I’d be here quicker than a minute.”
So she suffered as much as he? Good. He had sensed she’d be a woman capable of great passion and desire. His cock hardened even more, reaching an almost pained state that tightened clear to his bollocks. Perhaps, a wee bit of gentle loving wouldn’t hurt his aching head so badly, and he could make up for the muted way of it later on once he had healed. His manparts heartily agreed, throbbing to a dangerous level. “I’m sure ye’d be more comfortable if ye removed yer clothes,” he innocently suggested. “They’re all twisted and tangled about ye. Why dinna ye slip them off?”
She lifted her head and glared at him. “It isna my clothes making me uncomfortable.” Her eyes narrowed. “I ken what ye’re up to, sir.” With a soft thump on his chest, she repeated her earlier order, “Go to sleep.” She plopped her head back down on his shoulder, but her fist on his chest told him all he needed to know. The poor miserable lass just needed a wee bit of encouragement to grant them both the relief they so badly needed.
“Would ye not be willing to give yer poor husband a kiss to hasten our sleep?”
“I doubt a kiss would hasten anything but what we’re not supposed to do. I may be an inexperienced virgin, my wily man, but I am not a fool.”
“I need ye, Sorcha. Need ye something fierce.” To hell with dancing about with words. Time to battle this head-on. He turned toward her, cradling her in the crook of his arm as he tilted her face up to his. “Tonight might be a bit subtle and overly gentle, but I mean to make ye truly my wife. I canna help myself.”
“We canna do so,” she whispered with a gentle shove against his bare chest that was more invitation than warning to stay away. “Remember what Aderyn said—we canna curse our firstborn to a weakness just because of our own selfish wants…” She wet her lips, and her gaze fell. “And needs,” she added.
“Aderyn is a foolish old woman.” Sutherland nuzzled in for a slow suggestive kiss, trailing his fingers down her silky neck as he sampled her sweetness. “Our bairns will be hearty and braw, fierce as their mother and stubborn as their father.”
“Aderyn is never wrong,” she whispered, but he could tell her denials were weakening.
He eased free the tie at the top of her lèine, loosened the neckline, and slipped his hand inside. “She’s wrong this time,” he promised as he followed with kisses along her jawline.
Sorcha arched into him with a promising sigh. “Do ye swear it?”
“I swear it.” Fondling her lovely firm breast, he kissed his way downward and rolled her to her back. As he rose to free her of her clothes, a searing pain cracked like lightning through his skull. “Son of a whore!” He grabbed his head between his hands and dove to hang over the side of the bed. “Basin! Hurry!”
Sorcha got it to him just in time.
Coated with sweat, shivering with cold, Sutherland alternately cursed and retched as the renewed pounding trapped inside his skull roared like an awakened beast. “That damned woman didna curse our firstborn! She cursed me!”
“She warned us.” Sorcha’s resigned but subtle scolding irritated him even more. “And she didna curse ye,” she continued. “The herbals from earlier have merely worn off. I’ll steep the batch she left for when ye awakened. She said this bunch would help ye sleep as well as heal.”
He lowered the basin to the floor, then rested his cheek on the edge of the bed. It was a sorry day, indeed, when a simple blow to the head kept a man from loving his wife.
After what seemed like forever, Sorcha knelt in front of him, holding a steaming cup under his nose. “Here. Try to sip it down quick as ye can. She said not to let it steep too long, or it’ll surely come back up, too.”
Lifting his head as little as possible, he forced the nasty brew down. Without opening his eyes, he handed the cup back to her. “How can ye be so calm? I thought ye wanted me, too?” He didn’t give a damn that he sounded like a sullen child. While he had dealt with injuries plenty of times before, he had never had one hinder him like this.
“I imagine it’s different for women.” She took the cup away and returned with