Black Richard's Heart (The MacCulloughs #1) - Suzan Tisdale Page 0,131
said.
Lachlan shook his head. “Yer wife is nae goin’ to like ye leavin’.”
Richard hadn’t thought about how Aeschene might react to him leaving her, even for a short amount of time. “My wife will be fine,” he said as he got to his feet. “She will understand the importance of this meeting.”
“Two weeks?” Aeschene wasn’t happy about the idea of her husband leaving her for that long.
“I will be back before ye even realize I am gone,” Richard said as he held her close. He had waited until after loving her thoroughly before giving her the news about Caelen McDunnah’s missive. It had been his hope that she’d be too sated and too exhausted to argue. He had been wrong.
She sat up in the bed, her chestnut colored hair tumbling over her shoulders. The embers from the hearth were reflected in her pretty blue eyes. God’s teeth, but she is beautiful, he thought with a smile. His smile quickly evaporated when he saw the fierce glower she was giving him.
“Ye waited until after our lovin’ before ye told me.” ’Twas a statement, not a question.
He began stroking her arm with his fingertips in an attempt to distract her. It wasn’t working.
“Richard MacCullough!” The way she said his name made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “We made a promise to always be honest with one another,” she reminded him.
“I did nae lie,” he said, his smile returning. Even when she is perturbed, she is a glorious sight to behold.
“Were ye worried I would become so upset at the thought of ye leavin’ that I would fling myself off the parapet?”
“Of course nae,” he answered dryly.
“Good,” she said.
“Lachlan was worried ye’d do that,” he teased.
Her eyes widened as her mouth flew open. “What?”
Chuckling, he drew her into his arms and lay back down. “I told him he was daft. I told him ye were the most understanding’ woman that I ken.”
She jabbed him in his side with her index finger. “And never ye forget it, Richard MacCullough.”
“Never,” he said, as he placed a kiss on her forehead.
They were silent for a long moment. “When do ye leave?”
“Next month,” he said. “’Twill take a few days to get to his keep.”
“I will miss ye,” she whispered as she ran her fingertips across his chest.
It felt good to know she would miss him as much as he would miss her. “I dunnae like leavin’ ye,” he said. “But I fear I must.”
“Ye will miss me?” she asked as she snuggled in closer.
“How can ye even ask that?”
She shrugged her shoulders slightly. “‘Twould be nice to hear ye say it.”
He couldn’t resist the broad smile that came to his lips. “How about I show ye?”
Aeschene yawned, feigning exhaustion. “I think I would rather hear ye say it.”
“How about I do both?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aeschene wanted for nothing, save for a few moments of peace. Richard hovered over her most days, behaving as if she were made of spun glass and the slightest wind would break her. While she was thankful for his attention, it began to grow on her nerves. He was leaving in a few days, for his meeting with the McDunnah and other clan chiefs. Secretly, she was looking forward to the respite his absence would afford her.
One sunny morning, she and Marisse sat atop the hill and watched the children play. Richard had insisted on escorting her to the top of the hill with the caveat that when she was ready to return to the keep, she was to send for him. He worried she would fall and hurt herself or their babe. “We must be careful,” he told her. We. As if he was also with child.
“If this is how is behaves now? Och! I do not wish to imagine how he shall be come winter.”
Marisse laughed at her friend’s distress. “My guess is it will only get worse. But ye must admit, ’tis better he cares than not.”
She knew Marisse was right. Perhaps instead of complaining she would relish in the special attention he was showing her. Leaning back on her hands, she soaked up the glorious sunshine, basking in the beauty of a peaceful late summer’s day.
It lasted as long as a sweet cake around Raibeart.
“Aeschene! Aeschene!” Colyne raced towards her with his friends, Daniel, Peter, and Thomas. They nearly tripped over their own feet in their zealousness to get to her.
“Slow down, lads,” Marisse told them, holding out an arm to stop them.