"What happened?" Connor brushed a loose red-gold strand back from her pixie face and resisted kissing her forehead.
"My husband didn't want me in that way," Ilysa said, blinking hard.
"Ye can't be serious."
"It wasn't his fault," she said. "I'm not pretty like Moira and S矛leas."
"Ach, you're as lovely as a woodland sprite."
"Ye don't have to tell me lies," Ilysa said, attempting a smile, "though I confess I like it."
"I don't know how your husband could resist ye once he had ye na - " Connor clamped his mouth shut, but it was too late to stop him from imagining her naked. Desire hit him hard. Damn, why had he not paused to take her clothes off today?
He reminded himself that he was here to comfort her - and to get some answers - but it was difficult to concentrate when he could feel the warmth of her skin through the nightshift. He was far too aware that she wore nothing beneath it.
"M矛chael did try sometimes," Ilysa said in a small voice. "But he couldn't, and that was worse."
"Did he like men?" Connor asked, as that seemed the only possible explanation. When her eyes went wide, he asked, "Ye do know that some men are like that?"
She shook her head.
Connor was not surprised. He had met men among the nobility in France who did not hide their interest in other men, but a Highland warrior with any sense of self-preservation would keep it secret. After Connor explained his suspicions about her husband, Ilysa was thoughtful for a long moment.
"M矛chael did have a friend, another warrior, that he was especially close to," she said. "But then, you're close to my brother and your cousins."
"Not like that!" Connor took a deep breath. Ilysa should have had a husband who could share her passion - a passion Connor must stop dwelling on. "I suspect he wanted a wife so no one would guess his secret. You were the perfect choice because you'd never gossip with the other women about what happened - or didn't - in bed."
"That much is true," she said, her face going pink. "As a healer, I'm often told women's complaints about their husbands, but I never told a soul."
"I can see why he wed you, but why did you wed him?" he asked.
"My mother was dying, and she wished it," Ilysa said. "She told me M矛chael would be a good husband because he would not be demanding."
Ach, Anna must have known.
"Duncan was gone, and I had no one else." She shrugged her slender shoulder. "I suppose I was feeling a bit lost, and M矛chael was a fine man."
Anna had been a kindhearted but excessively fearful woman. The "undemanding" husband, oversize clothes, and severe headdresses must have been her way, misguided though it was, of protecting her daughter. She had succeeded in hiding her daughter in plain sight.
"I don't know how I missed seeing how pretty ye are, even covered up as ye were," he said.
Without thinking, he brushed the back of his fingers against Ilysa's cheek. He was unprepared for the jagged bolt of lust that tore through him, making him want her so badly that his hand shook. In his mind, he was already carrying her to the bed and stripping off her nightgown. This time, he would savor every inch of her and make it last. He would rein in this tumultuous need until she was gasping his name and...
"It will never happen again," he said and got abruptly to his feet. Cool air hit his chest where she had been leaning against him. His arms felt empty. "I just needed to know that ye were all right."
When Ilysa looked up at him, he saw a dangerous longing in her eyes and knew she would let him stay. Temptation dug its talons into him. One word, one touch, and she could be his.
"Ye mean a great deal to me," he said. "I don't want to hurt ye."
He made himself go to the door. As he closed it behind him, Connor was certain he was doing the right thing for her. And yet, it did not feel right - and he had never regretted anything more.
* * *
It had been two nights since Connor had come to her chamber. Though Ilysa knew he would not come again, she lay awake listening for his knock. She finally gave up on sleep, wrapped a plaid around her shoulders, and went to