your schemes against her will and against all that is right and noble. If I choose to spend what may be my last hours loving her, then it is no business of yours.”
The major frowned. Anne sensed he wanted to throw Aidan’s words back at him—but there was nothing he could say. Especially in front of his men, whose sympathies obviously rested with her and Aidan. She could see it in their faces. They had wives and sweethearts. They must have known there was bad blood between Aidan and their commanding officer.
“Very well,” Major Lambert said at last. “While away the hours, my lord. Enjoy yourself.” He slammed the door shut.
“Touchy fellow, isn’t he?” Aidan said thoughtfully.
Anne sat up, holding the sheet in place over her breasts. She pushed her hair. “Is that what this was about? You wanted to make him angry?”
He turned, surprised. “I enjoy tweaking the fool’s nose, but this—” He placed an arm around her and drew her back down onto the mattress with him. “This has nothing to do with Lambert…” He kissed her neck. “Or anyone…” He kissed beneath her chin. “Or anything outside this room.” He kissed her lips.
She fell under his spell. It was as if she were a torch and he the spark. He rose up over her. “Can you do it again, Anne? Is it too soon? I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her answer was to open herself to him, offering what was only hers to give. As he settled himself on top of her, she pushed back his hair from his face and asked, “You do love me? Even a little?”
His eyes darkened. “I love you very much. Am I pleased with Alpina for her high-handedness? No. And yet, you have come into my life and changed it in ways I hadn’t thought possible. I was waiting for you, Anne. I didn’t know it—”
“And it took you a while to recognize the fact.”
He laughed, the sound vibrating through her. “Aye, Anne. But how can one ignore a tempest?” he asked. “But I know how to tame it.” He kissed her so thoroughly, so completely, she was his willing slave.
This time their pace was slower, more leisurely. They explored each other and Anne learned Aidan was a generous, considerate, sensual lover.
Now she understood the mysteries of love lauded by the poets. She discovered why a woman would forsake all for love.
There was nothing she wouldn’t do for Aidan. Nothing.
As afternoon faded into night, in a bedroom surrounded by English soldiers and facing an uncertain future, Anne became a prisoner of her own heart. When they weren’t making love, they talked about everything, and about nothing, making up for wasted time.
Occasionally, he would cross to the window or pace in front of it. His actions worried her, but she wasn’t going to ask any questions, fearing the answers.
At one point, he noticed the soldiers delivering a tray of food. He came back to the bed satisfied. “Lambert is listening to me. He’s working to keep Robbie alive.”
“He may be too late,” Anne said soberly.
Aidan shook his head. “The Gunn brothers are a tough and hardy lot. Robbie has had a beating, but he won’t die yet.” His lips twisted into a grim smile. “He’ll just look like he has.” With that, he let down the curtain, and with one wild leap, jumped into the bed beside her.
Major Lambert left them alone. There was a great deal of traffic outside their door, since the room was at the top of the stairs, but Anne ignored it. She didn’t even care that dinner had not been sent up to them. She closed her mind to everything but her husband.
Aidan seemed perfectly capable of both devoting himself to her and keeping an ear attuned to the activity around them. He was the one who noticed that Colonel Witherspoon, Lambert’s commanding officer, had arrived. He watched their movements around the cellar from his window vantage point.
“What do you think?” Anne asked.
“I don’t know.” He lifted a lock of her hair spread out on the pillow and curled it around his finger as he worked some problem in his mind.
“Aidan?”
Her voice brought him back to the present. He smiled and pulled her to him.
Later, as they lay tangled with each other and the sheets, she thought Aidan had fallen asleep. Lying with her back against his, she ran her hand over her flat stomach. An intuition as old as time told her his seed had taken