“I can see that plainly enough….” She was speaking without thinking again. Helena clamped her lips closed, frowning at herself. Keir was the only man who swept her common sense aside simply by being near her. It was as irritating as it was exciting. But his lips twitched up at her words, a half grin giving her a hint of his teeth before he shook his head and returned to glaring at her.
Helena felt her temper burn hotter. “Pray sir, do not leave me lingering in doubt and confusion any longer. For I have no idea what has annoyed you so badly that you felt the need to carry me up here instead of noticing how much your staff are trying to please you in the hope that you will not turn them out.”
He winced, his arms unfolding. A flush appeared on his throat. “Och, well I dinnae mean to ignore their efforts. I am a wee bit new to being a lord.”
Helena crossed her arms in response. Her husband looked stunned, his gaze moving over her for long seconds before his mouth rose into that roguish grin once again.
“Ye are too pretty when ye’re mad for me to remember what we were fighting about.”
A frustrated sound of fury escaped her lips. Her hands flew up as every lesson she’d ever mastered sailed out of her mind. “You hauled me up here like a sailor taking his dingy sack home, and now you claim you cannot recall what I did to annoy you?”
He surged. “Och, now I recall just fine, but I’m finding it much more enjoyable to dwell on yer sweet face than on what bothered me.”
There was truly no understanding the way a man’s mind worked. Helena waved her hand. “As well as that might be, I can only wonder what shall happen once the newness has worn away from our union.”
“You think I’ll turn mean toward ye? Why would ye think such a thing?”
His pride was wounded by the very idea. Helena heard it but it was that very pride that she expected to bring her grief someday.
“I did not say mean.”
“But ye implied that I would not longer find ye sweet enough to blind me.” He moved toward her, seeking the answer to his question.
Helena moved away from him, needing the space to keep her thoughts clear. She was treading on dangerous ground—that place where a man’s pride might easily take offense over some truth spoken without thinking about the consequences.
“I simply am not vain enough to believe that I can expect to monopolize your attention forever.”
Her words were still bold, in spite of how carefully she phrased the idea. But pain still drew its claw across her heart. A man such as Keir had a mistress, and it was likely that she was a beautiful woman. It was also likely that he would have more throughout the years and that she would be expected to be gracious in the face of his needs. Such was the lot of a wife.
He frowned again but this time he seemed partially annoyed with himself.
“If ye want to know something of me, Helena, ask yer question straight. I am nae a man that enjoys false displays of respect such as ye just offered me below. It’s yer courage that I find irresistible, nae just the sight of yer face.”
It was tempting. Helena chewed on her lower lip for a moment, but Keir didn’t offer her anything else except for a challenge shimmering in his dark eyes. She felt her own pride rising in the face of that look. He was not a man who was easily impressed. Knowing that she had earned such from him filled her with confidence.
“Very well. I expect to be sleeping alone once we arrive at your home because you have a mistress there waiting on your return.”
“Red Stone will be yer home, too, lass. Dinnae doubt it.” Heat coated his voice and it tempted her to believe in that idea. A home. It was the truth that she wasn’t sure what it felt like to be home anymore. The estate her parents lived on was run on tradition and schedule.
“But you didn’t deny that you have a mistress waiting for you.” She spoke quietly but kept her chin level. It would be better if he understood that she wasn’t afraid of him.
He reached up to untie his sword. “I don’t.” The huge weapon was set on