“Aye, thank ye,” Aulay answered. “’Twas a long journey and we rode through the night to get here. Some food, drink and then a rest would be welcome.”
Nodding, the maid turned and hurried away to the stairs.
They were silent as they watched her go, and then Aulay said, “Rory, ye and Alick can have this room. I’ll take the next.”
Nodding, both men wandered into the room to check it out.
“Come,” Aulay said, putting a hand on Conran’s shoulder to urge him to continue forward. Stopping at the last door, he opened it, but then paused to glance back up the hall and pursed his lips briefly. As he finally entered the room, he commented, “Yer inheritance will come in handy when ye marry the lass, brother. It’ll allow ye to build on more guest rooms up here. Three just will no’ do with the size o’ our family when we come to visit. And if ye have bairns ye’ll no’ even have the three.”
“If we marry,” Conran muttered, following him into the room.
“If?” Aulay asked as he stopped at the foot of the bed and glanced around.
“Well, the Maclean offered her to Rory, no’ me,” he pointed out, and then muttered, “Besides, a lifetime seems a hefty price for a couple minutes in the clearing.”
“A couple minutes is all it takes,” Aulay said dryly, and then turned to eye him. “And ye ken the Maclean will make the offer to ye now he kens what is what and Rory has stepped back from the offer.” When Conran didn’t comment, he added, “It sounded to me like ye were intent on marrying her when ye pointed out she could be bearing yer bairn right now. Was I wrong?”
Conran shifted uncomfortably, knowing that was true.
“Although,” Aulay continued, “I will confess I thought at first that ye were no’ pleased with the idea.” He raised his eyebrows in question. “So, which is it? Do ye plan to marry her, or do ye no’? I’ll support ye either way,” he added solemnly.
“Ye will?” Conran asked with surprise. He’d felt sure his brother would force him to marry Evina. He had ruined her after all.
“Aye, o’ course I will. We’re family,” he said solemnly. “So? Yay or nay?”
Conran turned away and considered the question, but he didn’t really see a choice. While he hadn’t spilled his seed, he had ruined Evina. He’d carried away the proof of her innocence on his cock, and it was now gone. He couldn’t just walk away and pretend it hadn’t happened. On the other hand, she didn’t want to marry him . . . Which had the obtuse effect of making him want to marry her and prove that the bedding could be a pleasure, and that he could make her happy as a husband. Conran was quite sure he could make her happy. He also suspected he could be happy with her.
It wasn’t just her uninhibited passion that made him think that. Conran had been watching Evina since arriving here. Not just in passing either. He’d often watched from the window in her father’s room as she’d moved around the bailey, handling castle affairs and practicing in the bailey with the men. Evina walked with a confident stride he’d only ever seen with his sister, Saidh. She handled her sword like she’d been born with it in hand. She handled the men with the same natural skill, and he could tell they respected her. They obeyed her orders at once and without complaint.
But there was more. Their outing to collect medicinals had been rather revealing. He’d deliberately put the gathering of the plants before the meal to see how she was when she was hungry and tired and Evina hadn’t complained once. She also hadn’t got snappy or cranky either. She’d merely got a bit quieter, her humor getting drier. Conran had enjoyed her wry sense of humor and honesty that day. Evina had flat-out admitted she was supposed to be nice to him, and that she was bad at that kind of thing. She’d admitted her faults with a complete lack of self-consciousness. As if it was just the way it was, and he could take it or leave it as he wished. Conran found he wished to take it.
“I guess I’d best marry her,” he said finally.
“Good, good.” Aulay slapped him on the back and then urged him toward the door. “I really did no’ want to have to beat