Page 43 of An English Rose for the Highlander
Rose had done so much to improve the way the clan thought of her. It pained her to think that someone within the keep could have started the rumor to rid themselves of her presence. She could think of no one else who might do it, after all. She had no grand connections in England, no cabal of people around herwho were indeed false friends and would use any opportunity to destroy her reputation.
In point of fact, she didn’t have many friends at all. A small group of women with whom she socialized at soirees and events were the extent of her acquaintances. She was something of a solitary person because of how diligently she had to work to guide her parents.
Had she wronged someone she was unaware of? No, the odds seemed much stronger in the direction of someone within Clan MacKay detesting her presence.
Knock, knock, knock.
Rose jumped slightly in her chair, realizing that she had been sitting in front of the mirror in her room, staring into her own reflection in silence. Standing, she got up and proceeded to the door, pulling it wide to see Dominik standing in the hall.
“Dominik.” She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice. “I will admit to being taken aback by your arrival. Is there something I can do for you?”
He sighed, a slight chuckle rumbling through his exhale. “I wish to speak with ye, lass. In private, if that is all right with ye.”
A tremble slithered through her, those familiar nerves tingling in her blood before she managed to nod and step aside to let her husband enter her bedchambers. Dominik followed in quicklyenough, proceeding directly to one of the two chairs that sat at the table in the corner. His stare was fixed on the table’s surface as she sat down across from him, and then another heavy sigh left him.
“This isnae how I wished to be spending the day or evening.” Looking up, Dominik met her eyes with a grain of levity amongst his frustrations. “I find…I find that I cannae stop thinking about me maither and how she viewed the marriage to me faither.”
Curious, Rose tilted her head, folding her hands in front of her on the table and saying, “Why is that?”
“Ye ken that she dinnae view the Scottish people in the best light. The woman was always more concerned with political ambitions and increasing her station. Even me faither dinnae view the arrangement with rosy feelings. He knew it was a match of purpose, nae love or affection. It also dinnae grow as they remained together.”
Dominik paused, but Rose didn’t speak up. She allowed him to speak, watching his eyes roam over the room and table before finding her again.
“She was incapable of, or perhapsrefused, to adapt to Scottish life, to embrace the customs of the clan and the country. She wasnae the Lady of the castle in actions, only in title.” Her husband’s eyes burned, and he reached across the table to take her hands. “And Ikenthat her attitude affected how I viewed the English, how I viewed ye.”
Rose’s expression softened, and she tilted her head as she offered a sympathetic smile to Dominik.
“I understand what you are saying. I do. We talked about this some, Dominik. Did you think I still did not see the keep as my home?”
“On the contrary,” Dominik’s cheek lifted in a sly grin, one accompanied by a tiny nod, “I see now that ye are truly the lady this keep needed. I see how ye have worked, despite being hesitant in the beginning. After the explosive news this afternoon, I have seen how ye continue to rise to any occasion.”
Heat bloomed through Rose’s face, quickly sinking down her neck all the way to the very core of her. Dominik’s words of praise lit her up like a roaring hearth on a cold winter’s day. She did not want to admit how much they meant to her, but there was little denying it. Their relationship had begun to change over the past few days, especially since that kiss on the top of the hill.
She didn’t see them as merely acquaintances in their lives. They were steadily becoming more and more like partners in charge of this massive keep, like…friends or perhaps more.
Most of all, as Dominik spoke, his voice was raw and charged with emotion, displaying utter honesty. He held nothing back from her, and Rose not only appreciated it but also respected the confidence and trust that it took. She’d yet to see her husband truly like this before, and it moved her to stand up from her seat and go to the space just in front of him, kneeling before his legs and glancing up at him.
“I cannot fathom what it was like to grow up in an environment where your mother could not appreciate half of what you are. I am endlessly grateful that you have taken note of how much caring for the clan means to me.”
Silence fell over them, charged and fiery. Rose could feel the tension in her muscles, in the very air around them. She looked up at her husband, the proud Laird, and he didn’t blink as he held her eyes, reaching for her cheek and stroking his thumb back and forth over the heated flesh.
After a moment, Dominik leaned forward in his chair, pulling Rose up from the floor with his hands on her face. He followed along, reaching his full height and gazing down at her as he cupped each cheek. She could scarcely breathe as they were enveloped by the moment, intimate and without formality or that same lingering pressure of duty. This, what existed right here between them, was about two souls coming together.
“Ye are precisely what this clan,and its Laird, needed, lass. I could never have guessed. I can see in ye the same fire to do what is right for yer people that has been my entire purpose for as long as I can remember.”
Rose melted into Dominik’s hold, allowing him to sweep her against him, one of his hands going to the small of her back while the other cradled her head.
“I see ye.”
Smiling softly, ever so faintly, Rose let out a long breath. “And I see you, Dominik.”
Before any words could be exchanged, her husband pulled her toward him gently, placing his lips upon her like delivering an offering of gold to the highest monarch in the land. The kiss was unhurried, smooth, and they twined themselves together as the intimacy swirled around them, exploring and appreciating the other person’s pointed caresses.
Against her lips, Dominik’s hushed whisper vibrated her skin. “I would touch ye, lass. I would feel me wife for meself and nae for duty.”
Rose didn’t hesitate or overthink, nodding against her husband’s head. This was different, a moment of release and arousal born of their growing connection. Dominik did not come to her now in a duty-driven move. He had no need to, and it filled her heart with an unfamiliar yet welcome emotion, one she could not put a name to.
“Yes,” she whispered back. “Yes, Dominik.Please.”
