Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 42873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
He also caught his daughter slipping Beast a bite of a honey cake. “Lizbeth, what did I tell you about feeding Beast at the table?”
“I only gave him a little,” Lizbeth said.
“He is not to get fed from the table,” Cree warned.
“He knows that.”
Cree shook his head. “Obviously you do not.”
“I do now,” she said cheerfully and blew him a kiss.
Kirk tried not to laugh but could not hide a chuckle. “She truly is a handful and at a young age. I cannot imagine what she will be like in a few years. You have my sympathy.”
Cree cringed at the thought.
Kirk changed the subject out of empathy for his son-in-law. “The castle and village may have taken you longer to finish than planned but you built an amazing place.”
“Your daughter had a good hand in it, offering sound advice along the way,” Cree said, recalling the many enjoyable and informative discussions he had had with her about the drawings she and William had worked on.
Kirk beamed with pride. “She is much like her da.”
“In certain ways, though I believe the challenges fate threw at her made her the courageous and wise woman she is today.”
“I will not argue with that,” Kirk said. “I must say you situated the castle and watchtower perfectly. None will be able to approach without being seen. You are more than prepared for attack.”
“Hopefully that day will never come.”
“I assume you heard that to quell the border tension with England that King Alexander II has betrothed his three-year-old son to four-year-old Margaret, daughter of Henry III,” Kirk said.
“The news reached here as did the news that King Alexander finds King Håkon of Norway unyielding in negotiating the sovereignty of the Hebrides.”
Kirk lowered his voice. “Do you worry that King Alexander will call on you to help?”
“It is possible since King Håkon values my friendship, and I have served King Alexander well, but I prefer not to be caught between the two powerful men. It never ends well for a man pitted against two powerful rulers.”
“What will you do?” Kirk asked.
“Avoid it completely, if at all possible,” Cree said and smiled at his wife, who he knew had heard their discussion. She might not have a voice, but she had excellent hearing, having listened intently while people talked around her and paid her no heed, at least those who did not know her well.
“Come, Grandda,” Lizbeth commanded. “We will take a walk through the village. Valan wants to show you the practice field and I will show—”
“You are not taking Grandda down to the beach by yourselves,” Cree ordered, knowing what his daughter intended. “You will remain in the village and if you disobey me on this, Lizbeth, you will spend the next three days in your bedchamber.”
“There is much to see in the village,” Kirk said, coming to his granddaughter’s rescue since she looked about to argue with her da. “Your da and mum can come along with us to the beach another day. Now let’s go see that practice field.”
Beast looked anxiously from Dawn to the children, and she nodded, understanding he was eager to go with them, giving him permission.
“Lizbeth,” Cree said, catching his daughter’s attention before she turned away. “I meant what I said, three days in your room without seeing anyone if you defy me on this.”
Dawn shook her finger at her daughter to show solidarity with her husband’s command.
Lizbeth sighed dramatically. “Aye, my lord.”
Cree chuckled beneath his breath, his daughter referring to him as my lord when she was upset with him. He turned to his wife. “If we had more time, I would sneak you off to our bedchamber and christen it.”
Dawn smiled, having missed the intimate way he would speak to her, but as difficult as it was to admit to herself, she had not been approachable of late. She gestured, letting him know how much she would like that.
Cree hugged her against him. “I am hungry for you, wife.”
She pressed herself against him, surprised to feel just how hungry he was and patted her chest, so he knew she felt the same.
A low growl rumbled in his throat. “I should have ripped that nightdress off you last night and settled this distance between us then, but I worried that—”
Dawn pressed her fingers to his lips and mouthed, sorry.
The growl rumbled in his throat again before he spoke. “As am I for being so busy with the new keep that I paid little heed to you and the chasm it caused between us.”
She brushed her lips over his, feeling as if it had been forever since they last kissed.
Cree’s thoughts mirrored her own, but he was able to voice them. “Two days since we have truly kissed and that will never happen again, wife.”
Before Dawn could agree, her husband’s lips came down on hers, claiming them in a powerful kiss that she immediately returned with the same intense passion. This was what she missed, this closeness, this feeling of being loved beyond reason, and the feeling of being one with him.