“Nay, it isnae. I suspect I could get that from most men.”
“Only if ye want them killed,” he suddenly said in a very hard voice, and she risked looking at him.
Gybbon looked into her eyes, which were wide with uncertainty, pulling her back into his arms and close to him. Jealousy, he thought. He had felt pure, white-hot jealousy when she had said she could get it from another man. He was caught, he thought, and almost smiled. Caught tight and hard.
“Dinnae look so afraid, love. I have also been puzzling over the question of do I or dinnae I.”
Resting her head on his chest, she asked softly, “Ye havenae decided yet?”
“I havenae kenned what I want since the day ye tried to steal my horse,” he grumbled as he rubbed her back. “When ye said it, my heart grabbed the words greedily.”
“Oh, all right then.”
“That is enough?”
She smiled at the slight note of hope in his voice. “Nay, but I am willing to wait for ye to be certain.” But, nay for long, she added silently.
“That is verra kind of ye.”
And now he was teasing her, she thought, and slapped his chest. She had just convinced herself she could wait for him to return her love but she was not happy about that. Just felt it was best that he knew his own heart and was sure before he said the words. Teasing her about it was not acceptable.
She wondered how he could not know. It seemed to her to be something one should recognize as soon as it struck. Her love was a part of her; she knew it was there every time she looked at him. Even his scent was enough to stir it in her heart.
Gybbon watched her face and could tell she was thinking hard, fretting over it. He suspected every female in his family would happily thump him into the ground right now. The moment he had heard her say she loved him, he had known he loved her, too. He was still trying to calm his heart down.
They had not known each other long and he had thought such a thing as love took a while to settle in. To a Murray it was usually so life changing he had believed it was one of those things that required time to grow and get hold of you. He went through a list of the whys in his head and sighed. Now he was just being mean, he decided. Every time he tried to think of what he would do in the future, she was there at his side.
“Lass, dinnae fret so.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “I ken what I feel weel enough, but I am one who feels the need to think hard before I commit myself to e’en the smallest thing. And this is nay a small thing.”
“Nay, it isnae.”
“But, I need to cease puzzling o’er something that is clear for most everyone to see. Yet, suddenly, I am thinking of building a strong manor house, even of putting in escape routes and setting it right between two strong keeps one should be able to run to if there is trouble. And do ye ken who I always see at my side?” She looked up at him and he smiled. “Ye. Ye are in every vision of what is to come for me. I just chose nay to look at that too closely.”
“And ye just did? Look at it closely?”
“Aye. Takes a mon awhile, I suspect.”
“Takes ye even longer,” she mumbled, and was not surprised when he laughed.
“Aye, it appears so.” He put his hand under her chin and tipped up her face so he could give her a kiss on the forehead and then on the mouth. “Aye, lass, I love ye.” He saw the glint of tears in her eyes and sighed. “’Tis nay something to weep about. If anyone should be weeping, ’tis I, for I will be giving up the roving life and I rather enjoyed it.” He grunted when she lightly punched him in the side. “And already ye begin to abuse me.” He held her tight when she laughed.
“I would ne’er stop ye from doing a wee bit of roving.”
“That is what I kenned but the urge is gone. Willnae swear it will stay gone, but for now, aye, no itch to ride off.”
She snuggled up close to him. “Good.”
“Will have to let my family ken what is happening. That may take a wee bit of time and I cannae promise we willnae suddenly have more of them about than one would wish for.”
“Is your family that large?”
“Aye, because it tends to include all of them, nay just mither and fither and siblings but cousins and aunties and uncles and whome’er they wed and what children they have. Weel, it is a lot, aye.”
“That’s lovely.”
He looked to where the cat was and found it sitting up and staring at him. “I suppose I must take the cat in, too.”
“Without a doubt.”
“Fair enough. Ye will have to claim Jester as one of your stable.”
“She likes Jester.”
He laughed and pressed her head against his shoulder. “Sleep, lass. I ken ye need it and ’tis too soon for me to celebrate this moment.” He caught her puzzled look. “Men need a bit of a rest between bouts.”
Mora felt herself blush and just nodded. “I didnae ken that.”
“And glad I am to hear that,” said a deep voice.
Mora squealed and ducked under the covers. Gybbon sighed and turned to look at Niall and David. He had not even heard them come in. They looked angry, yet he did not have the feeling they were prepared to beat him close to death. He hoped his judgment was right on that.
Chapter Twenty
Mora stayed hidden under the covers even though she knew it was cowardly of her. If nothing else, she was leaving poor Gybbon to face her brothers alone. Realizing she could not leap out while naked to defend him if her brothers decided to beat him, she wriggled over to the edge of the bed to grab her night shift from the floor where Gybbon had dropped it. She wriggled around as she tugged it on.
“What the devil is she doing under there?” asked David.
Lifting the covers a little to peek, Gybbon grinned. “Trying to put her night shift back on.”
“I didnae think I wanted to be naked if I had to leap up to defend ye,” she snapped as she slipped her arm into the sleeve.
“Ye were going to try and defend me? That is sweet, but I dinnae think ye will need to bother.”
She was about to call him arrogant when he was suddenly yanked out of the bed. Even as she pulled on the other sleeve, she popped out from beneath the covers. Her brothers stood by the bed, David with a good hard grip on Gybbon’s arm as Niall started to toss his clothes at him.
“What are ye doing here?” she demanded.
“Good question, love. Better one, just how did ye get in here?” asked Gybbon.
“We ken about Sigimor’s escape passage and came up that way after we found the doors locked.”
Gybbon looked around as he tried to put his clothes on while still being held firm by David and found a door partly open near the hearth. “Sigimor isnae keeping that secret verra weel.”
“We are his kin so he told my mither about it. Ye will wed my sister.”
“He doesnae have to,” Mora snapped, then wondered why she said that when she wanted nothing more than that.
“Oh, aye, he does,” said Niall.
“That is a verra interesting place,” said a young voice, and Andrew stepped out of the door to the passageway.
Mora groaned and covered her face. “Did ye nay see that he followed ye?” she asked her brothers.
Niall and David shook their heads. “He must have seen us leave our bedchamber,” said Niall.
“Why are ye holding Gybbon?” Andrew asked as he paused to pat the cat, then started walking over to them.
“Because I am thinking of beating on him,” said David.
“I would rather ye didnae,” said Sigimor as he walked in behind Andrew. “I have no wish to have the far too numerous Murrays descend upon me.”
“Oh, sweet Mary,” muttered Mora, and buried her head in the pillow. “Is the whole cursed house going to wander in?”
“Nay, lass,” Sigimor said, and patted her on the head. “I just got curious about who was wandering through my walls.” He looked at Gybbon. “Guess locking the doors wasnae enough.”
“Nay. Nice locks ye have, though.”
“Thank ye. Started putting them on certain doors once I could afford them as I was weary of my whole family walking into my room whene’er they pleased.”
“Oh, I can understand that.”