"I haven't failed you yet."
Her mouth parted in surprise.
He kissed her mouth and moved in her again. Kissed her forehead, cheek, then ear. "Admit you want me." He quickened his thrusts.
Her muscles tightened around him in readiness for her release.
"Admit it," he pressed. "You want me now and every day and night hereafter."
Elise hugged him tight. "Yes," she cried as her climax rolled over her.
"You are mine," Marcus rasped. "You will not regret the choice."
Elise found herself being pulled down the hall of Brahan Seer. Marcus intended to take her directly to his father to announce their betrothal. Her head whirled as much from his lovemaking as his proposal. He picked up speed, nearly dragging her down the hallway.
She needed more time. "Marcus, wouldn't it be wise to give this more thought before telling anyone?"
"Nay."
"Slow down. I can barely keep up with you." She tugged on the hand he grasped.
"I can carry you, if you like," he responded, still striding in long paces.
"Good Lord, no. Marcus." Elise yanked hard on his hand.
He came to an abrupt halt and she tumbled into his arms.
"Aye, sweet," he drawled. "You wanted something."
"Slow down. I'm not a sack of potatoes to be dragged along behind you."
His gaze dropped to her breasts. "True, and I could easily forget myself even here in the common walkway."
Surely, he wouldn't have asked her to marry him if he'd seen the notice in the paper? Could she live with herself for deceiving him? "You needn't marry me," she said, then silently added, This is your chance, Marcus MacGregor. Save yourself. "I can't refuse you," she said, "even here."
His eyes jerked up to meet hers, the amorous light gone. "I believe we were on our way to see my father." Taking her hand once again, he continued at an even more relentless pace.
Five minutes later, they entered the stables where Cameron stood with the young foal born that summer.
"Father," Marcus called.
Cameron looked over his shoulder at Marcus, then her.
"We have an announcement," Marcus said as they drew up beside Cameron.
Cameron's expression turned bemused, but Elise knew better.
"Elise and I are to be married." Marcus's hold on her hand tightened. "And soon."
Her heart jumped into a gallop. "No one said anything—"
"Hush," he commanded, and looked at his father. "Have you anything to say?"
Cameron shrugged. "You are old enough to make your own decisions."
Marcus grinned, and she muttered, "Bloody idiotic men."
Both men regarded her.
She looked back at them. How could she explain that the woman he wished to marry was wanted for murdering her husband? 'You see, my husband poisoned my daughter with tiny doses of the deadly nightshade. The symptoms were subtle, which explains why the doctors couldn't pinpoint the disease. I never caught Robert in the act, but he knew I knew and tried to kill me. I shot him in self-defense. Ignore the wanted notice in the London Sunday Times. It will eventually go away.'
Elise regarded Marcus. "As your wife, I am no longer prisoner?"
"You are not prisoner now," he replied. "You are in the castle for your safety."
"Safety," she murmured, then added, "If I wish to go to the village, you will allow it?"
He nodded. "If it pleases you. I have work I can take care of while we are there."
She narrowed her eyes. "I am no prisoner then?"
"Nay," he answered innocently, and she knew she would get no more.
He would ensure she was watched every second they were at the village. If she played the future wife, he would soon relax his hold. Pain stabbed at her heart.
She had to be gone before his priest arrived.
Elise paced her bedchamber. Marcus's son would arrive any hour. Only two days had passed since she'd agreed to marry Marcus. Was he hurrying to Brahan Seer to meet the woman who would marry his father, or to expose her as murderess? How in God's name was she to escape not two, but three MacGregor men?
The fire blazing in the hearth cracked and she jumped. She pressed a hand over her racing heart. Something must be done. She recalled the various decanters of liquor sitting on the sideboard in Marcus's library and hurried to the library.
She opened the door and met Marcus's gaze as he looked up from the work on his desk. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, love?" he asked.
She closed the door and headed for the sideboard. "I need a drink."
Elise ignored the quizzical lift of his brow as she stopped before the sideboard and surveyed the decanters. She spied the small square decanter filled with cognac. She removed the lid from the decanter, poured a healthy portion into a glass, then emptied it in two unladylike gulps.
She heaved a sigh, then poured another, and finished it just as quickly. She glanced at Marcus and saw he regarded her. "Oh," she said, "how thoughtless. Would you like one?"
He shook his head.
"Well, I do."