She didn’t like the sting of jealousy she felt and she was sure he saw it in her eyes since she felt the heat of it herself. To avoid saying something she might regret, she turned and hurried to the keep. When she caught sight of Quiver, she hurried to say as she passed him, “Please see to King and Princess for me. They are off on a walk.”
Quivered nodded and when his eyes went wide as he looked past her, Purity knew her husband was close behind her.
She snatched her garment up enough to give her feet better flight and ran for the keep. She didn’t stop once inside. She went straight to the stairs, rushing up them and into the bedchamber she had slept alone in last night.
She went to shut the door and her husband was suddenly there. His hand caught the edge of the door, stopping it from closing on him. He wore no smile and his eyes settled on her questioningly.
“Did seeing me with Flora upset you?” he asked.
He sounded more curious than anything and that perturbed Purity. She stepped away from him, warning herself to hold her tongue, ready to snap at him. Unfortunately, jealousy reigned and her tongue let loose. “She has no right touching you the way she did. That right is mine and mine alone.” Her chin went up. “What if I let another man touch me like that?” She regretted asking when a spark of anger brought a scrunch to his brow and a glare to his eyes.
He stepped in the room, closing the door behind him, then his hand shot out and grabbed hold of her arm to yank her up against him. “I wouldn’t like it at all and believe me when I tell you that any man who dares to touch you would suffer for it.”
She got annoyed she’d allowed herself to feel such jealousy and cause such unnecessary anger in her husband. “It won’t be necessary since I would never let a man touch me with such familiarity.”
“I will see that Flora never does it again,” he said. “She simply wanted to tell me how glad she was I made it home and congratulate me on my marriage to you. She also told me, quite joyfully, that she was now happily wed, on which I congratulated her.”
Purity felt foolish. “I am sor—”
He pressed his fingers to her lips and silenced her apology. “You had every right to get angry, feel jealous, especially with what you’ve witnessed between me and Flora in the past. But I gave you my word that I would remain faithful to you and I meant it.”
“You always have been a man of your word,” she said, continuing to feel foolish.
“And that hasn’t changed, nor will it,” he assured her and wondered why her jealousy sent a strange stirring in him. It was almost as if he was pleased to know she was jealous. That she truly wanted him, no other, for herself alone. At one time, he had never thought of having only one woman. He never thought one woman would be enough, and yet now the thought of having any woman other than Purity didn’t appeal to him. He found no interest or felt no desire for any other woman, but his wife.
“You realize you are committing to years with me,” she said, making it clear what such a commitment meant.
He suffered a sharp twist to his gut when he said, “Now until the day we die.” The thought that one day he would lose her tore at him as it had done earlier when he hadn’t been able to find her. He cared deeply for her, the thought startling him, though his next thought was even more shocking to him. Could he actually be falling in love with his wife?
“That isn’t long enough for me,” she whispered and kissed him.
His arm shot around her waist and he twirled her around to brace her back against the door as he deepened their kiss. The more he kissed her the more he wanted to kiss her. He’d always found women enjoyable, but never had he found a woman irresistible, one who he couldn’t wait to return to again and again, one that made him ache for her—until his wife. He kissed her with a need, a desire that was foreign to him, but one he ached to explore.
Purity’s head bounced against the door from the pounding on the other side, and Arran quickly pulled her away from it and into the crook of his arm.
“Arran? Are you in there? You need to come with me right away,” his da shouted.
Arran kept Purity close as he yanked the door open.
“Come! Hurry!” his da ordered and Arran followed along with Purity without question and when they reached the Great Hall, Parlan turned to Purity. “Wait here.”