“It is too late for you to leave today,” he said firmly. “You and your people may stay until tomorrow. Anyway, there is still much to discuss.”
“I will make arrangements,” Minna said, before hurrying away, leaving the two men alone in the room.
“Congratulations, M’Laird,” Andrew said drily, raising his glass in a toast. “Now you have everything you want. I wish you the best of health and good fortune.”
Gowan stood up. “Not everything,” he said grimly.
“Not yet, but I will soon.” Then he marched out of the room.
21
After a few minutes of searching, he found Minna talking to the housekeeper, making arrangements for his accommodation. When she had finished, she looked up to find him watching her, and she smiled at him a little too brightly.
“I have assigned you a room,” she told him. “The bed is a little softer than the one you usually sleep in. I will have one of the maids show you where it is.”
“Can you show me?” His voice was husky, and as Minna looked up into the deep brown of his eyes, she felt as though she could have gazed into them forever.
“You should remember every inch of this place,” she replied softly. “I am sending the maid with you in case you need anything.” Minna dropped her gaze from his and nodded slightly. “But I will take you if you wish.”
Gowan wanted to sprint upstairs in front of Minna, but he made himself go at a leisurely pace. He hoped that they would have all evening to spend together, to talk, perhaps to kiss and fondle, but he would not allow his mind to go any further than that.
He followed her upstairs, admiring the graceful sway of her hips as she walked in her tattered breeches, which were now absolutely filthy. Gowan’s body was responding as it always did, and he was glad that his shirt had been pulled out from the waistband of his breeches to hang down over the front of him. He loved being a man - he had never been anything else - but sometimes, such as now, it was inconvenient!
Minna entered one of the best bedrooms, which she always reserved for important guests. It was a big room, lavishly decorated with beautifully framed oil paintings on every wall and hand-woven silk rugs on the floor. The bed, with its carved posts and cream silk drapes and bedclothes, was a work of art, as were the matching silk brocade curtains.
Gowan laughed when he saw it, and shook his head in wonder. “This room is exactly as I remember it.” There was a catch in his voice as he spoke. “It used to be the room my grandparents slept in when they came to visit. They liked the big bed because their collie dog Sammy could sleep in between them.”
Minna frowned. “On the silk coverlets?”
Gowan chuckled. “He had his own hand-woven woolen one. It was about two inches thick, but the silken ones were always dirty after he slept there anyway. I loved that dog, and my grandparents.”
His voice sounded so sad and wistful that Minna felt wretched. Her family had ripped all this away from him.
“You have so many good memories,” she remarked. “I am sorry my family took your home. It will be yours again now, and you can make more happy memories.”
“Did you not have good times here?” Gowan asked. “Surely you had friends?”
“Only amongst the servants, villagers and tenants. I never liked people of my own class. Anyway, they always thought of us as usurpers and would not associate themselves with us.” She sighed, then became brisk. “Is there anything else you need?”
“Yes.” His voice was husky. “I need you.” Then Minna found herself being swept against a hard, muscular chest as a pair of firm masculine lips descended on hers.
Minna moaned and gave herself up to heaven as Gowan’s lips swept over hers, his tongue invaded her mouth, and he nibbled her bottom lip, causing a thrill of delight that shot straight to her core. Gowan had cupped the back of her head with his hand to make sure she would not escape, but she did not want to escape; she wanted to stand in his arms forever.
Minna made no objection when Gowan drew his lips away from hers and lifted her into his arms, then deposited her gently on the bed, before lying down beside her and pulling her gently into his arms again. He studied her face, taking in every inch of it as if to imprint it on his memory forever.
“You need me?” She echoed his words as she stroked his face. After two days of not shaving he was beginning to sport some golden bristles that rasped pleasantly against her palms, making her shiver with pleasure.
“I will always need you,” he said lovingly, planting a gentle kiss on her lips. “I need you to stay here with me - forever. As my wife. Marry me, Minna.”
For a stunned moment she was silent, then she smiled, a wide, joyous smile of pure happiness. “Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, Gowan. I will marry you.”
“And you don’t mind this?” He touched his scar.
Minna kissed the puckered skin. “I love every inch of you, Gowan, including the scar. Anyway, it is not as bad as you think.”
“Thank you.” Gowan closed his eyes and gave a huge sigh of relief. “I don’t know what I would have done if you had said no.”
“You would have married a good woman and had children,” Minna said. “And you would have been a good and fair Laird.”