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to them.
Sin helped her mount, then swung himself up onto his own horse.
As they left the village, she couldn't suppress the happiness inside her. "I think you won them over."
"That was never my intent."
And that was what she loved most about him. Even though her clansmen had mocked and shunned him,
he had still put his life in jeopardy to save them all.
Most men wouldn't have cared one way or another about her people. But he hadn't even thought twice
about risking his life for them. "You're a good man, Sin MacAllister."
He reined to a stop and turned angry, tormented eyes to her. "Never call me that."
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Callie's heart clenched at what she saw on his handsome face. The raw emotions that swirled in those
dark eyes. "Forgive me. It was a slip of the tongue that will never happen again."
The fire in his eyes died as she led him back to the castle.
It wasn't until they had reached the castle and entered the great hall that Callie remembered what she
had asked Simon to do&
Out of the gathered group, she didn't know who was more stunned. Poor Sin, still wearing his one boot
and dressed in a kirtle, or his brothers and Simon, who stood with Jamie, Aster, and to her surprise,
Dermot.
Jamie stepped forward hesitantly. He threw his shoulders back and spoke like a grown-up. "Caledonia,
I know you said we were to make him feel at home. So I'll pull one shoe off, but no one's going to make
me wear a dress."
Laughter resounded through the hall. But no one laughed harder than Sin, who scooped Jamie up in his
arms and tickled him. "I don't know, lad. As pretty as you are, you might look at home in a kirtle."
"I'm not pretty. I'm fierce."
Callie grabbed her brother from Sin and gave him a hug of her own. "As fierce as a gentle cub. And as
precious as a rose in the dead of winter." She kissed his cheek and set him on his feet.
Grimacing, he wiped his face and dashed off to stand behind Dermot.
Lochlan shook his head. "Should we ask?"
"I had a run-in with a bull."
Simon laughed. "From where I'm standing, it looks like the bull won."
Sin smiled. "Nay, you should see the bull. He's dressed in swaddling." Sin looked about the hall, which
had been decorated with bright color serge drapes and wrapped gifts that were spread out on the main
table. "What's all this?"
"We're celebrating your birthday," Simon said.
Sin frowned.
"Callie's idea," Lochlan said.
He looked to his wife, who was sidestepping away from him. Catching her hand, he pulled her back.
"Care to explain?"
"Aster, would you please have the pastries and cakes brought in while I attend my husband's change of
clothes?"
"Aye, love."
"If you'll excuse us," she said to the men before leading Sin up the stairs.
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He followed her up the narrow stairs. "Are you not going to answer my question?"
"I didn't wish to do it in front of the others."
"Why?"
She opened the door to their room and let him enter first. Then she closed the door and crossed the
room to stand beside him. She wanted to pull him into her arms, but something in his demeanor told her
he wouldn't welcome that. "Lochlan told me no one knew when you were born. Is it true?"
His eyes blank, he moved away from her to pull his armor out of the trunk by the window. "Aye."
Callie didn't let him get away. She crossed the room to join him at the window and as soon as he
straightened, she took his chin in her hand and smiled up at him. "Then today shall mark the day of your
rebirth."
He looked baffled by her words. "My rebirth?"
She nodded as she fingered his whiskered cheek, then traced the line of his jaw to his silken hair.
"You're no longer alone, Sin. You now have a home and a wife who wants you. Spurn me if you must,
but you will always be welcome here. And if you've no wish to be a MacAllister or earl or anything else,
that is fine. But from this day forward you are a MacNeely."
His dark eyes narrowed. "I told you, I've no wish to be owned by you or anything else."
Callie's stomach drew tight in frustration. How she wished she could make him understand what it was
she was offering him.
"And I am not trying to own you or even claim you. That is not the nature of what I offer and it breaks
my heart that you can't understand it. Maybe one day you will. If you have to go, go. I won't hold you
here. I will stay behind, and every day you are gone I will miss you. Every hour, I will think of you and
wonder where you are and be worried that something might happen to you."
Sin stood in silence as her words cut through him. He'd never been more than just the most passing of
thoughts to anyone. Not even his brothers. What she offered&
If it wasn't love, it was a damned good substitute.
"I hope and pray that I already have your child in me. And I hope he grows to be just as fine a man as
his father."
Sin ground his teeth at her words. The pain, the ache, the need inside him roared up and screamed
through his soul. He couldn't stand the agony of it. It was overwhelming and shattering.
"Do not say such things to me," he growled.
"Why?"
"Because I can't stand to hear it." He felt tears prick his eyes, but he quickly banished them. Against his
will, he reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. "I don't know how to love, Callie. I don't know
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how to be the man you need."
"You are the man I need."
He turned away from her with a curse. Inside his emotions were tangled. He was afraid to trust in her. It
was easy for her to say she would stand by him now, but once he had proof of her brother's crimes she
would feel that way no longer.
Neither one of his parents had ever stood by him. His brothers might, yet they had never been put to the
test.
He had been hurt so many times. Betrayed over and over by everyone in his life. His brothers each
carried the same guilt Draven did over the fact that when he had been sacrificed for them, they each had
felt a twinge of relief.
He didn't blame them for it, it was more than understandable, but having been the sacrificial lamb so
many times, he refused to believe she wouldn't turn on him as well.
Her clan meant everything to her and her brothers even more.
Nay, her words were a lie. Not in her heart, for he knew she meant them right now. But to believe in
them&
He'd been many things in his life. A thief, an assassin, a starving beggar, a knight and an earl. He had
never been a fool. And it was one role he wouldn't play now.
But when he looked at her, it was hard to remember that. Hard to think of things other than just losing
himself in the comfort she offered.
It's not meant to be.
Nay. He closed his heart. He would do as he must, and when he was through here he would return to
England. Alone.
It was the way of it. He couldn't fight destiny.
Chapter 15
«^»
Callie watched as Sin dressed, his muscles rippling with every move he made. He was stunning and yet
as unreachable as the sky above them. How she wished she could think of some way to breach the
distance between them.
" 'Tis amazing how well you can lace your armor without assistance. I thought knights usually had a
squire to help them."
Sin paused, then returned to lacing his hauberk. "I've never had a squire."
"Truly?" she asked, surprised by his confession. He was always so patient and calm with Jamie that she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]