Page 128 of Keep Me In Your Heart

“Since when are you and I romantic, wench?” Putting his face in the crook of my neck, he growls, making me yelp as goose bumps erupt all over my skin.

“Fine. I’ll marry you again, but you have to stop calling me names likecowandwench,” I say with a moan as his growls turn into kisses.

“No deal,” he replies curtly.

My arms wrap around him as I smile. Then I find my mind going back to the house as it so often does. “So…” I start. “Did you really give the house to your aunt?”

“Yes,” he says on an exhale.

“And you’re okay with that?”

“It’s just a house. If it means that much to her, she can have it.”

“Where will you live?” I ask, although I already know the answer.

“With my wife, of course,” he replies, nuzzling closer to my body.

With his face buried in the pillow and his hair strewn in a mess around him, I stare at him and try to find the differences from the man I knew at the manor. But I don’t see anything. It’s just him in a different setting.

He does seem at ease now. And not the same sort ofat easeI thought I saw before when I tried to tell myself he was fine. Now, he seems free.

“How are you feeling?” I ask, brushing his hair out of his face to plant a kiss to his bearded cheek.

“I’m fine,” he groans.

“And you won’t lie to me?” I ask, biting my lip. “If you’re not fine, you’ll tell me?”

He lets out a sigh and rolls onto his back. “Yes, mo ghràidh. If I start to feel anything, I’ll tell ye. But I promise, I didn’t make this trip until I was sure I could do it without worrying you.”

A tight smile pulls at my lips as I set my cheek on his chest and wrap my arms around his midsection.

“I’m proud of you,” I whisper, feeling him kiss the top of my head.

“Thank you,” he replies softly.

***

I wake up early the next morning, and Killian is already sitting up in the bed next to me.

“How long have you been up?” I ask groggily.

In nothing but his tight boxer briefs, he holds up the green book in his hands, and it takes me a moment to recognize it as my own. “Long enough to read this again. My cell phone doesn’t seem to work here.”

“I can’t believe you’re reading that again. I own other books, you know?”

He shrugs. “This is my favorite.”

I smile to myself as he continues to read. Then he looks down at me as he adds, “Do you have anything new?”

“It’s not done yet.”

“Are you going to publish this one?” he asks, stroking my hair.

“Nope.”

With a smirk, he leans down and kisses my temple. Thinking about writing makes me think of my mom and the weird encounter yesterday. “My mom came and saw me yesterday,” I say, making him tense immediately.

“Did she stop by to compliment your furniture?” he asks sarcastically.

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