Page 100 of Enticing the Devil

Chapter Thirty-four

The days leading up to Michaelmas were a flurry of activity.

All around Denbighshire, people gathered to help their neighbors and friends with their final harvests of the year. Flocks were brought down from the mountains to lower pastures where they’d be sheared one last time before colder weather set in, grains and produce were gathered, and the last blackberries of the season were baked into pies.

In the first couple days after Anne returned to Gwaynynog with Beynon, they were essentially inseparable. He took her around to his favorite places on the farm and talked hesitantly at first about how difficult it had initially been for him to accept the new life he was expected to live when his mother married Cedric Thomas and moved them from the village to the farm.

Anne could hear the respect and near reverence in his tone as he spoke of the man who’d seen more in him than he’d ever seen in himself. The man who’d trusted him with his legacy. She could also hear the grief and Beynon’s firm determination to make his stepfather proud by continuing to improve and grow their flock so it could one day be passed on to the next generation.

The thought of having Beynon’s children filled Anne with an instant wealth of warmth and tenderness. A feeling that multiplied when Beynon turned to her with a heavy scowl.

“Though I want nothing more than to father countless children with you, there are things we can do to prevent conception if that’s your wish.” His voice lowered to a rough murmur. “I’ll never again take away your ability to choose the path of your own life as I did with our marriage. I wish to be an equal partner to you, blodyn, in all things.”

Overwhelmed, Anne had thrown herself into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck as she tucked her face into that enticing hollow beneath his jaw. Pressing her lips to his pulse, she whispered, “I’d love to have your children.”

The sound he made in response had been deep and primitive and visceral. Then he’d kissed her until the world spun around them.

But those two days of blissful connection were short-lived as Beynon gave her a deep kiss one morning before taking his brothers with him to assist their neighbors in the late summer harvest. Carys cried about being left behind until he promised she’d be able to join them when she was a bit older and a bit stronger. While he was gone, Glynnis, Eirwyn, and Anne dove into preparations for the Michaelmas celebration which was to take place at Gwaynynog once the season’s labor was finished.

There were giant loaves of bread to bake, and pies, and shearing cakes known as Cacen Gneifo. And it couldn’t be a Michaelmas feast without a fatted goose or two or three. Anne was surprised by how much she enjoyed the seemingly never-ending kitchen work. Especially once she discovered the delightfully bawdy comradery that developed amongst women when they gathered around a large worktable in a room heated by a constantly glowing oven and kneaded dough until their muscles ached.

On the morning of the fourth day after Beynon left, a cacophony of sound interrupted the women as they set another batch of bread to rise. Anne had never heard such a clatter and couldn’t imagine what the cause of the noise could be.

Eirwyn, however, grinned with delight as she hastily wiped her hands in her apron. “They’re back!”

Anne’s heart leapt as she glanced to Glynnis. With a warm smile, the older woman waved Anne away. “Go on and welcome your man home. I’ll finish up here.”

“Thank you,” Anne breathed as she flew from the kitchen close on Eirwyn’s heels.

Stopping beside the girl, she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the shining sun and watched in awe as a river of thick, wool-covered sheep poured down the mountain pass into the valley. She could see Aron, Daryn, and Edwyn leading the charge toward the shearing yards as dogs circled the flock to keep it contained. Half a dozen men walked with the livestock. Their shouts and laughter could be heard even above the sound of bleating sheep and countless hooves clattering on the rocky hillside.

Where was Beynon?

Anne’s chest began to ache, telling her she’d been holding her breath. Forcing herself to exhale, she scanned the men again.

And then she saw him.

Walking at the rear of the flock, he carried a large sheep across his shoulders. Just as the other men, he wore no coat due to the warmth of the day and his shirtsleeves were rolled to his elbows. Even at the distance, Anne could see the flash of his grin standing out within his dark beard.

A thrill swept through her to settle with a fierce flutter in her low belly.

He was devastating.

Not only because his masculine strength and rugged handsomeness were so strikingly apparent in that moment, but also because Anne could see the pride in his stride and the depth of his happiness. She couldn’t help but grin widely in response.

And it was then that his gaze found her.

Her body tingled with sparks and her heart gave a mad leap. Even though his expression shifted swiftly from easy joy to something dark and anticipatory, Anne’s happiness didn’t waver. Because as his piercing gaze held hers, she felt something flowing right through her very soul. So deep it felt intrinsic to her very existence.

Heart-stirring, sizzling-hot connection.

Though Eirwyn rushed forward to meet them all at the yards, the weight of emotion claiming Anne in that moment kept her rooted in place. There was simply too much to process.

As though sensing her disquiet, Beynon quickly lowered his burden to the ground, then skirted around the remaining flock to head toward her in ground-eating strides.

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