Page 76 of Enticing the Devil

He missed Anne’s passion.

The way her eyes would swirl when she was angry with him. Or desirous.

Lust and longing hardened his body in a rush. He clenched his teeth.

As though sensing his attention, she momentarily shifted her focus from the passing countryside to cast a quick glance in his direction.

When she saw he was looking back at her, she’d quickly look away again, after giving a subtle, delicate flinch. And just as he had from their first meeting, he saw it. He always saw it—that uncontrollable reaction as her body tensed and something flickered deep in her gaze. He’d first believed it to be a wary sort of fear. But he knew better now. The woman was not fearful of anything, let alone him. So, why did she still react in such a way? As though her body responded involuntarily.

Unfortunately, he had no answer, which only worsened his bad mood as they rounded the bend and the house came into view.

In the fading daylight, the old gray brick took on a golden hue where it nestled in a wide, curving valley between rising green mountains. The riotous beds of flowers his mam had planted out front were in full bloom to soak up the last of the sun’s rays for the day. Only a corner of the barn could be seen as it peeked out from behind the house where the narrow gravel drive curved out of sight. For a moment, the quietness of the scene startled him. His stomach turned.

Where was everyone?

But then, he heard the bark of a dog quickly followed by a child’s shout. A second later, their dog, Harry, came barreling from around the house—something white flappping in his great jaws. The sheepdog had never taken to herding so had become a pet for the children. Three boys in different sizes appeared next in swift pursuit of the dog with a tiny girl child following a bit behind but doing her best to keep up. More shouts joined the first, but they were heavily laced with laughter, until a young woman came into view and gave a sharp, ear-splitting whistle that brought everyone to a tumbling halt, except for the dog, which made a sudden about-face and trotted happily to the older girl’s side, where the stolen object—a stocking—was removed from his jaws.

Some of the uncertainty and worry loosened from around Beynon’s chest.

The children were all right.

Suddenly very anxious to give them all giant hugs and to find out how their mother was faring, he barely waited for the vehicle to come to a complete stop before opening the door and leaping to the ground.

Though all the children had stopped and turned to stare at the fancy carriage with wide eyes, Eirwyn spotted him first and smiled widely as she darted toward him to toss herself into his arms. The others followed quickly behind and there were a few moments of several voices rising in volume and speed as they all bombarded him with questions and expressions of shock at his sudden arrival. It took him another few minutes to calm them all down enough to make out anything they said or even attempt to reply.

Then the first thing he heard happened to be, “Who’s she?”

The blunt question came from young Edwyn and Beynon cringed at the realization that he’d left Anne sitting the carriage. Turning a glance over his shoulder, he saw that the driver must have helped her to the ground as she stood back a few steps watching their chaotic reunion with the faintest suggestion of a smile. Despite the pleasantness of her expression, he could see the tension in her fine jaw and noted that her fingers were tightly linked.

Far too late, he realized he should have given her some advanced notice of what to expect of his family. He’d mentioned his siblings to her briefly before, but she probably would have benefitted from having more information before being thrust amongst them.

Stepping aside, he held a hand out to her in a gesture for her to come forward. Though she stepped up beside him, she didn’t put her hand in his.

Realizing he and the children had been speaking Welsh, he shifted to English. “This is my wife, Lady Anne.”

Their eyes all went wide, though he couldn’t be sure if it was due to him calling her his wife or the fact that she was a genuine lady, a distinction she didn’t lose even though she’d married so far beneath her station. The stunned silence that followed his introduction was broken quickly enough by Daryn. The boy could always be counted on to say exactly what everyone else was thinking but not uttering out loud.

“Why’d she marry you?” the ten-year-old asked with a scrunched brow and tilted head.

Beynon gave the boy a hard stare. “It’s a long story.”

#

ANNE WAS TEMPTED TO laugh at the boy’s brazen question, but the overwhelming sense of displacement held her amusement in check. As Beynon had disembarked from the carriage, she’d seen the look of concern on his face and she’d waited a moment to give him a chance to acclimate to being home.

The farm was as lovely and picturesque as the others they passed along the way. It was also decidedly much larger. The house itself was no stone and thatch cottage but was built of rough-hewn brick and stood two stories with a wide front door and riotous flowers growing all about. If not for the two large barns that could be seen beyond the house and a nearby pasture filled with sheep, it could have been mistaken for a small manor rather than a farmhouse.

When the sound of children’s shouts drew her attention away from the house, she’d taken a moment to claim a few deep breaths.

Beynon had greeted his siblings with boisterous hugs as they all spoke at once. The Welsh words were unidentifiable to Anne, but the sentiment behind them was not. The children were all very excited for their brother to be home. And though his expression remained tense, Beynon clearly shared the sentiment. The obvious relief in his body and the warmth of his greetings to each of his siblings were touching and not entirely unexpected considering the warmth he’d displayed when he’d spoken of them that day beneath the oak.

After the driver helped her from the carriage, she’d waited patiently for the reunion to finish, not wanting to interrupt the happy scene. But now that she’d been noticed, she offered a smile and stepped forward to address the children directly.

“I imagine my appearance is a bit of a shock but I’m sure your brother will explain everything. Since you all know my name, I wonder if you might not mind introducing yourselves to me?”

She ignored Beynon’s dark scowl as the oldest child came forward first. A girl around sixteen years, Anne would guess, with black hair in heavy waves to her shoulders and lovely dark brown eyes similar to Beynon’s, though not nearly so guarded. She gave an impressive curtsey and replied, “My name is Eirwyn, my lady. Welcome to Gwaynynog.”

“Thank you, Eirwyn. I look forward to seeing more of it.”

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