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It was no longer a blur. Freya remembered everything.

She had been eager to marry him that night. In fact, she had pointed out the priest and her idea for the two of them to wed. She had giggled like a giddy little lass in love.

Looking back, she could not believe the way she had acted.

Perhaps if she had not controlled her emotions so rigidly for so long, she’d have faced them like a grown woman and not like… well, like a lass looking forward to her first kiss.

She caught her lower lip between her teeth and bit down on it.

His thumb touched her mouth, and she froze. She didn’t jerk away. All she did was stare at him, resisting the urge to lick her lips.

It was the lightest touch, barely a pressure at all. He drew her lip gently free of her teeth, and she was so startled that she let him. Then she looked up and found him much closer than she’d realized, his dark eyes steady on hers.

“It’s all right, wife,” he said quietly. “Daenae worry so much. I can accept ye with yer secrets.”

No one had ever offered to accept her without explanation, and her eyes stung.

“Ye can?” she asked slowly.

“Aye.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “But apparently, ye cannae.”

She opened her mouth to argue and found herself at a loss for words. He had her there, the infuriating man. She’d demanded he lay himself bare, and when he asked the same of her, she couldn’t even find the first word.

“So we’re at a loss.” She lifted her chin, because it was the only weapon she had left. “Go to bed, husband.”

“And ye?”

“I cannae leave him.”

“He’s fine.”

“He fell because of me.”

“Babies fall all the time. He’s never been healthier in his life. Look at him.” Evander jerked his chin toward the cradle, where Archer lay flat on his back, arms flung wide, snoring faintly through his nose. “That’s nae a bairn at death’s door, lass. That’s a bairn who ate half of Brigid’s porridge and is dreaming about the dog.”

“I’m staying.”

He looked at her for a long moment. Then he sighed, the deep and weary sigh of someone who had tried reason and realized he wasn’t going to get it, no matter how hard he tried.

“Ye leave me no choice.”

Before she could ask what he meant, he set the trencher aside and rose in one smooth motion. Then the floor dropped away from her, and she found herself hanging upside down over his shoulder, with her braid swinging near the back of his knees.

“Evander!” she hissed. “Put me down this instant!”

“Nay,” he said pleasantly, carrying her out of the nursery.

“Damn it, put me down!”

He chuckled. “Och, the mouth on ye, wife. Do ye want the servants to hear such words leave yer lips?”

“If ye would stop being ridiculous and put me down, then I wouldnae need to say such words,” she growled.

She pounded her fists against his back, but he didn’t let go. He carried her straight to their room and set her gently on the edge of the bed.

“Ye need rest. I’ll go sleep somewhere else.”

“Really? After all the times we’ve woken up together, I daenae think that necessary,” she scoffed.