She lifted her head and found him staring down at her. His hand moved up to her hair and he gently massaged her nape. She was hesitant to speak, to break the peaceful still that had invaded the chamber.

Soft light poured through the gap in the furs at the window, and the fire had once again died down to a bed of glowing embers.

Alaric was propped above her, his long hair streaming over his broad shoulders. He looked deliciously savage, but content as well. No pain darkened his gaze. Nay, something else entirely blazed in his depths. Something that made her itchy and warm inside and out.

She licked her lips nervously and his gaze darkened further, until the green of his eyes was a slim ring around the dilated black of his pupils. His mouth parted and his breaths came in uneven jerks. His hand tightened around her nape and before she could process the situation, he pulled her to him, bending his head to meet her lips.

It was a gentle kiss. Barely a brush across her tingling mouth, but how sweet it tasted. He came back again, this time pressing his mouth to the corner of hers. His tongue lapped out, warm and rough, dragging over the curve of her mouth and then running along the seam, demanding her lips to part.

Unable to deny him anything, she opened and allowed him entrance. He probed cautiously as if savoring the first meeting of their tongues. In a delicate dance, the tips dueled, withdrawing and then advancing more boldly, brushing over the other in a heady rasp.

“You taste so sweet,” Alaric whispered.

His voice sent shivers down her spine, but it also awakened her to what they were doing. She was lying in his bed, half sprawled atop him while he kissed her senseless.

And he was betrothed to another.

That last thought was as effective as dousing her with cold water.

“Keeley, what is it?”

She pried herself from his grasp and put space between them, though she was still perched on his bed.

“ ’Tis wrong,” she murmured. “You are betrothed to another.”

Alaric frowned. “Who told you of this?”

She frowned back. “ ’Tis no matter who told me. ’Tis what is true. You belong to another. It isn’t right for you to kiss me and hold me so.”

“I am not betrothed to her yet.”

Keeley sighed. “ ’Tis a rotten excuse and well you know it. Do you have plans not to marry her?”

Alaric’s lips thinned, but he shook his head. “Nay. ’Tis a marriage of necessity. A union needed to secure our alliance with the McDonalds.”

It shouldn’t hurt her to hear what she already knew. What was this man to her, after all? He was naught but someone who needed her aid. Nothing more. A few shared kisses did not a future make. Surely she didn’t fancy herself in love with him?