Page 65 of Kilted Seduction
She’d been a fool. And now she’d lost the trust of the man she loved - and would never see again after daybreak.
Thora settled into the straw at the far side of the barn, and let the tears flow silently. Her heart felt like it was shattering into a hundred pieces.
Worse, she knew it would never, ever be whole again.
Aedan’s night passed sleeplessly. He could hear Thora crying, but his own heart ached far too much for him to care.
Lies. Everything she’d said, everything she’d done, had been a deception. The visions might have been real, but they were the only truth in a web of deceit that she’d woven around him.
Thora MacLeod had stolen his heart, and he would never get it back. All he could do was return home and prepare to face the treachery of Lachlan Ross as best he could. Alone.
By the time dawn came, he felt sick, his eyes gritty and his mood foul. His first impulse, as the rays of the rising sun turned the air around them crimson, then lightened to pale gray skies, was to saddle his horse and ride away, until he reached his castle andcould hide, getting completely and utterly drunk. His clan wasn’t expecting him to return to his duties for several days yet, so he could spend the time courting oblivion and trying to stem the bleeding of his soul.
But they’d want to know what had happened to the supposed ‘Lady Cameron’. He had to think of something to tell them…
With a snarl, Aedan slammed his foot into the support of a nearby manger, then grabbed his cloak and stalked outside, only pausing long enough to tell one of the men to bring him his horse when the rest of them had broken their fast. He was in no mood for food.
The weather was chill and cold, with no snow but an overcast of gray clouds - a perfect fit for his mood, actually. Aedan wrapped his cloak tighter around himself as he stomped his way through the slush to the edge of the village and tried in vain not to think about how he’d wrapped his cloak around Thora when they’d made the journey to Castle Ross. She’d been so small and cold…
Aedan groaned and slumped against the stones of a small garden wall. Why did everything go back to Thora? He’d scarcely known her a fortnight, and yet he couldn’t think of a single thing that didn’t lead back to her. The thought of her was like a wound in his soul, bleeding and raw and screaming in pain, and yet he couldn’t stop prodding it, like a small lad picking at scabs and crying because it hurt.
When had everything become so complicated? And why… why had he allowed himself to fall in love with her? Why had he notkept his distance, the way his instincts had first urged him to do? He should never have let her close.
He should never have let her persuade him to accept her ruse of married life. He’d known it was too dangerous. Why had he agreed? Why had he ever let it be anything more than a reluctant deception? And why had he never questioned that a woman so skilled in weaving tales might not have woven one for him?
Footsteps crunched on the ground behind him, and he looked up to see Mac walking toward him. Feeling heavy as the stones on which he sat, Aedan heaved himself to his feet. “Are the men ready tae go?”
“They’re mostly still eating. I came tae see how ye were faring.” Mac’s voice was quiet.
Aedan scoffed bitterly. “And how dae ye think I’m faring, when I’ve discovered the woman I cared fer betrayed me and lied tae me.”
“So ye dae care fer her. I thought as much.” Mac’s voice was soft, full of compassion.
“But she lied tae me, Mac.”
“Aye. But would ye have listened, if she’d given ye her name? Her real name? Or would loyalty tae Lachlan Ross have seen ye tossin’ her out on her ear?”
“I…” Aedan shook his head. They both knew the answer to that question. Thora had known the answer to that question as well. That was why she’d lied to him in the first place.
“So, she might nae have thought she had a choice. And dae ye truly think she lied about everything? Or just her name?”
“She played me fer a fool.”
“Nae so much…” Mac stepped closer. “Tell me something… did ye sleep with her?”
Aedan scowled. “What business is it o’ yers?”
“’Tis nae. But ye have tae ask yerself, given that she’s a laird’s sister, a noblewoman, would she have let ye so close if ‘twas all a lie? Ruin her future?”
Aedan opened his mouth to retort. Then he closed it again.
He’d noted her shyness for himself, her reluctance to get close. He’d been the one to push the boundaries between them, outside of the moments that had been necessary for their deception of Lachlan Ross. “I…”
“Ye dinnae have tae answer, me friend.” Mac put a hand on her shoulder. “But… ye ken more o’ her relationship tae ye than I dae. And ye’re the only one who can decide if ye want tae let the one untruth she told ye destroy all that might have been real between ye.”
The words hit home harder than Lachlan’s sword the day before. “What are ye saying?”
“I’m saying that ye and the lass had something. Something that went beyond yer names and clans. Ye ken ye have tae wed soon… dae ye truly want tae face a loveless marriage, kenning what ye’ve seen ye could have?”
