Page 32 of The Highlander's Captured Bride
With his knuckle he raised her chin. “T’was more than nice.”
She was tongue-tied and fishing for words but found none. How had his kiss wiped out the words from her mind just when she needed to say something, anything at all? It didn’t matter; his reply was to place the sweetest, gentlest kiss on her closed lips.
Sucking in a deep breath, she asked, “What was this about nay dalliances?”
He tucked her under his arm, and laid his cheek on the side of her head. “Aye, I will nae compromise ye, Violet. It’s clear ye are an innocent of dealings between men and woman, and I will nae take advantage of that.”
“Nay one said ye were going to take advantage of me,” she said. “I ken ye wouldnae hurt me, I’ve never made such a strong a connection with any man before and I just—forgive me if I’m wrong—but I hope that ye felt the same.” She cringed. “If I was wrong—”
“Shush,” he whispered. “I ken what ye mean and…ye were right but I willnae…daenae expect too much, Violet, from me. I am nae sure about me future will hold.”
She sighed. “A while ago me future was uncertain as well. I wasnae even sure ye’d kiss me once, much less twice.”
“Neither did I,” he murmured
This mist began to filter into the air, swirling around the hedges and trunks of the trees. His body was warm and buffered the cold air from making gooseflesh rise on every inch of her skin. Her shoulder, tucked under his arm, fitted into the space of his body like a missing piece. Moonlight danced over his fair hair and cast shadows in the hood of his eyes and the sinews of his bulging biceps.
“Ye feel nice,” she snuggled, brushing off the fact that Ethan’s agreement to remain detached worked to let her know how it felt like to be wanted. “Quite warm too.”
“And ye’re are very soft,” he chuckled. “For all yer rather unusual ways.”
“I’ve heard that all me life,” she snorted, “Father once sent me to a girls’ boarding school in Glasgow for nearly a year. He believed that the mistresses there would instill in me what he couldnae teach me at home. The girls at school held me as an odd-duck, teasing me for me unfeminine ways and me body. Said I looked more like a lad than a lady, epically for me lack of er…bosom. As the ladies were plucked out time after time for courtship and marriage, I learned quick and fast that noblemen prefer ladies who are endowed, can dance, cook, and are willing to adopt a rather subservient manner. Most of which, I’m nae.”
“Dinnae mind them, ye’re cut from another cloth,” Ethan smiled.
She muttered something under her breath, “Like rawhide instead of silk.” Alarmed her words were audible, she shot a look to Ethan, who was peering at her curiously. Aiming an apologetic smile up at him, she snuggled back into his side.
The summer night was cool, but it was getting chillier, and even with Ethan’s body heat near her side, her thin gown was failing to buffer her from the cold. “I ken we should go inside.”
“Are ye sure?” he asked. “I was just getting comfortable.”
“Ye might be able to tug yer shirt off and live in this cold, but I need three layers of this dress and a fire to combat this chill,” she retorted shimmying away from him. “I’m still nay used to yer weather yet.”
As she went to stand, Ethan tugged her back. Her gaze flickered to his graver one, instantly apprehension curled her stomach. “Violet, will this change our connection?”
“I dinnae see how it can,” she said. “It was one, er, two kisses. I feel better nae having to distrust meself when it comes to ye. And now, ye can take one more worry off yer mind. Ye dinnae have to be unsure with me again.”
“How did ye ken I was worried about that, about ye?” he asked.
Plucking a lock of his hair she smiled. “Trade secret, and Ethan… thank ye for tonight.”
Holding onto his hands, she was whisked into the castle, that, aside from few guards, was empty on the lower tier. She was accompanied up the stairs and then to her room and before she slipped inside, Ethan dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Good night, Violet.”
Stunned that he would kiss her again, she slid into her room and closed the door softly. A part of her soul wanted to castigate herself for being so bold with Ethan, but if she had not made the first step, he would have never breached the divide. Twice had he kissed her in the garden and again just a while ago at her doorway.
It was enough for her. Ethan had a lot to work through; she could still see his grief lingering in his eyes and he had confessed about his fear about the lairdship. At least she did not have to worry about how he felt about her. With that unease out of the way, perhaps things could be that much easier between them.
She went to bed with her heart lighter and her mindset at ease. She had not asked Ethan for anything more than the one kiss. If her father unraveled the case tomorrow and they did part, there would be no regrets on her part.
They had stayed out longer than she had realized and again, dawn was soon to come. Her sleep though was deep, and when she woke at dawn, a relieved and refreshing feeling had settled on her heart. Perhaps she took a bit longer brushing her hair or a mite longer time choosing through her four dresses, but she got to the breakfast table to see her father there, Mister MacFerson, and the Laird. Ethan was predictably absent.
After greeting the men and kissing her father on his cheek, she was seated and warm food was brought out to her. She listened in on the conversation amongst the three men with the Laird and her father explaining the one lead they had found—Miss O’Bachnon—and Mister MacFerson exclaiming.
“So, the O’Bachnon woman is the only key to finding out who killed me nephew? And she is nay where to be found?”
“Aye,” her father said, rather gravely. “Laird MacFerson sent out three squadrons of ten soldiers to each village to search for her or her son this morn. If we cannae find her, perhaps she left her boy with a friend or a distant family member. If we can find him, we can find her.”
“And she originated from Perth?” Mister MacFerson inquired.
