Page 101 of Once Upon A Haunted Castle
Again.
Her nerves were gritty, worn down by exhaustion and confusion and, if she were being entirely honest, fear.
Never had she encountered the strange happenings anywhere else as she had here at Castle of Park. And now she’d once more run directly into the castle’s laird.
Tears grew hot in her eyes, and she quickly turned her gaze downward to blink them away.
“I was hoping I’d see ye.” Gavin’s voice was gentle, not at all upset with her folly at running into him once more.
She looked up and found him smiling down at her. There was a softness to his brown eyes, which smoothed away everything ragged in her soul.
He held out her dagger to her, the worn leather hilt facing toward her. “Ye left this. I thought ye’d like it back.”
Her cheeks burned with the memory of the prior evening. How she’d screamed, how he’d found her.
How she’d kissed him.
She took the blade from him as if she hadn’t a care in the world or feared its loss when she’d woken– though certainly she had. “Thank ye, laird. That was kind of ye.”
His gaze searched her face. “Ye know ye can talk to me, aye?”
She stared up into his handsome face and tried to keep from glancing at his mouth, from remembering how soft and warm his lips had been against hers. “We’re talking now, are we no’?”
She’d meant it playfully, but there was something coy and husky in her tone, which made it come out far more flirtatious than she’d intended.
His lip quirked into a half-smile and now her gaze did fall to his mouth. Oh, how she longed to press a kiss to him once more. Perhaps linger a moment more this time.
“Aye, lass– we are.” He looked as though he meant to say more when footsteps sounded behind Senara.
The scant meeting was drawing to a close far sooner than Senara wished it to.
“I hope to see ye again.” Gavin’s gaze flicked toward the approaching person. “Perhaps tomorrow, around the same time?” He said it with nonchalance, as if his words had not set Senara’s heart racing and her whole body warm with a ridiculously silly giddiness.
“On the stairs?” she asked, a soft laugh teasing through her words.
“Aye.” His serious gaze settled on her once more.
She nodded and the smile returned to his lips. A small dimple showed on his right cheek. She hadn’t noticed that before and found she rather liked it.
“Tomorrow then.” His stare caressed her face and he proceeded up the stairs.
“Did the laird need help wi’ something?” Anice’s voice sounded behind her.
Senara turned and found the red-haired servant staring after Gavin with a hand propped at her waist.
“It’s been handled, but thank ye for asking.” Senara slipped downstairs before more questions might surface and tried to keep the joy from showing on her face.
There was something terribly exciting about meeting the laird on the stairs alone, something taboo and altogether very romantic.
Nothing would keep her from their meeting the following day. Not her lady, nor even the ghost of Balthasar.
*
6 months later
“I want herlet go.” Edana’s voice rose in a high pitch.
Gavin leaned back against the stone wall of his solar and watched his aunt pace the room. Winter was upon them and left her joints stiff, as was evidenced by the uneven gait of her agitated stride.
