When she swallowed hard, pulled away, and looked elsewhere, he found it jarring. As though minus her warmth, the sun had vanished and cast him into the shadows.
“You saw...” she whispered.
“Aye, and I felt it,” he said softly, only able to give her the truth, wanting her eyes turned his way again. Needing her gaze on him. “’Tis nothing to be ashamed of, lass. ‘Tis nothing—”
“I need to change,” she said, her tone not exactly sharp but close enough. “Please give me some privacy. I’ll join you guys soon.”
However much he understood her response, he was surprised by how her pulling away thrust him back into a void. One made not of black or white but lifeless gray. A lonely world he had grown all too used to.
That's all right, he reminded himself.Because I love Maeve.
He must remember that. He would see her again someday in the afterlife, and all would be as it should.Shewas the only one he would ever love. Nobody else. Especially not a lass he barely knew.
Convinced he had things straight again, he let Chloe be.
In the meantime, Cray had remained just outside the tent with his arms crossed over his chest. His expression foretold a foul mood, indeed, and his words drove that home. Something Aidan had no use for. Not from Cray. Not right now. In fact, he grew so frustrated so quickly he did something completely out of character.
When Cray uttered, “Ye’re a bloody fool,” Aidan flat out punched him.
Stunned, Cray staggered back but didn’t fall. Instead, he recognized the challenge for what it was. Eyes narrowed, he wiped blood from his mouth, grinned like a madman and charged Aidan. Though there was little distance between them being hit by a MacLeod dragon was like slamming into a mountain.
The two crashed to the ground and began rolling, battling each other for all they were worth. Cray might be dragon, but before all this began, Aidan’s skills as a warrior were untouchable. Yet irritatingly enough, as it had been on Tiernan and Julie’s adventure, his battle skills were slipping. He felt every punch Cray got past him.
“Enough,” came an all-too-familiar roar almost at the same time as Chloe cried, “Stop!Please!”
Having scrambled into a change of clothing in record time, she was in disarray, her dress crooked, and her hair askew.
Though he and Cray had a good grip on each other’s throats, when Tiernan roared into their minds that they better start behaving, they listened. At least Cray did. Aidan, as it turned out, had to be dragged off his dragon brethren by his best friend.
“Bloody hell, Cousin.” Tiernan gripped Aidan’s shoulders, forcing him to meet his eyes. “Enough already!”
He ground his teeth, out for blood. “He’s a—”
“Friend,” Chloe cut in. “And he’s family, Aidan. So please stop this. All he did was—”
“Take her from me,” Aidan ground out, so far back into his dismal mental abyss he couldn’t see straight. He turned cold eyes Chloe’s way, angry that she would defend Cray when she knew what he’d done. The heartache he had caused. “All he did was take away everything that mattered to me.”
“’Twas the other way around, Hamilton.” Cray swung onto his horse, his dragon eyes as fiery as ever. He dusted pine needles off his tunic. “Yetook Maeve fromme!”
He rode off in Robert’s general direction without a backward glance.
“Wow,” Julie muttered, embracing Chloe, who appeared nearly as angry as Aidan and Cray. “It’s okay. I’m here now.”
“I’m glad.” Chloe shook her head. “But things are definitely not okay.” Her cheeks remained flushed, and her eyes blazing. She pulled away from Julie and shot Aidan a look that spoke volumes. “I sort of expect that kind of behavior from Cray, but what were you thinking? Especially after what you realized last night?” Her disappointment affected him more than he let on. “Aren’t you a chieftain? A powerful wizard?”
“I am,” he concurred before Julie or Tiernan could get a word in edgewise. Maeve would have never been so bold. So disrespectful. “And—”
“Disrespectful?” Chloe exclaimed, wide-eyed, downright fuming now as she caught his thoughts. “Seriously?”
Before he could respond, she spun on her heel and strode after Cray. He started to follow, but Tiernan put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Julie pursued instead.
“Let Chloe be, for now, Cousin,” Tiernan said softly.
“But she isnae safe,” he argued.
“She is,” he assured. “And ye need time to cool off.”
He sighed and shook his head but knew Tiernan was right.
