Once alone, I would be forced to talk to him. I didn’t wish to hear his voice for anything, but as we walked down one of the garden’s pathways, the silence quickly became unbearable.
“’Tis a lovely night. Yer home is north, aye? Do ye ever have evenings as warm as this?”
I looked up to see him staring down at me. Mary was right. A hunger lay in his eyes that caused my stomach to clench uncomfortably.
“Aye, ’tis north and aye, at times we’ve as lovely weather as ye do. I can assure ye, ye’ll be quite comfortable there.”
His assumption made me feel suddenly defiant, and I pulled away to face him.
“Ye seem quite certain of yerself. Ye do know that Father has agreed to let me make this choice on my own, aye?”
He nodded and smiled, and I had to resist the urge to shiver. Such unearned confidence reminded me of my father. It made me like him even less.
“Aye, he told me. ’Tis not a concern. Do ye know how many lassies would sell their soul to be where ye are, lass—to have the opportunity to marry me? I doona doubt ye’ll come to see that ye willna have a better offer.”
Clearing my throat, I walked past him and back toward the castle. I would tell Father come morning that Seumas could leave.
“Goodnight, Laird McCabe. Thank ye for the walk.”
Before I could distance myself from him, his strong hand gripped my arm.
“I’ll walk ye back to the castle.”
I tried to pull away, but he held me too tightly.
“’Tis unnecessary, truly. I know my way around these grounds well.”
“I’ll sleep better, lass, knowing I saw ye safely inside.”
I didn’t believe Seumas was worried about my safety for a moment, but I allowed him to escort me toward the castle. A lifetime of living with my father made me practiced in appeasing boorish men. Often it was simply easier to allow them to believe they’d won.
Just outside the main doors, Seumas stopped, pushing me so that my back met with stone as he leaned in close.
“I’d like to kiss ye, lass. I’m certain ’twould do much to make ye want to marry me.”
I would’ve laughed at him had his face not been so perilously close to my own. I couldn’t risk the movement for fear it would cause my mouth to brush his.
As I lifted my palms to push him away, a shadow in the distance caught my eye. Standing far away, watching us, was Jerry. Suddenly all I could think about was just how much my kissing Seumas would displease him. It made me want to kiss the man all night long.
“Lass, did ye hear me? I’d like to kiss ye. Will ye allow it?”
Seumas’ lips grazed my ear as he spoke, and I shivered as I pulled my gaze away from Jerry.
I reached my hands to the sides of Seumas’ face and pulled his mouth to mine.
Chapter 17
I took four steps inside the castle before a small but strong hand reached out from the darkness and pulled me toward the kitchen.
“Mary, what are ye doing? I’ve had enough people grabbing me this evening.”
Bending over from laughter, Mary continued to drag me down the stairs.
Still rattled from Seumas’ wandering tongue, I was too dazed to fight her. As we entered the kitchen, she reached for a small, wooden stool and quickly saw me seated.
“Are ye all right, Morna? I feared ye might suffocate beneath his lips. If not for ye pulling away from him when ye did, I intended to charge ye to break his grip on ye.”
Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, my face warmed in embarrassment as I looked at her.
