Kage glanced at the shelf where Finn had hidden the horse and then back at Finn. “I don’t need your help. I’ll find a gift on my own. And when I marry her and ram my cock into her, she’ll forget all about you.”
“Get out,” Finn ordered.
Kage grinned widely, and his eyes twinkled with mischief. He slowly straightened and inched to the door. His lips still carried that same twisted grin when he opened the door and left the room.
Finn gritted his teeth so tight his jaw ached. He would never let Kage marry Ari. He would enter and win the contest.
Chapter Five
Ari knew she couldn’t avoid diningwith the lords and knights at the evening meal. As she sat at the head table answering their generic questions, she caught Kage leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, staring at her with a strangely unsettling grin. She turned back to the knight in the red velvet cape sitting at the table below her and answered, “My favorite color is yellow.” At the other end of the table, a knight in a green tunic asked her what her favorite animal was. She sighed softly. There were so many men, and she didn’t have time to have a real conversation with any of them. Question after question. What’s your favorite flower? What do you like to do? What dessert do you like the best?
By the end of the night, she was exhausted from trying to appear interested in the men surrounding her. Her father joined her, doing his best to keep her company, but even his presence could not rescue her from the deluge of boredom. She felt the need to escape growing within her and glanced about the room for a door to steal away. Her eyes rested on Finn as he spoke to a woman who seemed vaguely familiar. From this distance, she thought it might be farmer Robert’s middle daughter, but she couldn’t be certain.
When Finn smiled at the woman, and she laid a hand on his arm, Ari’s chest tightened, and her teeth clenched. She had never doubted that she and Finn were meant for each other and that they would somehow end up together. But as she watched him laugh with the woman, doubt crept in like a toxic fog. Had he fallen in love with someone else? Did this woman mean more to him than she did? The thought turned her stomach sour.
The air thickened with tension as Ari struggled to keep her composure when all she wanted to do was rip the woman’s hand from Finn. She found herself on her feet before she knew what she was doing. Then she froze as the lords and knights, seated around her and standing before the table, stared at her in confusion and anticipation.
She swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry. Her hands trembled, and her knees felt weak. Her self-assurance would not return. “I’m not feeling well,” she told them, excusing herself for the night. As she stepped away, slowly heading for the stairs that led to her chambers, she locked eyes with Finn. His stare was intense, and seemed as if he knew something was wrong. She dropped her gaze to the ground, biting her bottom lip as a wave of sadness and uncertainty swept through her. She rounded the corner and was starting up the spiral stairway when she heard his voice call to her.
She hesitated but then continued up the stairs.
Finn easily caught up to her. “Where are you going?”
“To my chambers,” she said stoically, her voice thick.
“You shouldn’t be alone,” he reminded her.
She paused on the steps, her heart heavy. “I suppose it is my fault,” she said quietly, her voice quivering with emotion as she searched for the right words. She took a deep breath, gathering courage for what she was about to say. “It all makes sense now. When I returned and came to you, you were so different. You were distant…almost as if you were pushing me away.”
Finn shook his head in confusion. “You are a noblewoman, Ari. I thought there was no chance—”
“And I didn’t ask,” she added, spinning to face him. His face was blank with bewilderment. “Do you love her?”
He narrowed his blue eyes. The memory of them had helped her get through the loneliest moments of her stay at her aunt’s castle.
“Love who?” he wondered.
“That girl,” she said, trying desperately to keep the anguish from her tone. “The one you were speaking with.”
“Mabel? Robert’s daughter?” Finn asked, his lips twitching, his eyes dancing with merriment.
But Ari didn’t think there was anything to smile about. “The way you kissed me. You knew how to kiss. There must have been others. I was silly not to realize. Maybe Mabel. Maybe—”
“Ari.” He seized her hands. “There were others. But none like you. It’s always been you. Only you.”
His words soothed her heart, yet doubt still lingered on the edges of her mind. She looked into his eyes, searching for reassurance but finding only sincerity. “Are you certain?”
A full smile bloomed on his face. “Of course.”
Her heart melted. She pushed close against him. “Then kiss me again.”
He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Here? Others might see.”
“We’ll hear them coming,” she whispered. Her heart raced as she lifted on her toes to brush her lips against his.
His strong arms encircled her body, drawing her closer as he tilted his head and his mouth gently covered hers.
Ari gave way to the feelings of bliss, excitement, and thrill that came over her again when Finn kissed her. His body was strong beneath the cotton tunic he wore. But before she could fully melt into the embrace, the sound of footsteps filled the stairwell and jolted them apart.
