“I ken what I said. I thought that… that it would make ye happy.”
She flinched. “Why on earth would ye think that? I told ye again and again that it wasnaewhat I wanted. Did ye think that ye kent better than me? Did ye think that ye understood me happiness more than I did?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, and his gaze slid down and away from hers.
“Aye,” he murmured. “I suppose I must have.”
She closed her eyes briefly.
Calm. Stay calm. Ye are the one who foolishly took him to yer room and then offered to attend to his wound, for God’s sake. Ye brought this upon yerself.
Surely one of the servants will be along shortly.
Yes, that was an interesting point. Wherewerethe servants? Where was her mother, or Hunter? Why hadn’t someone come to join them?
A niggling voice at the back of her head supplied the possibility that perhaps her mother was keeping them back, up to her incessant matchmaking ways, but she dismissed that possibility. Surely even her mother wouldn’t be quite so determined.
“Why daenae ye want our marriage annulled?” she forced herself to ask. “I want a proper answer, Evander. Ye owe me that at least.”
“I was going to,” he murmured, shaking his head. “I meant to, truly. But I… I couldnae do it. The truth is, Skye, I want ye to come back. I thought that if I sent ye away, things would go back to normal. I thought that I would get back me tranquility. I thought that ye would have a better opportunity at an ordinary life. I thought we’d both be happier.”
“Well,” Skye managed, her voice cracking, “I’m nae.”
“Nor am I. I daenae want to live without ye. That’s the long and short of it. I just… I just want ye to come back, Skye. That’s what I came here to say. Will ye come home? Please?”
He wants me to come home.
Blood pounded in her ears. She blinked, rocking back on her heels.
Had she misheard? Was this some elaborate, realistic dream? Perhaps she’d wake up in a minute, tangled in her own bed mere feet away. She’d find her room empty, the fire having died down, leaving the space cold. The wind and rain would be drumming against the window, and there’d be no sign of Evander.
All a dream.
She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again, trying to figure out once and for all if she was awake or not. After a moment, she lifted her hand to the opposite arm and dug her nails into the flesh of her bicep.
Ouch. Definitely nae a dream, then.
“Ye told me to leave, Evander,” she rasped. “Ye sent me away.”
“I ken. I admit it. And I’m sorry.”
Fury bubbled in her gut.
“Sorry?Sorry? Ye think ye can make up for all of this with a wee apology?”
Evander blinked, a little taken aback by her anger. “Skye, I am trying to be honest with ye. I?—”
“Nay, nay, ye arenae. Ye are trying to be forgiven. Ye have been driving me mad since I returned. Think of how I felt, eh? There I was, terrified, confused, uncertain of who I was. I barely slept because I thought I was in danger. I was afraid that I would wake up to find that bloody masked man leaning over me!”
There was a brief silence.
Evander cleared his throat. “Ye daenae usually swear, Skye.”
She seized a glass paperweight, holding it over her head. “I daenae usually throw things at me guests, either,” she hissed. “But I am this close to lobbing it at yer head.”
Evander took a step back, holding up his hands. “I have done ye wrong, I ken that.”
“I cared so much about ye. Ye made me feel like the most beautiful, desirable woman in the world. Ye made me feel like ye wantedme. And just like that”—she clicked her fingers—“ye changed. Ye shuffled me away. Sent me out of yer room and yer home. It drove me mad, Evander. And now that I am home, thinking that it’s all finally over, here ye are again, wanting meback. How can I ever trust ye again? Ye willnae even give me a straight answer. Why did ye do it, huh?Whydid ye do it?”
