He talks to me like nothing else matters. Like no one else matters. It’s just me and him, and me words are important. He looks for me in every room he enters. He has a sharp sense of humor, even if he tries to find it. Lairds arenae supposed to be funny.
It could be any one of those reasons, or it could be all of them.
“Go on,” she prompted, meeting his gaze. “Tell me me reasons.”
“Because I daenae ken them,” he said simply. “I ken that ye came here full of anger at yer faither’s death. Ye blamed me faither for his death. Ye learned that I killed me faither, for the shame and danger he brought to our clan. And… And for what he did to me,” he added, a muscle jumping in his cheek. “He would have killed me if I hadnae killed him. That was why ye chose to let go of yer anger.”
Skye swallowed thickly, letting her gaze drop to the floor.
“Aye, I can imagine that I would have let things go after that,” she murmured. “There’s no sense in holding a grudge against a man long dead.”
“Even if he does still make his presence felt,” Evander muttered sourly. “Sometimes it feels as though he haunts me, trying to drag me down the same paths he took.”
She wanted to reach out and place a hand on his shoulder. She wanted to look him in the eyes and tell him that he was safe, that he’d never be his father.
But the words wouldn’t come. So she sat still, on the edge of the table, looking at nothing.
Evander cleared his throat and lifted his chin. “Well, have ye eaten enough?”
“I am… satisfied.”
His eyebrows twitched, the corner of his lips quirking as if he wanted to smile. “Very well.”
Skye frowned. Why was his response so unsatisfying? Where was the bite? Where was the fire?
Ye are a fool,she told herself grimly.This isnae a love story.
The words rang wrong in her head, no matter how hard she tried to push them aside.
“Very well?” she heard herself say. “Is that all ye have to say to me? Come on.”
He appeared to bite back a smile. “That’s nae all. Come with me, lass. I’ll take ye to the council room. That is where the contract is kept.”
He extended a hand to help her down from the table. She took it, nimbly hopping down. Her knees shook when she landed on the floor, threatening to betray her. For one awful moment, she really thought that her legs would jackknife beneath her, sending her tumbling onto the flagstones.
A sort of tenderness pulsed through her body, a reminder of her climax. Even the memory of it made her blush.
Evander’s hand tightened around hers. “All right, lass?” he murmured softly.
When she glanced up, his eyes were fixed on her.
If I fall, he’d catch me. I ken that.
Where had that thought come from?
Confidence came along with it, a certainty that she wasn’t quite sure where she’d picked up.
He released her hand, letting her arm drop.
“Ye ready?” he asked tightly, picking up a candle. “It’s late. The keep will be dark.”
She shook out her skirts and smoothed down her bodice. There were wrinkles in the fabric that hadn’t been there before, and heat inched up her neck at the thought of how they had gotten there.
“I’m ready,” she responded. “I’m nae afraid of the dark. Havenae been since I was a wee lassie.”
“If I recall,” he drawled, “ye were once afraid of monsters under yer bed, then yer braither told ye that aye, indeed, there were monsters there, but nae to fear. They were there to protect ye, nae to eat ye. He said that there were real monsters just outside the walls of the keep—within the walls, sometimes—but ye shouldnae fret, because ye had yer own personal monster right beside ye, ready to defend ye. And that worked.”
She bit her lip. “I told ye that story?”
