Page 40 of Hold Fast

A strange look crossed Ewan’s face, and his eyes went wide, brows arching high. He opened his mouth to speak, squinting at her, before closing it again.

She took his hand in hers, shaking it. “Ewan?”

He stared at her, dazed. She had seen this many times before as a healer. Sometimes when a person received unexpected good news, they were shocked speechless. Others fainted dead away. Some dropped to their knees, clutching at her skirts and offering thanks to both her and God in the same breath. One man had danced such an aggressive jig that he broke a chair and a broom.

She chafed Ewan’s hand, feeling the callouses against the pads of her fingers. “Did you hear me, Ewan? The fever has broken. Connor is awake and speaking.”

“Aye,” he rasped, his shocked eyes never leaving hers. As if he didn’t trust his ears to have heard correctly, he asked, “You are certain?”

“He will live, Ewan,” she said, a rare smile spreading across her face. “I willnae have it any other way now.”

Before she could exhale, Ewan had snatched her around the waist, lifted her, and began spinning her wildly around, wheeling fast over and over again, whooping loudly. Her feet flew out behind her and the wind blew her hair loose from her braid, but she couldn’t seem to care. She felt weightless—she wasflying—and she laughed for the first time in a very, very long time.

With every shout and spin, her heart felt lighter and lighter. She imagined that if Ewan were to let go now, she would sail away over the clouds. He slowed his spinning, and Una came back to the ground, her feet catching on the uneven earth. He held her against him by her waist, steadying her. The muscles of his arms bunched against the protesting fabric of his shirt. Una became painfully aware of the sensations of her body as she felt his hands clasping her just above her hips, their chests barely parted.

Una took a step backwards and Ewan followed, closing the gap and taking her face in his hands, his thumbs pressing gently into her cheeks. She realized distantly that she wasn’t afraid of him and blinked, eyes wide, lips parted, gazing at his face, noting the muscle that ticked just below his ear.

“Ewan—”

The rest of the thought died when Ewan pressed his mouth hard against hers, and she went rigid in his arms.

CHAPTER15

Ewan sprang away from Una as if she’d bitten him. He dragged the back of his fist against his mouth.Shite.

“What the hell was that, Ewan?” Una’s arms gestured wide.

He didn’t have an answer. He hadn’t spoken to her in five days, hadn’t seen her awake in as long. It had been a week filled with various anxieties causing varying degrees of panic. The endless worry had accumulated until he felt as if he carried a millstone on his back.

He’d come to the loch to cool down after a frustrating morning. The icy water had shocked his system, so cold that it stole his breath when he first dove in. He had stayed beneath the surface until his lungs burned and his head tingled before he’d burst through the surface with a shout.

Only to see Una, standing next to Calman in a brown work dress, her hem and hair flapping wildly in the breeze. Her cheeks were red and she gasped for breath, and he had been able to think of nothing but going to her.

She’d told him that his brother would live, and for a moment, for the scantest of time, all of his other worries slid away like water off a duck’s back. There had been no clan to manage, no winter to plan for, no enemies to consider, no brother to grieve. There had been only joy. And her.

“Una, I—” His face scrunched in frustration. “I beg of you, please forgive me. I shouldnae have done that.”

She glared at the middle of his chest, where his damp leine gaped open. It offered no warmth, and he felt the goosebumps spread across his skin like a wildfire as the excitement of the moment wore off and the cold dread from what he’d done settled.

“Una, please. I dinnae ken what came over me.”

“That makes two of us,” she spat.

He should back away further, keep stepping backwards until his feet reached the loch and then continue in until the water swallowed him whole. He certainly shouldn’t have looked at her, especially in the wake of this, his most recent failure, more monumental than most.

But he couldn’t help himself. She was so beautiful, even angry, with her cheeks flushed and her lips berry-red, as if they’d been bitten, her chest rising and falling with hasty, uncontrolled breaths. Her wide blue eyes nearly brought him to his knees begging her forgiveness.

What the hell had he been thinking? He hadn’t. That was the bald truth. He had been so consumed by joy and relief, and she had beenthere, so close. So warm, so lovely, soUna.But that didn’t excuse it. Nothing did.

“Una, I beg yer forgiveness.”

“’Tis fine,” she said tightly.

“It isnae fine, Una. It isnae fine at all. I took something that you didnae offer. I am ashamed of myself.”

He looked at the ground between his bare toes and the dark brown of her dress. He rolled his right shoulder toward his ear and back, wincing as the joint crackled like a branch snapping.

“You are sorry, Ewan?”