Page 21 of Highland Spy

Ariana drew a shaky breath.

Something pounded hard at the door.

She leapt and her heart lurched into her throat.

Delilah rose without issue and pulled open the door. A ribbon of cold air drifted in, exquisite where it swept over the blazing heat of Ariana’s face.

Delilah murmured low, obviously talking to someone else before she spoke out again in a clear tone, announcing the lesson had ended for the day.

Relieved to escape, burdened with embarrassment, Ariana tried to pull herself upright from the pillows, floundering twice in a fluff of skirts before finally extricating herself from the lavish floor.

The hall outside was so starkly gray in comparison, it was like walking from daylight to darkness.

“Ariana,” a deep voice sounded from behind her. “I’m sorry to have interrupted yer lesson. I needed to speak with ye.”

She spun around and found Connor standing there, all stern authority and stoicism.

Only seconds ago, she’d been kissing him in her mind.

God, she’d had herself pressed against him, her body simmering with the most incredible burn. Everything in her had wanted him to kiss her, to hold her.

The door to Delilah’s room closed and Ariana was left standing in the hall, her mind a wash of chaotic thoughts and scalded embarrassment.

Connor’s brows lowered. “Are ye fine, lass?”

Ariana swallowed around her dry throat and gave a vigorous nod.

“Ye’re red.” He circled a finger in the air toward her. “In the face.”

She pressed her hands to her cheeks, but her palms were just as hot. “I…”

He squared his shoulders. “I need to speak with ye.”

Relief swept over Ariana with the same refreshment as the icy air of the hall now bathing her face. “Of course.”

She would never think of her imagined kiss again.

Never.

What a foolish thing to have done.

“It’s Liv,” he said.

Ariana’s heart sank in her chest, and she closed her eyes slowly against the sensation before opening them. The other woman had been deathly ill for too long. “Is she…”

“She’s pregnant.”

Ariana straightened in surprise.

She’d thought Liv so sick, but no, the whole time she’d been pregnant.

And it did make sense. The vomiting, the despondency, the exhaustion. Ariana had seen enough pregnant women that she ought to have realized.

Those women had been lucky. Those women had not only been successfully married, but had the promise of family swelling their bellies. And poor Liv had a babe in her belly with no husband to see to her.

“I can help care for her,” Ariana said quickly.

“That isna necessary. Percy will cover the task.” His jaw tightened. “I told ye because ye share a room and I thought it best for ye to know.”