Page 66 of Highland Storm

Willing away tears, Lianae turned to blink at her.

“Be true to your heart, not so much your head,” Lìleas offered with a smile, and there was something about her violet eyes that made Lianae want to believe.

And then she turned to find Keane standing behind her, and her heart ceased to beat…

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Faced with his brother’s challenge, Keane spoke the words as a matter of consequence, though now he feared they must be true.

For all that he’d pined for it, he didn’t give a damn about Lilidbrugh anymore, or Dunràth for that matter. Lilidbrugh was but a broken link to their past, a long forgotten symbol of the history of his clan. Lianae was his future… wherever it should lead.

But could it be love if there be no trust?

Nevertheless… it was past time to put their trials behind them. For better or worse, Lianae was his wife now and he must find a way to learn to trust the woman he intended to love.

Lìleas spoke first. “We were marveling over the sight of so many…”

“Outliers?” Keane said, finishing for his brother’s wife.

They both shared a private look that conveyed so much—things that Lianae would never know, things he could not trust her enough to reveal.

Lìli crossed her arms against the chill. “Would ye e’er have imagined Aidan would allow it?”

“Not in a thousand years.”

But of course, they no longer had the Stone of Destiny to defend. What did it matter who came to the vale now that the Stone was out of their hands?

Lìli eyed them both, and sensing Keane had not come for idle chatter, she excused herself at once. “By your leave,” she said. “I am certain you two have much to discuss.” And without awaiting Keane’s reply, she made her way back toward the crannóg, where Aidan and her children awaited her. For a long uncomfortable moment, Keane watched his brother’s wife walk away, feeling the weight of the world descend upon him.

Not only was the Stone of Destiny gone—the entire purpose of their clan’s existence for more than two centuries—he had come to bury the woman who’d raised him from birth. And if that were not enough, his wife was a liar—and she had nearly cost him his life. After all that had been said and done, it wasn’t easy to overlook his wounded pride. Still, he held out a hand, inviting Lianae to take it. “Come,” he demanded.

For a moment, she merely stared at him, and then she reached out, and her touch was like a bolt of lightning to Keane’s heart.

It was an arrogantly worded command, but Lianae recognized his vulnerability in that moment and swallowed her complaint, giving him her hand. Without a word, he pulled her gently along, away from the beach and the bonfire. Along the way, they passed his sister Cailin speaking low with Cameron in the shadows.

The night air held an unmistakable chill, but the heat emanating from Keane’s hand made her palm sweat. Doves flew amuck inside her breast. “I suppose ’tis good to see your people, even if the circumstances aren’t supreme?”

Keane nodded, though he didn’t elaborate and Lianae found herself craving knowledge about the man she had wed. Marveling at the great size of his hand, she imagined him as a child. “You and your brother Aidan are close?”

“Aye,” he said, and fell to silence once more. The overwhelming sound of it squeezed Lianae’s heart. Was this how it was to be between them now? She missed his easy banter—and even the haughty curve of his beautiful smile.

They neared the cottage they’d been assigned and Lianae struggled to keep up. “Una was much loved?” she asked, scrambling more for words than she did to keep the pace.

He squeezed her hand almost imperceptibly, as though he meant for her to hush. “She was.”

Ach! Lianae would do anything to change what she had done—anything save give herself to William fitz Duncan. Forsooth, but she could not find any regret for that—not when her lies had garnered her this… But what was this? she berated herself.

And where was he taking her now?

There was something different in Keane’s demeanor tonight, and it gave her a terrible flutter of anticipation as they neared the cottage they’d been assigned.

Struggling to keep up with his long, hurried strides, Lianae scrambled for something more to say that would help mend their wounds. “Well, I am sorry for your loss, Keane.”

“As am I. She was like a mother to me,” he said, and he changed the topic almost at once. “You are still favoring your left foot, Lianae.”

Without warning, Keane swept her up into his arms, hushing her so easily. She could scarce breathe much less talk as he bore her into the cottage, across the threshold, and then another few short steps to the bed.