“Aye,” she said, her voice losing its mirth for a moment. “Masie will nae leave me until she has to one day. But she’s a hound, so mayhap my heart will nae be broken so badly by it.”
He frowned at the odd statement as he strolled beside her. “What do ye mean by that?” he asked, genuinely curious.
Lillith hiccupped, then waved her hand dismissively. “Do nae mind me.” She grinned ruefully. “’Tis the mead talking.”
He didn’t think that was true, but he also got the sense that pressing her would get him nowhere, so instead, he considered a roundabout way he might get to know more about her. “Has yer heart been broken by someone before?”
Lillith squinted at him as if she was struggling to bring him into focus. “Nae in the way ye’re thinking,” she finally said. “Has yers?”
“Nay,” Rory replied honestly. “I’ve nae given my heart to anyone to break.”
Her gaze widened. “Truly?”
He nodded.
She gave him a teasing look. “’Tis hard to believe the lasses are nae begging for yer heart considering yerThe Hammer of the Highlands.”
His neck went hot at her exaggerated use of the moniker he detested. “I did nae say the lasses were nae begging,” he replied with a wink, though his embarrassment now made his face warm as well.
She snorted. “Ye’re cocksure.”
“Mayhap,” he agreed.
“So, if the lass’s have begged, why have ye nae given one yer affection? Are ye afraid?”
Her direct question caught him off guard. Was he afraid? He’d never thought of it that way. “Nae afraid,” he answered, because she was staring at him with an expectant look. “Just waiting, I suppose.”
“For what?”
He inhaled a long breath, considering how honest he wanted to be. “For time to run out.”
Her frown deepened. “I do nae understand,” she said, hiccupping once more and swaying as she walked. “What do ye mean?”
He didn’t currently understand himself either. He thought he’d had everything figured out. He had long told himself he would wed eventually, but not until necessary. He knew it was his duty as heir, but he’d not looked forward to fulfilling the duty, given the constant strife he’d endured between his parents and the tension it created in their home. So when duty had come calling, by edict of the king, he’d known he had to fulfill it, and he’d set his mind to wed whichever one of the MacLeod sisters was the most biddable.
Yet, Lenora did nae entice him in the least, and here he was with his blood stirring for the one who did not seem biddable at all. Yet maybe simply seeking a biddable wife had been a bad strategy? He didn’t want a strained marriage, but neither did he want to be wed to someone who bored him to death and whom he wasn’t attracted to. Mayhap his parents’ contentious marriage had less to do with his mama being headstrong and argumentative, as his da had long claimed, and more to do with them not being suited to wed yet being forced to do so.
“’Tis rude nae to answer me,” Lillith said as she pouted prettily at him. He found himself staring at her lips for amoment, wondering what they might feel like under his. He cleared his throat and forced himself to consider what to say. “My da and mama have always fought, and our home has been filled with tension. It did nae make me want to wed until I had to.”
“It sounds to me like yer parents are nae a good match.”
“Aye,” he agreed. “My da always said it was because my mama was nae biddable.”
Lillith snorted. “He would say that. ’Tis just like a man to blame it on the woman.”
Rory opened his mouth to disagree, but he promptly shut it. Hadn’t he blindly believed his da without questioning it? He had. Guilt slammed into him for being so easily swayed and judgmental of his mama.
Lillith suddenly gasped and clutched his arm. “Ye want Lenora because ye have judged her the biddable sister! Ye want a biddable wife!”
He scrubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “The notion had crossed my mind that a biddable wife might make things easier.”
“Had?” she said, releasing her hold on his arm and taking a step away from him. A look of unease now settled on her face, and he vowed she had picked up her pace, which he matched.
“Aye,” he said slowly, new realizations coming to him. “I may be questioning things,” he admitted.
“Oh!” She stopped and faced him. “Do nae do that!”
If the situation were not so comical, he might be offended that she so clearly did not want him to consider her for his wife. He knew what he was afraid of, but what was causing this almost visceral reaction in her to the notion of wedding him. Was it him or marriage to anyone? “What are ye afraid of?” he asked.
