“I’m nae afraid!” she blurted to his back.
He paused on the stairs, turning toward her. She was one step up from him, but it put her eye-to-eye with him. They were so close that she could see how long and thick his lashes were. He offered a lazy smile that made her chest do that odd tightening thing. “I assume ye are referring to our conversation this morning?”
“Aye,” she said. “I’m nae afraid of marriage. I simply do nae want to shackle myself to a man who will then have the legal right to tell me what to do the rest of my life.”
“I’d nae ever do that,” he responded, surprising her.
She snorted. “Of course, ye would! My da, uncles, and granda are the best men I ken, and they are telling the women they must support forcing Lenora or me to wed ye. Ye’ll be the same.”
“Do nae presume to ken what I’ll do, Lillith. I do nae presume that of ye. At least give me the courtesy of learning me as a person.”
A desire to do just that sprang up in her, and she was instantly horrified. “I ken ye well enough,” she blustered. “I ken ye’ll do anything to win!” she flung out and shoved past him, desperate to get away from him because she was recalling his lips on hers once again.
“If I prove ye wrong, will ye give me a dance tonight?”
She stopped in mid-step, feeling good about taking up his offer. “Aye. If ye prove me wrong, ye may have a dance.”
A very short time later, Lillith stood shocked as Rory purposely let her win the fireball-throwing competition. As the crowd cheered for her, he turned to her with a triumphant smile on his lips. “Why are ye smiling like ye won?” she demanded over the roar of the crowd.
He leaned so close to her that she could feel his heat and his scent of leather and smoke surrounding her. “Because ye won the contest, but I won the prize,” he replied, his breath tickling her neck. She turned to look at him, and their gazes locked, sending an odd jolt through her. “I’ll be claiming my dance after supper, Lillith.”
Her mouth was suddenly dry as parchment. She had to lick her lips before replying. “I’m a lass of my word, so I’ll give ye the one.”
“That’s all I need—for tonight.”
Lillith was in mid-dance with her granda when Rory suddenly appeared beside them after supper. Her granda—another traitor like Maisie—gave her up to Rory immediately. He swung her into his arms, and she got that same jolt and tightening she had earlier at the competition, except this time she also felt a tingling in her belly as the fingers of his right hand curled around hers.
She felt oddly comfortable in his arms, which was strange, given how utterly uncomfortable the man could make her feel. For the first few moments, he didn’t speak but instead twirled her in and out of other dancers, making her feel lighter on her feet than she could ever remember feeling. When they made their second complete pass around the dance floor, he finally pulled them to a stop near an alcove and looked at her with a gaze that felt intimate, making her heart stutter in her chest, to her dismay. Had he gotten more handsome as the night waswearing on? His brown hair curled at his neck, and she had the desire to thread her fingers through the curls.
“How did ye get to be such a good dancer?” he asked.
The question surprised her so much that she found herself blurting the truth. “Lenora and I used to practice dancing together for the annual Winter Solstice celebration in hopes that our da would ask us to dance during the traditional da and daughter dance.” Suddenly, she was back in the moment before she’d long ago interrupted her da upon the dais working out a peace treaty with the Fergusson laird. She’d not known it at the time, of course, but that night had led to the treaty being signed and bringing peace to their clans. What she recalled most was the hurt she felt at his refusal, which made her and Lenora run off to the Wishing Tree.
“And did he?” Rory asked, interrupting her journey into the past. “Did yer da dance with ye and Lenora at the festival?”
She shook her head. “Nay, he did nae. Lenora and I were so vexed that we went so far as to make a silly childish wish at the Wishing Tree that he would be ‘fixed’.”
“What do ye mean ‘fixed’?”
She cursed inwardly. She’d not meant to reveal such a personal thing. She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Just foolish young lass stuff.” But even as she uttered the words, she was back in the past, standing at the Wishing Tree, making that wish for her da to be fixed. She sucked in a sharp breath as long faded memories stirred.
“What is it?” Rory asked, concern in his voice.
She couldn’t speak. Memories were rising like the winds of a violent storm. She’d been a little girl scared to end up broken by love like her da, and she had grown into a woman afraid to give her heart because she feared it being broken if something were to happen to the person she gave it to, just like her mama’s death broke her da’s.
Her gaze collided once more with Rory’s, and longing to remember everything from that day sliced through her at the exact moment as fear. Fear took control. She wrenched away from him. “I’ve fulfilled our bargain, so I bid ye good night.” With that, she fled the great hall, trying to outrun her longing and her worries.
Chapter Ten
Why oh why could she not get away from the man? Did he have to be everywhere? And looking so handsome in his braies and plaid? And why would a man known as The Hammer of the Highlands be sitting by the hearth in the great hall, surrounded by a gaggle of children, making them laugh with tales? Lillith ground her teeth as another chorus of laughter came from the children who stared in awe at Rory as he spoke animatedly to them. With her gaze fixed on him to purposely try to glare him out of the great hall, she absently hung decorations for the upcoming Winter Solstice feast.
“I do believe he’ll make an excellent father,” came the voice of Lillith’s grandmama, who had been working beside her to decorate the great hall.
“I do nae ken who ye’re speaking of,” Lillith replied, still staring at Rory.
“Why Rory, of course,” her grandmama said. “You’ve been staring at him talking with the children since we started decorating.”
Lillith whipped her gaze away from Rory to her grandmama, whose faded green eyes danced with merriment and a knowing look. “I’ve nae been staring at him since we started decorating!” Lillith protested. “The children’s laughter drew my attention.”
