“Forsy!” Gunn barked. “I dinna care if ye have to drag her out by her heels. Take her from here. Now.”
The maid lumbered forward, pulled Lady Murdina up with ease, and looped the woman’s arm across her shoulders. “Come now, m’lady. Off to yer bed.”
Gunn’s future wife wailed even louder as Forsy half dragged, half carried her away.
“Wow,” Lorna said as she watched her go.
“Everyone out!” Gunn bellowed. The command rumbled to the rafters. “This feast is over.”
Lorna kept her gaze lowered as she turned and tiptoed away.
“Stay, Mistress Lorna,” he growled, then cleared his throat. “Please,” he added in a much softer tone.
She clasped her hands in front of her, waiting and a little confused. Why did he want her to stay? She glanced around, watching while everyone else scurried in all directions. The great hall cleared with amazing speed. Soon, every person in attendance, servants included, had vacated the room, leaving the tables littered with half-eaten food and even a few overturned glasses. The trio of hounds Bella had slipped nibbles to jumped up onto the benches and helped themselves to the scraps. Those three would sleep well tonight with their bellies filled to bursting.
“My chieftain.” Jasper re-entered from the stairwell that Lady Murdina and Forsy had used to make their exit.
“I said I wanted everyone out.” Gunn angled a hard glare at the man, then bared his teeth. “That includes ye.”
Jasper bowed his head, his hair glinting like shining copper in the torchlight. He held out a hand toward Lorna. “If ye would allow me to escort ye to yer floor, I would be honored, Mistress Lorna.”
“She stays,” Gunn said before she could answer. “Now leave.”
The war chief’s eyes narrowed to slits and his jaw hardened, but he acceded with a slow nod. “As ye wish, my chieftain.” Then he turned with the stiff formality of a marching soldier and strode away.
“It really isna his fault,” Lorna said softly. Poor Jasper. As Bella had said, the man was just following orders. “She probably fooled him into thinking she was good marriage material.”
“I want her gone at dawn’s first light.” Gunn stormed back to the head table and glared downward. He worked his jaw as though gritting his teeth. “Her, her brother, and all who came with her. Packed and gone.”
“Well, that’s a bit insulting.” Lorna rounded the table and forced him to face her. “What the devil did I do to give ye the red arse?”
He flinched as if she had slapped him. “I didna mean ye had to leave. Of courseyemay stay.”
“And so ye intend to doom poor wee Frances and Hesther to Lady Murdina’s wrath when she is told to hit the door?”
“I canna force the woman to leave her son and maid behind.”
Frustrated, she pointed at him, the tip of her finger coming within an inch of his nose. “If ye make those helpless bairns leave, I go with them.” Before he could speak, she continued, “Besides, ye said the woman had thirty days to see if she fit this imaginary mold ye have in yer head. Did it ever occur to ye her drunkenness could be because of nerves? Did ye not hear what she said about fearing ye would never marry her?” Lorna had to buy Lady Murdina extra time. It was the only way she could save Frances and Hesther.
He stared at her with a heartbreaking expression of defeat. So much pain shone in his eyes. So much loneliness and suffering. Lady Murdina didn’t deserve the right to cause him even more misery. He deserved happiness and love.
Her heart hitched with a dangerous twitching.
Without thinking, she reached out and touched his cheek, cupping his face in her hand. His close-cropped beard was softer than she had imagined it would be. “Dinna decide anything tonight. Too much has happened. Ye need the calming freshness of a new day to look at the situation with clear and logical thinking.”
He covered her hand with his and pressed it tighter to his cheek. Then he reached out and slid his hand along her jaw, hooked it around the back of her neck, and pulled her so close that a thread couldn’t slide between them.
“I know what I need,” he rasped, holding her captive in his gaze.
She struggled to breathe and hold herself back. She so wanted to pull him into the kiss they both needed so badly. But she couldn’t. Not again. “I will never be theotherwoman,” she whispered. “Nor will I be with anyone unwilling to commit themselves to me the way I deserve.” She slowly shook her head. “I will never be taken for granted ever again. Not by anyone.”
The pain in his eyes made the aching within her almost unbearable. He pressed his forehead to hers. “Ye deserve all that and so much more, my wee mouse. I wish I was the man to give it to ye.”
She framed his face with her hands and made him look at her. “Ye dinna have to suffer a marriage made for breeding purposes only. Why do ye insist on keeping to this miserable path ye have set?”
The weariness of years of pain aged him before her eyes. “Because I didna die when the fever swept through the clan, but my dear Mariella did. And I survived Corinna and my son—both died because I dared to love a second time. Ye have no idea how much I fear that Bella will soon share in the curse that takes away everyone I care about.”
“That makes no sense,” she said. “If Lady Murdina bears ye a son, will ye not love him as much as ye love Bella and yer wives who have gone before ye?”
