He pulled back abruptly, releasing her so quickly she had to catch herself on the edge of the bed.
"That was… " He stood, putting necessary distance between them despite the protest from his ankle. "I shouldnae have, lass."
She sat frozen where he'd left her, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Why did ye stop?"
"Because ye're nae ready. Because forcin’ this would ruin whatever progress we've made."
Because I saw fear in yer eyes, and I'll be damned if I become the monster ye already half-believe me tae be.
But he couldn't say that. Couldn't admit how much her opinion of him had started to matter.
"I need tae..." He moved toward the door. "The library. I have work tae dae."
"Tòrr, wait."
"Get some rest, Liliane. Ye'll need yer strength."
He didn't wait for her response, didn't trust himself to stay in that room with her another moment. His ankle screamed protest with every step, but he ignored it, focused entirely on puttingdistance between himself and the woman who was rapidly becoming more dangerous to him than any enemy army.
In the corridor, he leaned against the cool stone wall and tried to steady his breathing. Three days. He'd given himself three days to win her over, and he'd almost just destroyed everything by moving too fast.
She'd been willing, he was almost certain of that. And there'd been something else in her eyes too. Something that looked like disappointment when he'd pulled away. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part.
Either way, staying in that chamber that night would be a mistake. His self-control was already hanging by a thread, and the way she'd looked at him, the way she'd felt in his arms...
No. The library was safer. Even if every instinct screamed at him to go back, to finish what they'd started, to claim his wife properly and damn the consequences.
He just hoped they both survived it with their hearts intact. Though increasingly, he suspected his own was already compromised beyond repair.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"Couldnae sleep either?"
Liliane spun from the kitchen doorway to find Catherine sitting on the counter, a honey-cake in one hand and what looked like her third or fourth clutched in the other. Crumbs dotted the front of her nightgown.
"I was just, I didnae mean tae intrude," Liliane stammered.
"Intrude? On what? Me midnight raid on the larder?" Catherine grinned and gestured to the platter beside her. "Come, have one, or five. I willnae tell if ye willnae."
Liliane hesitated, then moved into the kitchen. The hearth fire had burned low, casting the room in warm shadows. It felt safe somehow, intimate in a way the grand chambers never did.
"Here." Catherine thrust a honey-cake at her. "Cook makes them too well. It's practically a crime nae tae eat them all."
Liliane took it, the sweet scent making her stomach rumble despite her churning thoughts. "Thank ye."
"So." Catherine bit into her own cake, studying Liliane with unsettling directness. "What's got ye wanderin’ the halls at midnight? Most new brides would be... occupied this time of night."
Heat flooded Liliane's face. "That's none of yer business."
"Aye, except ye're nae in yer chambers. Ye're down here, lookin’ like ye've seen a ghost and cannae decide whether tae run from it or toward it." Catherine's voice gentled. "What happened?"
"Naethin’ happened."
"Liar." But there was no judgment in the word. "Talk tae me, Liliane. I promise I willnae tell me braithers anythin’ ye say."
Liliane sank onto the bench across from where Catherine sat perched on the counter. "How dae ye ken somethin's wrong?"
Catherine swung her legs idly. "Because ye look like a woman who's just had her whole world turned upside down and isnae sure which way is up anymore."
