He rose from his seat and took a step toward her. She did not yield. The candlelight struck the slope of his collarbone where his shirt hung open.
“Do ye want me to speak the truth or nae?” he asked.
“I want ye to stop snarling like a dog that forgot his own door.”
“I want something else,” he said, his voice rough. “I want to gouge out every eye that touched ye.”
“That isnae how the world works,” she whispered.
“It is howIwork.”
“Then change.”
His breath shuddered out, and he closed his eyes like a man seeking fortitude. “I daenae understand this,” he said harshly. “I have swung a sword and walked through smoke and learned how to choke a cry with me teeth. None of that taught me what to do, with ye sittin’ there, looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like ye arenae afraid anymore.”
“I told ye I wouldnae be,” she said. A tremor ran through her hands, and she curled them so he would not see it. “I told ye I would stand here and tell ye what I think.”
“And whatdoye think?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous. But truly,hewas the one in danger. In danger of grabbing her and losing himself in her. Of forgetting their stupid rules…And showing her exactly why she should not provoke him like that.
“I think ye are scaring folks with a tongue ye sharpened while ye were away,” she replied. “I think ye are angrier with yerself than with me. I think ye want to be cruel so nay one can hurt ye first.”
He barked a mirthless laugh. “Listen to ye.”
“Nay.Yelisten to yerself,” she shot back. “Ye cleared a hall so ye could win an argument with the only person who has fed ye since ye came home.”
His gaze fell to her mouth again. “Fed,” he echoed softly, as if the word had a second meaning he did not trust himself to ponder.
Color climbed her throat. “Ye ken what I mean.”
“Aye,” he uttered.
He took another step forward, undeterred by the table between them. He braced his hands on it and leaned in, caging her without touching her at all.
The air smelled of smoke and iron and the tang of wine. His pulse leaped. Hers did, too. He could hear it. Hehatedthat he could hear it.
“While ye were away,” she murmured, “yer whole clan was kind to me. I am grateful for that. I daenae take it for granted.”
His eyes opened darkened. “Me whole clan.”
“Aye. Yer brother, Davina, the guards, the women who helped with the children, the old warriors who brought firewood when it got cold—everyone. When I was tired, they carried water. When I was lost, they walked me home.”
“That should have made me happy,” he said. The words dragged like a chain.
She nodded. “It should.”
He looked as if the floor had shifted beneath his feet. “But instead?—”
“Instead, ye feel left out of a life ye promised me and then abandoned,” she interrupted.
“Daenae finish me thought,” he snapped.
“Ye must pardon me, me Laird. After five years, yer patience tends to thin quickly. I wouldnae finish yer thought for ye if ye just speak it.”
Neil tried, but the words stuck in his throat. He hated that she was able to see right through him.
