For a moment, he stared at the empty furs, wishing she hadn’t left. He wanted to awaken with her soft skin against his, smelling the light fragrance of herbs in her hair. The thought made him yearn to have her beneath him once more.
Outside the rain fell, spattering mud against his trews as he walked. He didn’t care. A lightness seemed to spread across his spirit, in spite of the storm.
A woman’s moan caught his attention, the sound coming from a grove of trees. His steps grew hesitant, but he heard a familiar sound of laughter. Then he saw her, bare from the waist up, embracing Tómas.
The black fist of jealousy caught in his gut when he saw them together. Only hours ago, Lianna had given herself to him. And now Tómas.
Connor took a step back, his blood flowing like ice in his veins. How could she betray him that way? It made him sick to think of how she’d gone from his bed into the arms of another man. Had she truly been a virgin? Or was that a lie, too? He’d thought she was, but perhaps he had been too green to know any better.
He didn’t stop to confront them, couldn’t think clearly as his footing slipped in the mud. As he righted himself, he broke into a run. Without looking, he passed the small plots of land with the beehive-shaped cottages.
‘Connor!’ a girl’s voice called out to him. He turned and saw Aileen.
Clad in a greenléine, her hair hung down to her waist in a riot of dark curls. Her cheeks were flushed as she held out her hand in greeting. ‘I need to speak with you.’
‘Not now, Aileen.’
But she refused to listen to him, dogging his steps. Connor increased his pace, hoping to get away.
‘This is important.’ She reached out and touched his shoulder. ‘I must tell you—’
He didn’t want a woman clinging to him, especially after Lianna had deceived him into thinking she wanted him. ‘Leave me. Whatever it is can wait.’
Hurt spread across her face, but he paid it no mind.
‘Please,’ she whispered, her eyes beseeching him.
‘I said, leave me!’ He wrenched away, and she lost her balance, stumbling into the mud. He hadn’t meant to be so rough, but his wounded pride had suffered a blow.
Her hands dug into the mud, her dress sodden with the rain and dirt. Instantly, he regretted his actions. ‘I am sorry.’
She said nothing, but he offered a hand to help her up. Aileen ignored it and rose to her feet.
‘What did you wish to tell me?’
The disappointment in her face had transformed into a rigid shell of hurt. ‘It was nothing.’
She turned away, and he wished he had not been so harsh. It would have taken but a moment to hear what she’d wanted to tell him. He knew Aileen favoured him, but he didn’t hold the same affection toward her. If he granted her his attention, she might believe it was more than he intended.
Connor watched her return home, her shoulders slumped forward. He had made her cry and the realisation troubled him. He was accustomed to making women smile in flirtation. He could not take back his transgression, however.
He continued walking in the opposite direction until he reached the dense forest. Tall hazel trees and rowans interlaced, growing so near to one another that in places he had to turn sideways to pass the natural barriers. The heavy rain slowed against the leaves, and he sought shelter beneath one of the oak trees.
With his face in his hands, his heart ached, the steel bands of anger surrounding it. Foolish, he had been, to believe Lianna when she’d embraced him. Foolish to believe her soft whispers that she’d dreamed of being with him.
This was his last summer with his foster family. The Ó Duinne tribe meant as much to him as his own blood. Though he had intended to wait until Samhain, perhaps it was best to leave now. He had no desire to watch Lianna with Tómas, or to see the pitying looks upon his friends’ faces.
He would gather his belongings and return home. And he’d not look back upon the past.
Two moons had come and gone since Connor’s departure. Aileen had spoken nothing to her parents about the night of Bealtaine. Though her tears had soaked through her pallet each night, the terrible humiliation burdening her, she had another reason to weep.
Her menses had not come. She could no longer deny the fact that she carried Connor’s child within her. Instead of bringing her joy, the knowledge made her weep harder.
Never should she have taken Lianna’s place. Her friend had already wed Tómas, and Aileen remained alone.
That morning, the sun dawned clear and bright above the emerald horizon. She walked through the forest and into the clearing, her hand pressed against her abdomen. A part of Connor grew within her, yet she could not forget the way he had spurned her.
He believed he had lain with Lianna. And she hadn’t told him the truth. She couldn’t bear to see the disgust upon his face, were he to realise it was she.
