“Oh, must I? I ken nothing about anything, huh?” Ava bolted upright, letting her anger take over. “Well, the wee lad sure doesnae kenye; I can tell ye that free of charge. I can tell that yedaenae care to get to ken him or spend time with him unless he begs!”
Caden looked down at her with something akin to resentment in his brown eyes. “Careful, lass. Ye ken nothin’ about me family,” he spat.
“Actually, it’sourfamily now.” She held up one finger and then another to emphasize her point. “Second, I reckon I’ve spent more time with Nathan today than ye have his whole life!”
“I daenae need to hear this from ye.” He turned to leave, but then called over his shoulder, “I told ye to obey me.”
“Ye daenae give me orders, me Laird, so I have nothin’ to obey. Besides, I’m free to do as I please, am I nae?” She flung a leg over the arm of her chair and sank deeper into the cushions.
She threw her hand over her face, ready for a long nap. Her husband could go sulk, for all she cared.
Caden crossed the room in two strides. He gently pulled her wrist from her face, forcing her to look at him. Her breath caught in her throat.
She waited in silence, unsure what to do next. Her head and heart were pounding in sync, and the room started to spin.
The right side of his face twitched under his mask, and she realized he was chewing on his cheek. Her wrist tingled where he touched it. She was acutely aware of every sensation in her body.
He grabbed her chin with his other hand, pulling her face closer to his.
They were now a breath apart, and her mouth went dry. She expected him to kiss her then. His eyes were on her lower lip, following a trail that his thumb was making. Her skin burned where he touched, but somehow she wanted more. Maybe if he kissed her…She realized that she wished to taste him, even though she’d never admit it out loud. But maybe if he kissed her that weird flip in her stomach every time she looked at him would go away.
He was breathing as hard as her now, she could feel his breath fanning her face. If she moved just a little bit closer then--
“Never mind,” he huffed, releasing her and turning away,making for the stairs.
“Wait,” she called.
He stopped in his tracks but did not look back at her.
“I’m sorry, me words were harsh and unfair. Please, can we start over?”
Ava was shocked by the words coming out of her mouth.
What are ye doing, Ava? Daenae ye want to go to sleep?
But sleep was the last thing on her mind now. Her headache slowly subsided. She nothad not even noticed.
Her husband looked over his shoulder at her, waiting for her to continue.
“We could use this hour to fulfill one of me conditions,” she suggested.
Caden turned to face her now. “What did ye have in mind?”
“I figured we could just talk. Catch up. Get to ken one another better.”
“Talk?”
“Aye. Speak, elucidate, converse, communicate. It’s when two or more people use their voices to make words?—”
“I ken what talking means, Ava. Christ, ye’re even worse than ye were as a child.” He rolled his eyes to the heavens and lowered himself onto the floor, his back resting against the chair in front of her. He stretched out one long leg in front of him and propped his arm on the other.
His cotton shirt seemed to billow in the firelight. The sleeves were pushed up his arms just enough to show the veins cording his flesh like lightning bolts.
Ava hated to admit that she liked what she saw.
Caden cleared his throat. “Well?”
Ava’s eyes flicked to the muscles in his neck. They seemed to be straining against his collar.
