‘What’s this? Brooding again, Cullen?’ said Connie, waving a greeting. She stood over him, hands on her hips. ‘You’ve no time for that.’
He glared at her, hoping she would go away.
‘Twas a foul thing, what happened last night,’ she said.
‘Aye. It was.’
‘How is Lowri?’
‘She’s gone off somewhere. That lass always goes her own way.’
‘Aye, she does. My man just returned from Larne, and he saw her go into the tavern. He would have followed, but you know that is dangerous, given that wrecking last night. Heap’s blood is up after all that violence, Butcher’s too.’
Cullen sprang to his feet, hands in fists.
‘I tell you this out of loyalty, Cullen, not to accuse the lass, for I like her. And you’ll not be doing her any harm, or you’ll have me to contend with. But when Lowri gets home, you’d best have it out with her about what she was doing there.’ She laid a hand on his arm. ‘I’d hate to have you cuckolded.’
***
All was quiet. The inn’s occupants were sleeping off a night of debauchery, no doubt. Lowri banged on what she hoped was Butcher’s door, and, after a deal of cursing, he opened it.
The man was dishevelled, as if he had just crawled out of bed, but he was still heart-meltingly handsome. His eyes widened, and he raked his fingers through his shock of black hair, favouring Lowri with a devastating grin which made her breath catch.
‘Well, lass. I have a pounding headache from my indulgences last night, but you have banished it like a breath of fresh air.’
His charm grated on her. ‘For someone who witnessed terrible murder just hours ago, you seem remarkably unmoved.’
Butcher shrugged. ‘That wrecking was not my doing, and life must go on.’ He flicked his hand to beckon her inside, but Lowri hesitated at the threshold of sin.
‘Come on. I don’t bite, lass. Not unless you want me to.’
She took a deep breath and walked in. The door closed behind her with a little click. Silence stretched, closing in, and Butcher stood too close. He was dressed in just his shirt, which gaped at the neck, revealing a forest of ink-black hair over a muscular chest. There was triumph in his dark eyes as he stared down at her and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. She was skewered by his gaze.
‘What can I do for you, Lowri?’
Her legs were jelly, and she forgot to breathe for a moment as his mouth inched towards hers. She brushed his hand away. ‘I came to get the truth of it, about Cullen, I mean.’
‘Must we have that cur’s name between us? I thought you came for me.’ Again that smile, drawing her in, his gaze intent, as if she was the only thing he could see.
Lowri tried to hang on to her wits. ‘I cannot believe Cullen would wreck a ship and murder those poor souls. Nothing I’ve seen makes him capable of that villainy. And it was your men on the beach, too. I saw that fellow, Heap.’
‘Do you think I can control that beast? He does as he pleases, and he was just after the rich pickings, like all the poor folk around here. I had nought to do with that wreck, but Cullen,now, he was there from the start. He lit those fires to draw the vessel to her doom.’
‘You’re lying. Tell me. Did you do it?’
‘Ah, women only see what they choose to see. Are you sweet on him, lass?’
‘No,’ she said, hoping the lie did not show on her face. And she did not miss the fact that Butcher had dodged her question.
He shrugged. ‘It’s alright, lass. It matters nought to me if you are besotted with that wretch. We can still get our revenge.’ His voice was as dark and smooth as treacle, eyes roaming over her face like a dog over a juicy bone.
Butcher’s arms came to her waist. ‘If you thought that I was lying about the wreck, you wouldn’t come here to be alone with me. You would curse me as the worst villain and want nothing to do with me.’ He stroked back her hair. ‘But you are here, Lowri, and to me that can only mean that you have opened your eyes to the failings of that dog you are shackled to. What has he done, eh, finally shown his true nature?’
‘No, it’s just, I think he has betrayed me.’
His grin broadened. ‘With that lass, he took from the wreck?’
She gasped and took a step away from him. ‘How do you know about her?’
