“I daenae take,” he argued. “I… persuade.”
Jeane barked out a laugh. “I suppose ye could put it that way.”
“Ye’ll report to me every day about Lottie’s health,” he said, and Jeane’s eyes seemed to darken as she looked away.
“Aye.” The word was clipped. Was she angry? Why?
“Little mouse.”
She looked up at him. “My name is… Liliana.”
“Liliana,” he said, and the word felt foreign on his tongue. He wanted to get her alone so that he could call her Jeane, could kiss her, could touch her.
Jeane excused herself, standing.
Fergus stood too, but he did not bother excusing himself. It was his castle, after all, and even though Jeane might need a softer touch than what he had been giving her, he could not allow the castle to see him weaken.
They walked through the castle quietly. Fergus did not mind the silence, staring at Jeane’s side profile, the clean line of her nose, her upturned chin.
She was beautiful from every angle, it seemed.
“Why are ye starin’ at me like that? Do I have food on me face?” Jeane asked, and Fergus chuckled low in his throat.
“Nay. I just like lookin’ at ye.”
Jeane flushed. “Ye shouldnae say things ye daenae mean.”
Fergus stopped in his tracks as they approached her chambers, shocked by her words.
“What do ye mean by that? I daenae say things I daenae mean.”
Jeane sighed and turned to face him, her back against her chamber door.
“Ye say all kinds of things ye daenae mean. Like ye want to marry me.”
“I told ye, lass. I say what I mean,” he said in a low voice, taking a step toward her. She looked up at him, unflinching.
“Thank ye for walkin’ me to me chambers.”
“Ye willnae invite me in?”
She flushed. “It isnae proper?—”
“Of course, it’s proper. I’m to be yer husband.”
“I wish ye wouldnae say things like that,” she huffed, pushing the door open and walking inside. She did not shut it behind her, though, so Fergus took that as a sign to follow.
He left the door open so that she would not be afraid. He did not want to scare her off. She had already threatened to run away, and he could not bear not having her close.
Not now.
He had never felt this obsessed before, let alone with a woman.
He grabbed her wrist, pulling her flush against his chest. She wriggled as if trying to get away, but he held her fast.
“Look into me eyes, lass.”
She looked away from him, anywhere but into his eyes.
