She was his responsibility.
Nothing more.
Then why didyer blood boil when Declan called her bonnie?
Elijah forced the thought away,but it lingered like a burr under his skin. Because thathadbeen the moment he’d truly wanted to hit his oldest friend—when Declan had looked at him with that knowing grin and called Piper beautiful. Called her curvy. Commented on the fire in her eyes like he had any right to notice such things.
The lass is mine.
The thought had come unbidden,fierce and possessive. Had roared through him with such intensity that he’d barely managed to keep his expression neutral and his fists from connecting with Declan’s smirking face.
Which made no sense.Piper wasn’t his. She’d signed a contract that explicitly gave her the freedom to leave whenever she wanted. She was a woman under his protection, nothing more.
But some primitivepart of him—the part that had fought for her, claimed her in front of witnesses, carried her away from danger—that part didn’t care about contracts or logic or what was appropriate.
That part sawher as his to protect, his to care for, his to?—
Stop.Just stop.
Elijah turned awayfrom the window and paced back to his desk. The contract still lay there, both their signatures dark against the parchment. Proof that this was a business arrangement. Nothing more.
He needed to focus.Needed to review the accounts that had piled up during his absence, speak with his steward about the harvest preparations, and check on his children.
His children.
Christ,he’d barely thought about Masie and Connor since arriving home. What kind of father did that make him?
The same kindye’ve always been. Distant. Unavailable. Failin’ them just like ye failed their maither.
The familiar guiltsettled over him like a well-worn cloak. He should go find them. Should explain about the new governess before his mother got to them with her own version of events. Before they heard rumors from the servants about the mysterious lass their father had brought home.
But even ashe thought it, Elijah found himself reluctant to leave his study. Found himself wanting to stay here, where he could think about Piper without anyone watching. Without anyone, like Declan, seeing too much.
Ye’re pathetic. Hidin’in yer study like a lad with his first infatuation.
Except this wasn’t infatuation.This was something darker, more dangerous. This was the feeling that had surged through him when Declan called her beautiful—pure, undiluted possessiveness.
The urge to stake a claim,to make it clear that no one else could look at her that way. Touch her. Want her.
The moment Piperhad become part of his household, she’d fallen under his protection. Not just because of his vow, but because that’s what a laird did. He protected his people. Provided for them. Kept them safe from harm.
But the feelingthat had surged through him when Declan called her bonnie—that hadn’t been about protection. That had been pure possessiveness. Male pride.
The urge tobare his teeth and growlmineat anyone who dared to look at her with appreciation.
She’snae yers to claim.
Elijah knew that.Understood it on a logical level.
But logic hadnothing to do with the way his body had responded to holding her for two days. Logic couldn’t explain why the thought of another man looking at Piper with desire made him want to break things. Made him want to fight.
And logicdefinitely couldn’t help him figure out how he was going to live in the same castle as this woman without going mad from wanting what he couldn’t have.
Shouldnae have.She’s under yer protection. That means she’s off-limits.
A knockat the door interrupted his increasingly circular thoughts.
“Come in.”
