“Why do ye want to protect me?”
The question surprised him. He paused, opening and closing his mouth a few times. He found these words harder to say than he had thought they would be. Her face was so open and trusting,and he was reminded so much of his sister that his heart ached at the sight.
He stood up and walked over to the window. The servants were out in the courtyard now, and the sun was just grazing the tops of the trees. He took a deep breath to ease the pain in his chest.
“Ye remind me of someone I loved very much. Someone I failed to protect,” he explained.
Daisy sat up straighter now, curiosity overtaking her anxiety. “Who?”
“Me sister.” He looked at her again, watching as she frowned in thought.
“I’ve nae met yer sister.”
“She’s nae with us anymore.”
“Oh,” she said quietly, looking down.
“Aye.”
“Lady Thalia… she reminds me of someone I loved, or at least, someone that Iwouldhave loved,” she murmured.
“Who is that?” Finlay asked, walking back towards the bed.
“Me maither.” Daisy gave a small smile. “Rowena says she was like Lady Thalia. Sweet, and kind, and brave.”
“Is that why ye wrote that letter?” he asked, and she nodded.
“I like being yer daughter,” she confessed. “Ye’re much better than… than me other faither. Really, ye are! I just thought that if I could keep the three of us together, I would ken what it is like to have a family. Arealfamily, with a faitheranda maither.”
His heart broke at the confession, and if he were a weaker man, he might have shed a tear.
“Next time ye have these feelings, I want ye to come and tell me about them,” he urged. “I daenae want anymore schemin’ or sneakin’ around from now on, do ye understand?”
She nodded. “Aye.”
“Good.” He wrapped her in a hug, and she returned it gladly as she threw her arms around his waist.
There was a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Finlay looked up at the open doorway, but there was no one there.
After her encounter with Finlay, Thalia had rushed back to her room. Her thoughts were so tangled that she felt it would take ages to make sense of them.
Finlay had kissed her, touched her, been close to taking more. What scared her the most was that she would have let him.
Her whole body was flushed. She shook not with fear, but with desire. Nothing had ever made her feel like that before. And then he had simply stopped. With no warning or explanation. She must have done something to upset him.
With a groan, she threw herself onto her bed, burying her head in her pillow. This was all his fault. How could he sit there, teasing and flirting with her for so long, only to push her away the minute he got what he wanted? It didn’t make any sense.
Unless this is just a game to him.
She bristled. The Highland Wolf, indeed. She remembered the stories she had heard from Ava. How he thrilled at the chase, how the more a woman refused him, the more he wanted her. Then, when he would finally win her affections, he would take what he wanted and leave once he was done.
Was that what was happening now? Was he already done with her after one kiss?
She sat up, hurling her pillow across the room in anger. It hit the wall with a dull thud, then fell limply to the floor.
Stupid, she had been so stupid. She should have listened to Ava and trusted her when she said to stay away from Finlay. She should have left when she had the chance. This whole thing had been such a big mistake.
A knock sounded at the door, breaking her out of her musings. It was still early, and the only other person she knew was awake was Finlay.
