“Ye will entertain these men, Keely. And when ye finish, I will havemydance.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Do ye stilldeny your feelings for the girl, Alex?” Petro asked.
Alex had removed himself from the high table and chosen a spot near the main hearth. Though he enjoyed talking with his friend, he was only half listening. His beautiful bride commanded most of his attention as she danced with the brothers from Constantinople.
Petro’s question grated on his nerves like stone on metal. “I have feelings.” He’d told the scholar that many times already.
“Why not share those feelings with her? It will help.”
“Help what?”
“Settle things between you. I saw you arguing with her, Alex.”
“Ye’re a nosey bastard, Petro.”
“And you’re drunk, Alex.”
“I’m many things this night,” Alex said. As for being drunk, the ale helped calm him. After nearly killing Levi with his bare hands, he couldna possibly take Keely upstairs and be gentle. Nay, he needed time to recover from the violence. And a blasted bath. He’d washed his face at the high table, but the stench of blood had stayed on his clothes.
“Have I ever failed you?” Petro asked.
“Why do ye ask? Ye’re like a woman who constantly needs reassurance about her place in my heart. Shall I speak of my love for ye?” Alex leaned over like he wanted to kiss his friend.
“Christ.” Petro pushed him away. “I am not jesting. Whenever I offer guidance about Keely, you wave me aside as if my words do not matter.”
“I’ve spent five years planning it, and never believed it would actually happen.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, Alex. What you will say and do once you get her alone.”
“I am not a fool. My future success with the clan depends heavily on Keely. Her skills at running a household are very valuable. She’s a capable lass, and I will make sure she knows it.”
“Tis a start,” Petro said.
“She already asked me if I loved her.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her the truth, that I cared.”
From his position, he could see most of the great hall. Both of their gazes followed Keely’s lithe form as she passed by, stepping gracefully to the music.
“Your feelings are undeniable, Alexander. I see it in your eyes whenever you watch her. That is not the look of a man merely in lust. It is the heat of love, of keeping what you once lost.”
“And what do ye know of such things? Ye stick yer pikk in anything with legs.”
Petro chuckled. “My taste is more discriminating.”
“And I shall never be critical of yer needs, my friend, as ye shouldna harp on me about mine.”
“I understand, but a miserable union will destroy a man’s house.”
Alex’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “This house is built upon rock.” He held his fist up, symbolizing the erection beneath his tartan. “I willna deny the lass anything, Petro. She will feel the extent of my passion—the years I’ve tried to extinguish it with the empty kisses of foreign women.”
Though his head was swimming with hot memories about Keely, Alex refused to surrender to the tender feelings in his heart. Aye, he cared—more than he should. A tiny ember of what he used to feel for the lass had ignited inside him the day he encountered her in the great hall for the first time—how she came forward and called his name in front of his captains and tenants. That fierceness in her eyes, the willingness to aid his cause. The Oliphants were worthy allies. But he couldna trust her. She’d broken his heart. She’d forsaken her own father by running away.
If he let his guard down, she’d find a way inside his mind and heart—stealing his very soul. The fact that she still had that kind of power over him represented something he dinna want to think about,ever.
