“I am nae sure about that,” he muttered.
“Perhaps God has decided to punish ye,” Isobel said, smiling. “He sent ye the kindest woman to ever walk this earth.”
He did not take his eyes off the dance floor. “Punishment looks very fine this evening.”
“Aye,” she agreed. “Daenae spoil it.” She patted his arm once and rose. “Enjoy yer wife, Braither.”
She went to hail a friend and left him to his thoughts.
The set moved into its heart as David guided Emma through a tune that crossed and returned. She learned too quickly for his peace. Her dress lifted and fell, the blue catching more light. She curtsied and came up smiling and made the turn without a stumble. David steadied her by the fingers, then the hand, then let go.
Logan hated watching this. And worse, he hated that everyone around him seemed to like it.They liked her, and they liked the way she danced.
He studied his own reaction as if it were a map of a coast he had yet to explore. This was meant to be a convenient arrangement. The plan was to be as detached as possible. Yet, watching her laugh with another man unsettled him more than the weather at sea ever had.
He did not want her silent or small. He did not even want her compliant. He just wanted that look on her face right now turned towardhimand him alone.
The music crested and broke, after which applause filled the hall. She curtsied, playful, breathless, and a little flushed. David bowed and stepped back.
She searched the room and found him where he sat. For a second, she looked only at him across the distance and the tables, eyes bright, more of her hair sliding loose from the pins at her temples. He felt the attention as surely as he had felt the cord around his wrist in the chapel.
Did he care more than he wanted to admit?
The question came like a hand to his chest, simple and heavy. He had claimed her before his whole clan. Watching her dance in his hall, laughing and untamed, he saw the harder thing.
Keeping her would demand more than just rules and a ring. He would have to learnherrules.
He would have to learnher.
His fingers curled on the table and uncurled at the realization. Soon, another song would rise, and he would have to watch her dance again. For now, though, everyone could take a break.
David returned her to the table when the song ended. He bowed again. “Thank ye, me Lady.”
“Thank you,” Emma said, panting. She turned to Logan and put her hand on the chair’s armrest before she sat. “You truly do not dance.”
“I truly daenae.”
“Shame,” she said lightly. “You are missing a very good floor.”
His lips quirked up. “I prefer a deck.”
“Of course you do,” she drawled.
Logan did not take the bait. Instead, he watched as she turned to drink some water. The music rose again, and he had no choice but to watch her and David rise for another turn.
Good grief.
10
The hall still rang with pipes and laughter when the set ended. Emma was smiling at a joke one of Isobel’s friends was telling when she felt the air shift.
Logan was already crossing the floor toward her, expression unreadable, mouth set in a line that did not match the jovial mood. He did not pause before the circle of women or stop to greet anyone.He got close enough to reach for her hand, then took it.
Emma frowned. “Logan, what are you doing?”
His grip was firm. “What I should have done earlier.”
She stared at him. “What?”
