Lorna lifted her head slowly.Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glazed.A crack and a flash of lightening shattered the satisfied haze and she squeaked and clutched his arms.He swallowed.This was no act.When had the lass ever revealed fear?She was more likely to want to conceal it.
Logan drew her back from the wall and eased her into his hold.If he listened closely, he suspected he’d hear the crack of his heart as she destroyed another fragment of all his beliefs.With such a connection, could any of what she told him be true?
“Why do ye no’ like storms?They cannae harm ye.”
“I am no’ afeared.”
He chuckled but let the lie slip.Drawing in a heavy breath, he resigned himself to comforting the woman until the storm passed.If Gillean asked, he would simply say he had been interrogating her.
He said nothing more.While the storm whirled around them, he stroked her hair and the silk of her gown.The expensive fabric reminded him of the divide between them.How could he believe he had ever made love to such a woman?Did he not know well of his rank as a lowly peasant?And even she had confirmed that much.
The lass’s breaths slowed and against his chest, her racing heart eased to a steady thump.She flinched whenever lightning lit the room but she trembled no more.The tempest inside him would not be as easily quelled.Staring over her head at a gap in the shutters, he drew in a breath and resolved not to touch her again after this.He could ill afford to let her get in the way of his plans.
Chapter Ten
Lorna’s knees ached and her hands itched from the basic soap.She curled up her nose in disgust as she scrubbed the wooden kitchen floor on her hands and knees.Rat droppings crowded one corner and created a disgusting smell.The kitchen had never been this poorly looked after when she had been lady of the keep.
Still, at least the fire was unlit and the usual heat of the kitchen had dissipated.The rest of the household were likely retreating to bed while she slaved away.Footsteps sounded on the steps into the kitchen, and she froze.
A prickle danced along her arms and she didn’t need to turn to see who it was.The memory of his kiss and touch still burned in her mind.Once the storm had passed, he’d left her without a word, as if it had never happened.In spite of his cold behaviour since, heated desire kindled low in her belly at the mere thought of him being close by.
And he had comforted her...did that mean anything?
The crack of thunder would forever remind her of a beating.The snap of a whip.Her husband had once timed it perfectly with a particularly savage storm and now any time she heard that sound, she became a quivering mass of fear.Her scars itched and burned as if she had only received the beating yesterday.
Not that she’d admit that much to Logan.No one knew of her fears and no one would.Strength was her friend, weakness an enemy.Being a lass in such a world was hard enough without anyone thinking her weaker than she already was.
Lorna’s breaths grew thick.Only the heavy sound of each inhalation and the slop of the wet cloth resounded through the empty kitchen.She peered over her shoulder and snapped her head around when she spied him eyeing her rear.Heat near blistered her face.
He stepped closer and slapped something down on the table in the centre of the kitchen.She raised her head and saw he had laid down a tray of food for her.
“Ye’ve not eaten all day,” he stated gruffly.
She didn’t bother to glance at him and continued scrubbing.“And I suppose ye expect me to be grateful to ye for no’ letting me starve.”
“I expect ye to eat,” he snapped.
“Did ye no’ hear?I am to have this floor cleaned before I am to retreat to bed.I have no time for food.”
She winced when she remembered Gillean’s smug expression as he’d taunted her with a list of chores for the day.All the while, Ivar looked on, his expression growing more interested by the moment.He had even stopped by the kitchen to admire her on her hands and knees.She needed to be wary of that Viking.If he caught her alone, as Logan had, she could be in trouble.
A hand curled around her arm and hauled her back.“Get off yer knees and eat.”
Lorna tore her arm from his.Blood rushed through her ears and pounded into her temples.She was exhausted, humiliated, battered and bruised.
“Will ye cease handling me so?I am no’ a slave.I am no’ yer chattel.”To her dismay, her voice broke on the last syllable and a sob bubbled out of her chest.
Lorna collapsed as the first burst of tears sprung free.She sank to her knees, the agony consuming her and forcing her to double over.Barely able to take breaths, sorrow forced stuttered sounds of distress from her throat.No matter how she tried to cover her face or force them back, they spilled forth.Her chest grew raw and the noise echoed against the stone walls.
She didn’t need to glance up to know Logan hovered nearby.She pried a finger away from her eyes so she could see his boot close by.Tension simmered in the air, yet the tears refused to abate.Her foolishness ate into her.She had abandoned her son, for what?A father who didn’t know he existed, a stupid dream of revenge that would go unfulfilled.
She had the man she had loved in front of her, the man she thought dead, the father of her child, yet she was powerless.Trying to force back the sobs, she swiped her face and clenched her arms around her waist.Raw anguish tore at her chest.She cried for her son and for herself.For the times she had been beaten and braved the torment with nothing but a hiss of pain.
And still Logan did nothing.The man who once claimed he would never stop loving her did nothing.
Would he ever return?Whatever had happened to him had taken away almost every part of that man and left him cold and bitter.
Warm hands clasped her arms and she braced herself to be hauled to her feet, for his fingers to press into the bruises already on her skin, but instead he sank down beside her and drew her against his chest.Unable to do anything apart from sink into him, another cry bubbled out of her and tears trickled down her nose.The rough fabric of his shirt absorbed some of them and his heavy heart thudded against her ear.Swallowing down the ache in her throat, Lorna concentrated on that thud.There, the heart of Logan beat, the man she once knew, but how could she reach him and persuade him to help her out of her predicament?
