“Laurie.”
He nodded again. “I had nae expected a sibling, nae after all these years. I made up me mind then and there to avenge me mother and make a better life for me sister. I challenged me father to a duel. A duel for the lairdship, the sort of challenge that only an heir can make. I challenged him, and I won.”
A shiver rolled down Nora’s spine. “Ye killed him.”
Creighton gave a tight nod. “This was five years ago. We kept it quiet. Most of Clan MacColl have no idea how their laird died. He was an old man, and they assumed he just died of natural causes. We let them think that. But I swore that if I took me own father’s life for this lairdship, I would make it worthwhile. Nay risks, nothing to gain for meself. I’d already decided that me father’s line would end with me. Laurie would be only Mother’s daughter.”
“Ye ken that’s nae how it works.”
He turned away from her with a snort. “How would ye ken about how any of this works? I swore, when I killed me father, that I would nae wed or produce heirs. I did it for Laurie, so she must become laird after me.”
“And ye think that Laurie wants to be a laird?”
“That’s nae the point.”
“Is it nae? Ye say ye avoid marriage because the lairdship is for Laurie. So many excuses. Yer father was a cruel man, to be sure. But ye ken in yer heart, I think, that what ye did was the right thing. And yet ye use it as an excuse to punish yerself, over and over. Ye are afraid of reaching out for what ye want, in case ye cannae get to it, but the truth is that ye are nothin’ but a coward, Creighton.”
The words spilled out of Nora’s mouth almost without her consciously choosing to say them. Harsh words, hardly thought through. Creighton turned to face her, bewildered.
“Ye call me a coward?”
She took a step toward him, tilting up her chin. “What else should I call a man who refuses to go after what he wants? And ye want me, Creighton, daenae ye?”
“It does nae matter what I want.”
“Of course it matters!” she gasped, letting out a mirthless laugh. “How could it nae matter? Do ye mean to say thatI daenaematter?”
“Daenae put words in me mouth, woman,” he growled, taking a step closer, moving into her space. Something sparked in Nora’s chest, a feeling she recognized now as the insistent thrum of desire. Her mouth dried out, and without thinking, she let her tongue slip out over her lower lip, moistening it.
Creighton watched the gesture, his eyes darkening.
“If ye daenae want me to put words in yer mouth, then put them there yerself. I’ll go first. I am in love with ye, Creighton. I tried nae to be, but here we are. But I cannae, I will nae, spend me life beggin’ a man to notice me. So if ye cannae speak yer own words, Creighton, I’ll take meself to a tower and hide there until the year is up, the treaty signed, and I can leave. So, what will it be?”
CHAPTER 28
‘I amin love with ye, Creighton. I tried nae to be, but here we are. But I cannae, I will not, spend me life beggin’ a man to notice me.’
Nora’s own words repeated over and over in her head, almost taunting her.
Should I nae have said that? Was it a mistake?
Too late now. She could hardly cram the words back into her mouth. And if she could, Nora wasn’t entirely sure that she’d want to.
Creighton stared down at her, his expression unreadable. There was no anger in his eyes; that had melted away. Only confusion, perhaps, and something else.
I told him I loved him. Now what?
Nora’s heart hammered against the inside of her ribcage. There was a powerful urge welling up inside her torun, to rush out of the door and down the hallway away from all of this, to hide. Maybe she could go and crawl under her bed—but no, her room adjoined Creighton’s. He could find her there.
I want him to find me. I want to hide away. I want… I daenae ken what I want.
The only certainty in her mind, taking form bit by bit, second by second, was that she wantedhim.
Creighton’s chest shifted under his thin shirt, muscles pressing against the fabric. Nora swallowed, fighting the urge to reach out and run her hands over his broad chest, tracing the curve of muscle up to those wide shoulders. She knew how they felt under his clothing. What would they feel like when he pulled away that shirt, exposing himself to her? He’d already seen her completely bare. His eyes, roaming over her like a tangible thing, left a trail of fire behind them.
He looked at her with fire in his eyes now, and an answering flame bloomed in Nora’s chest.
“Ye love me,” he whispered, almost to himself. “I cannae remember the last time I heard that said. Me mother, probably. Laurie tells me that she loves me and hates me with the changeableness of a bairn.”
