She hesitated for a moment but then took it, deciding that she should accept whatever offer of help she could get. Given that Camron seemed so unwilling to give it to her, she’d need to find it wherever she was able, and his cousin was part of the family, after all.
“I must admit, I didnae expect my cousin to return fae the feast with such a beauty on his arm,” he remarked as they made their way up the stairs, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “Perhaps it’s unfair, but I had imagined it would be little more than old maids searching for a husband.”
She laughed.
“Now, my sister was there, too,” she protested. “I cannae let ye get away with speaking of the other guests like that.”
“My apologies,” he murmured, though the playful edge to his voice suggested to her that he was not as sorry as he might seem. “Well, here we are, yer new chambers, my lady."
“Ye dinnae have to call me that yet,” she reminded him. "I’m no’ married to yer cousin till tomorrow."
“I’m just getting in some practice,” he replied, and he bowed low once more as she stood at the door of her chambers. “Rest well, my lady.”
And, with that, he made his way back down the stairs, leaving her to her own devices once more. She watched him as he went and found that she was still smiling, about the first time she had been able to maintain such an expression since she had said goodbye to her sister back at McFadden Keep. At least there was someone here who seemed willing to talk with her and treat her like a real person, even if that someone was not the man she was going to marry.
This place might have been little more than a prison to her, but that didn’t mean that she could not find a few allies under this roof. She planted a hand on the door and pushed it open, stepping inside, glad for the quiet.
For as long as it would last.
Drawing the cup of whiskey to his lips, Camron took a long sip, gazing into the dancing flames of the fireplace before him.
He had been deep in thought since he had arrived back at the Keep, though reluctant to discuss in any great detail what, exactly, he was thinking about. A few of his men had aimed questions his way about his sudden betrothal, and he had brushed them off, unwilling to engage with them on the matter. They did not need to know why he had made his decision, onlythat it had been made at all, and they would do well to remember it.
“I just cannae fathom why ye’d choose a lassie like that,” Damien mused, from where he sat in the chair opposite the brooding Laird.
Camron glanced at the Captain of his Guard, who he had agreed to let keep him company for now. If he had anything close to a friend in this place, it was Damien—someone he saw as an equal and not just some other member of the household staff. Besides, Damien had practically cornered him into having some whiskey with him once he’d gotten a look at the woman who Camron had chosen to take as his bride.
“Like what?”
Damien cocked an eyebrow at him, clearly incredulous.
“One so…”
He trailed off, waving his hand as though searching for the words. Camron watched with some amusement as his friend tried to come up with a diplomatic way to offer comment on his choice of bride, and failed dismally. Try as he might, he had seen the kind of girl she was, and he could not think of a way to remark on that which would not serve as an insult.
“I imagined ye with a rather more agreeable bride,” he finished up at last.
Camron smirked slightly.
“I like a challenge,” he replied, running a hand through his hair. “Ye ken that as well as I do.”
“Aye, but a challenge wi’ yer wife?” Damien asked, screwing up his face. “Yer marriage is meant to be easy, Camron. Not some wild effort to tame a woman who cannae so much as offer a kind word to the staff.”
Camron shrugged as he took another sip of his whiskey. He had a point. When his father had spoken to him of the kind ofwoman that he should take as a wife, he had never described someone likeher, that much was certain.
“I like her wildness,” Camron admitted finally, the whiskey loosening his tongue enough to speak the truth.
It had been her outgoing nature that had drawn his attention to her in the first place; the way her cheeks had reddened when they had swung around the floor together; the way she had clung to him and laughed with some unrestrained glee.
“I’ve tamed many a stubborn stallion in my day,” he continued. “How much more difficult could a woman like her be?”
“Dinnae let her hear ye talking of her in such terms,” Damien chuckled. “I cannae bring to mind many women who’d like to be spoken of like an errant horse.”
Camron grinned, his mind already stuck on the girl who had taken to her chambers the moment she had arrived here. It was clear that she had her issues with this place, but she would learn to like it, he was sure of that. He had everything here that a wife could ask for, and there were many who would have been glad to take her place if she decided that she could not stand it.
But he could still feel the lingering warmth of her body close to his, and he knew that he would not be able to settle for anything less. His desire for her might have clouded his vision, guiding him to a choice he would otherwise never have made. But he was certain that this feeling, this uncontrollable attraction, this unexplainable need to possess her, was just as potent for her as it was for him, and, in time, they would find some way to bridge the gap between them with passion.
Even if it was the only thing that they had in common.
