Mayhap Conor was the biggest fool of all to think she would ever want to marry him?—
“Here, man. Drink.”
With Annalise exiting the feasting-hall, Eva holding Tomas and hastening after them, Conor grunted as Liam shoved a brimming ale cup in his hand, the perfect cure for what he was feeling right now.
Desolate.
Frustrated.
Annalise’s kiss burning in his mind as he wondered darkly, too, if he would ever feel again the softness of her lips.
With a vehement curse, he raised the cup and drained it in one long swallow, only to slam it down upon the table and for Liam to signal a serving woman to refill it—and quickly.
Both Liam and Tiernan joining him, which soothed Conor some that his brothers-in-law hadn’t abandoned him like everyone else.
The feasting-hall nearly empty now of the rest of his clansmen as servants rushed to clean up after supper.
Conor staring at Annalise’s chair as he downed another cupful…though he knew damned well no amount of ale would cure what ailed him.
Chapter 8
“Annalise, wait!”
Her legs wooden and her thoughts spinning, Annalise stopped to glance behind her at Eva, who rushed toward her and Orla with Tomas wriggling in his mother’s arms.
The little boy’s grin the only thing that seemed to jar Annalise from the emotional turmoil gripping her, though the anxious concern on Eva’s face touched her, too.
Conor’s twin sister so lovely with her fair features and coppery hair that matched her mother’s, though Tomas’s was as dark-hued as Tiernan’s. The boy giggled and reached out for Annalise, who couldn’t help but gather him into her arms to hold him close.
A slobbery kiss pressed to her cheek that made tears jump again to her eyes, which caused Eva to sigh brokenly and envelop Annalise in an unexpected hug.
“I’m so sorry for what you’re suffering among us…ah, God, I don’t know what else to say to make you feel better.”
As Eva held her, Annalise did feel comforted by her kindness, but Tomas’s protest at being squashed between them brought the moment abruptly to an end.
When Eva drew away holding Tomas again, her eyes glistened, too, in the torchlight that illuminated the stronghold for darkness had fallen and the night air grown colder.
“Eva, you and Tomas will catch a chill,” Orla said with concern as she lifted the hood of Eva’s cloak over her head. “Go now to your dwelling-house, there isn’t anything more to be said. Your father gave his decree?—”
“Aye, but Annalise must know that Conor has never offered to marry any woman before—never shown more than the slightest interest even though many have tried to capture his heart. You mean much to him, Annalise, or he would never have spoken against our father. Conor is good and honorable and did not make his offer to you lightly. He meant every word—God help me, I grieve for both of you at what can never be…”
Now Eva fell silent as her expression was so desolate that Annalise was the one this time to reach out and hug her.
Tomas squawked again, too, and used his balled fists to push them apart. Annalise couldn’t help uttering a small laugh at his protests, though inside, her turmoil had only heightened at what Eva had said to her.
Now Orla fairly pushed Eva in the direction of her dwelling-house with a firm, “Go home to your wee Brian and give his nursemaid a rest, sweeting.” Then she looped her arm through Annalise’s to urge her to move along as she added briskly, “Aye, winter will be harsh this year to grow cold so early—ah, here we are.”
Orla didn’t waste any time to usher Annalise into Conor’s dwelling-house and then to the bedchamber where she whisked off Annalise’s cloak.
“Go and sit by the fire.”
Her legs still wooden, Annalise obliged her and sank down with a low sigh into the chair while Orla used a poker to prod the glowing logs into a warming blaze.
Yet Annalise shivered no matter the hearth fire as her thoughts flew to the look on Conor’s face when his father had denounced his startling offer to make Annalise his bride.
His bride! Never in a hundred years would she have imagined Conor to want her for his wife after all the contention between them…interrupted only by that one unforgettable moment when he had kissed her.
Her knees growing weak and her heart racing as she had pressed her body against his and kissed him back—ah, God, after she had shrieked that she despised him.
