As soon as Ian sat down at the table to join his brother and Alex for breakfast, Niall jumped to his feet, sending his spoon clattering to the floor. After giving Ian a murderous look, he stormed across the room and out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
“Nothing quiet about this family,” Alex said, his mouth twitching. He stretched his arms in a dramatic yawn. “A fearful noise woke me last night.”
“I’m warning ye, Alex, not another word,” Ian said.
“I take it that the wedding night did not go as well as ye hoped,” Alex said. “Do ye need me to give ye pointers, cuz?”
Ian started to lunge across the table, but he checked himself when Alex shot him a warning glance.
“Good morning, Sìleas,” Alex called out.
“Is it?” Sìleas said in a clipped tone. Ignoring the empty place beside Ian, she walked around to the far side of the table and sat next to Alex.
Alex raised an eyebrow at Ian and commenced to shovel porridge into his mouth.
Ian cleared his throat. “Morning, Sìl.”
She pressed her lips into a tight line and set to stirring her porridge with a good deal of vigor. For the next several minutes, the only sound in the room was the scrape of spoons in bowls. For all the attention Sìleas gave her porridge, she didn’t appear to be eating much.
Finally, she set down her spoon. Looking past Ian as if he weren’t there, she said, “Where is Niall?”
Ian cleared his throat again. “I believe he went out for some fresh air.” He tried desperately to think of something else to say to her.
“Some fresh air would do ye good as well,” Alex said to her. “You’re looking peaked. How about I take ye out fishing today and let the sea breeze put the color back in your cheeks?”
When Ian kicked him, Alex lifted the finger resting against his cheek to signal that Ian should be patient.
Sìleas narrowed her eyes, considering. Then she said, “I’d like that verra much. I haven’t been fishing in years.”
“Meet me on the beach in an hour, and I’ll show ye how it’s done,” Alex said.
What the hell was Alex up to?
The door to the kitchen swung open, and Dina came in, wiping her hands on her apron. “Are ye finished?” With a sly smile for Alex, she added, “Or will ye be wanting more?”
“Can ye see to Payton’s breakfast, Dina?” Sìleas said, as she got to her feet. “I have some things to attend to. And then I’m going fishing.”
Without waiting for Dina to respond—or sparing a glance for Ian—Sìleas left them and disappeared up the stairs.
•••
The icy wind froze Sìleas’s cheeks and made her eyes water. Despite Alex’s smooth, sure strokes with the oars, their little boat bobbed in the choppy water.
Sìleas’s emotions were as wild as the sea today. She was furious with Ian for sneaking into her bed without even asking her. After keeping her waiting for five long years, he had expected her to be grateful—grateful!—that he had decided to “accept the situation.”
She was not a “situation.”
Ian’s kisses had sent an unfamiliar storm of emotions raging inside her. She was so hungry for Ian’s affection, and the desire he stirred in her was so overwhelming, that she had almost lost herself to it. But she knew that for him it was only a physical need. Ian wanted her, but for the wrong reason—or at least not for the reasons she needed.
“You’re not afraid of a wee bit of weather, are ye?” Alex called out, grinning.
Sìleas shook her head. Like him, she was an islander and as comfortable on the sea as on land. “All the same, I’d say it’s a poor day for fishing.”
“Well, ye don’t believe I brought ye out here for the fishing, do ye?” Alex said.
She shook her head again and watched as he skillfully maneuvered the boat around some rocks to a sheltered cove, where the sea was quieter.
“ ’Tis time we had ourselves a talk.” He rested his oars and leaned forward. “You and I have some scheming to do.”
