“I thought ye said I was safe here,” she said, her shoulders tightening.
“Ye are,” he said, scrubbing his hand over his face. He didn’t know how to explain that he was overly cautious with thoseunder his care. “Me guards are more than capable of protectin’ this castle, but there is nae reason to take unnecessary risks.”
And me enemies are the least of yer worries if ye keep walkin’ around wearin’ so little and lookin’ at me like that, lass.
“Right, of course,” Katherine said, lowering her voice when her volume threatened to rise. It was a placating gesture, something that she must have learned to mitigate another man’s anger. It seemed that she was anticipating a lecture, answering any questions that he could raise. “I wasnae in the corridors just to wander. I was lookin’ for the library. I woke up from a bad dream and just felt so restless. I thought grabbin’ somethin’ to read and goin’ back to me chambers would help me fall asleep.”
Liam scoffed, but part of him wanted to question what had woken her. What nightmares haunted her? It was strange, this desire to be close. He was well aware of the dangers that befell those whom he cared about, well aware that getting attached to a woman would put her life at risk.
“That’s still nae reason to be walkin’ around the castle so late at night. Especially if ye’re nae goin’ to pay attention to where ye’re goin’,” he said, dismissing her reasoning even if he understood it. “Now, ye should get back to yer chambers.”
He couldn’t offer her that sort of connection, not this late at night. Already, his control around her felt brittle, like one push could bring everything tumbling down. If he spoke of having nightmares, of using the library on nights when sleep evaded him while she was in nothing but a thin robe and a thinnernightgown, he knew that he’d make a mistake that hurt both of them.
Katherine tilted her head slightly to the side, shifting toward him just a bit. The space between them was almost gone. He couldn’t tell if she was testing him or if she didn’t realize how much her presence affected him. It must be a mix of both.
“Is it forbidden for me to roam the castle then?” she asked. Her curiosity seemed genuine though he caught the accusatory tone that underlined it.
She is testin’ me.
“Nay, it’s nae forbidden,” he replied, his jaw tightening, his fists closing at his sides. He wasn’t sure how she could go so easily from fearful to playful, but it was infuriatingly magnetic. “But there are situations when ye shouldnae be out like this. The hour, for one thing. So near to me for another.”
Her breath hitched audibly in the quiet surrounding them. He watched as a shiver ran through her. The moment that her mind registered what he was saying seemed to ignite something in him. When he met her eyes, her pupils dilated, the candlelight dancing in the obsidian pool hypnotically. It was like a shot of the strongest whiskey.
I cannae let her make me break me vow. I willnae allow it.
“That sounds as if it’s forbidden then,” she said finally, her voice airy, so different from what he was used to. She seemed almost drunk on the proximity, too.
He told himself to pull away. Dismiss her. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to give up even a centimeter of ground.
“Then aye, Katherine,” he said, the space between them buzzing with all the little things about her he’d forced himself to ignore. The way her eyebrows arched. The stubborn fullness of her cheeks. The curved, dainty tip of her nose. “It is forbidden if I say it is.”
Without realizing it, he’d drifted closer to her. It felt inevitable. They were almost touching now. One deep breath would be enough to close the gap between them. She had to tilt her head back to continue looking at him, the difference in their heights more pronounced now than it had ever been. It would be so easy to reach out and touch her.
He was sure that her skin would be softer than the finest silk. His fingertips ached to find out. The only thing that stopped him was the crumbling pillar holding up the last of his restraint.
The rise and fall of her chest stopped abruptly after a beat. It was only then that he saw just how near his fingertips were to her breasts. There was hardly any space there, and it felt as if the air crackled and arced between their bodies. He may have even grazed them without realizing it.
Abruptly, Liam stepped back, putting distance between them. He cleared his throat, fighting the childish urge to stare at the wall instead of the flustered woman in front of him. He was ashamed of himself for letting the two of them get so close to one another but not ashamed of the attraction he felt for her. She took a shaky breath, her blush so evident that he could see it even in the dim light.
Ach, she looks so sinfully enticin’.
“Return to yer chambers, Katherine,” he rumbled, sharp and dangerous. He was a predator, his attention enough to put anyone vulnerable into harm’s way. The frustration at himself, at the situation, morphed into fury. “Immediately. Daenae make me repeat meself.”
He turned around before she had the chance to say anything else. Deciding he’d need the long walk to clear his head, he set off for the roundabout route to his study. As soon as he didn’t feel as if he were seconds away from breaking the vow he’d made to himself after his first wife’s death, he’d get to work. There were several things that he’d put off in favor of squaring away the details of their handfasting.
He refused to consider why he’d been so quick to sort their union. If pressed, he’d cite his grandmother’s health. That was surely the reason.
Chapter Nine
“Iwas hopin’ that we could go outside for lessons today,” Katherine sighed, looking out the window of Agnes’s chambers with her hands on her hips. Rain battered the walls of the castle, and several puddles were forming in the grassy areas of the garden. “I wanted to reward ye for doin’ so well this past week.”
Agnes hummed, preoccupied with the book of tales that seemed to be her constant companion. Though Katherine had offered to read to her, Agnes hadn’t been willing to part with the book. She was, however, incredibly insistent upon learning to read as quickly as possible.
I wonder if someone gave it to her as a gift. Or perhaps she enjoys when Lady Agnes reads to her. I suppose children do have strange fixations.
“The sun will come out again,” Agnes said, her confidence strangely at odds with her tiny stature. It seemed as though therewas a much older girl trapped inside her little body. “I daenae mind havin’ a lesson indoors today.”
“I meant for today to be a bit more relaxin’ than a normal lesson,” Katherine muttered as she turned around, her gaze sweeping the room.
