How she wished she could make him laugh. “He’s always so sad.”
Catarina concurred. “You know, my mother has a saying. A jovial man can be happy with anyone, but when a sad one laughs, he treasures the one who brings him the sunshine.”
Nora thought about her words. There was truth to that. No one should live with the guilt Ewan did, especially when he hadn’t been at fault.
Kieran had made the choice to end his life. Ewan had done nothing more than make the mistake of believing a lying tongue.
Nora had no real designs on Ewan romantically. No matter how appealing he was or how good he kissed. At the end of the day, he wasn’t what she wanted for husband. But she wouldn’t mind helping him if she could.
No one deserved to be relegated to a cave without family or friend.
She had a few days with him. Mayhap a little reprieve would help him see that life was better when one participated in it.
Six
“What are you doing?” Ewan asked as Nora came up to him with a peculiar impish look on her face. The look was so out of character that it made the hair on the back of his neck rise.
She handed him her lute. “You said you would teach me to play. I would like another lesson.”
He took the instrument from her hand, then she sat down next to him.
Close to him.
He tried not to notice the happy glint in her eyes. The way tendrils of her blond hair fell around her face as she lowered her brat to watch him.
She was a great beauty. One that made him burn for her.
Even now he could taste her innocent kiss, remember the sensation of her warm breath on his face.
The way she had looked when she had told him that he kissed well...
It set fire to his blood. His heart pounded and he felt oddly dazed, as if her presence alone intoxicated him. Made him lightheaded and happy.
No woman had ever made him feel like this.
Not even Isobail.
Isobail had only aroused his body. At the time he’d been too young and inexperienced to understand the difference between love and lust.
What he felt for Nora was entirely different. He actually liked the lass. Liked spending time with her, listening to her unique ideas and endless stories.
On some level, she soothed him.
He took her left hand and moved her fingers into position as he showed her the first three chords to his mother’s favorite ballad.
“You’re very good at teaching,” Bavel said from across the fire.
“Yes, he is,” Nora agreed.
Unused to praise, Ewan cleared his throat and showed her another bar. “A teacher is only as good as his student.”
She smiled up at him.
Enchanted, Ewan couldn’t take his eyes off her face. Her skin was so smooth and perfect. Her eyes clear and bright. Her lips, red and plump, were made for long, hot kisses. For driving a man wild with desire.
And she was definitely doing that to him now. He felt reckless and somehow free. Wanting her no matter the rational arguments. Her presence took him past sanity and reason.
It took him straight into the realm of fantasy where anything was possible. Where there was no past to torment him. No future to fear.
