CHAPTER 21
Ye are a prize fool,are ye nae, Evander? How many more times will ye make this mistake? A hundred? A thousand? Or just until ye heart breaks into a million pieces and there’s nothing left to put them together again?
He untangled his arms from around Skye’s body, briefly steadying her before he stepped back.
Arousal thrummed through him, unaddressed desire coiling tighter and tighter in his chest, as if it would split through his skin and spill out into the air. Tightening his jaw, he forced himself to breathe.
Nay. Enough is enough.
Now was the time to end it. It should have ended long ago.
Skye turned to face him, a tentative smile creeping onto her face. “That was… I enjoyed that. Very much. Now it is yer turn, surely?”
Evander swallowed. “That’s enough, Skye.”
Her smile wavered. “I’m sorry. Did I offend ye? I only meant… Well, I want things to be fair between us.”
He took her hand in his own and lifted it to his lips. Her knuckles, warm and rough, brushed his cheek.
“Ye are a fair lass,” he murmured.
Her throat worked, her eyes wide.
She kens already, but she willnae let herself accept it.
“So, ye are keeping me, then?” she asked, her voice quavering just a little. “It makes sense for me to stay here, aye?”
“I’m afraid nae.”
She yanked her hand out of his grip and took a step back, her fists clenched at her sides.
“Ye are afraid nae?” she echoed, the corners of her lips tugging down. “Surely ye are keeping me, Evander. Surely I am staying.That’s fair. After what… what happened between us and what ye said… Ye said that I would be the woman ye would choose.”
“If I could,” he corrected gently. “Lass, this was goodbye. Maybe I should have kept control of meself, but I ken that this is the right thing to do.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, just for a moment, before opening them again.
“So that’s that, then,” she said flatly. “Ye are sending me away.”
“The truth is that ye were always leaving.”
“Ah, so ye were always thinking of the best way to get rid of me?”
“Nay, nay.” He dropped his face into his hands, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes until sparks exploded behind his lids. “Skye, ours was never a proper relationship. It was just… just convenience. Staying together served our clans more than parting ways. And now, living separate lives is what serves our clans best. Relations between our clans have soured. I must look to me clan, ye to yers, and so on.”
“Thisis me clan. It became me clan when I wed ye.”
“And when the marriage is annulled, MacCrimmon will be yer clan again. Take heart, love. Ye can marry again, some fine, strapping man who ye choose for yer own sake, and nae for the sake of yer clan.”
He reached out, intending to cup her cheek in his hand, but she slapped it away.
“Daenae ye dare patronize me,” she seethed.
Evander blinked. He hadn’t thought that he was patronizing her. He had thought it was… well, comforting. She could marry again. She knew a little of what pleasure felt like. She’d experienced new things, and this… this was the right thing for her.
I was never the right man for her. I would only make her miserable.
The proof was all around them, really. It was his fault that she had been kidnapped and drugged. Without Mason’s interference, perhaps she would have been murdered long ago.
