Page 71 of Claimed Highland Brides

“Good morn,” she said with a grin.

He harrumphed at her, never one to be cheerful before his breakfast.

“I’ve left Ùna asleep in our chambers. I’m going doon tae see aboot breakfast. Shall I get ye anything?”

He scratched at his chestnut hair, causing it to fall over his eyes as he thought. “Aye. Bring me something. I shall watch for Ùna. Are the men up yet? D’ye ken?”

She shook her head. “I shall check on my way doon.”

Daividh nodded. “Aye, alrigh’.” He made to close the door again and she walked away, shaking her head and smiling. Sleepy as he looked, she had no doubt he would keep a sharp ear out, should Ùna stir before she got back. Their youngest sibling was quite capable of getting lost in her excitement to see everything and it was important that someone keep her in sight at all times. Jamesina quickened her step, eager to get back, and as she rounded the curved stairwell, she bumped into something hard and unyielding.

She uttered a squawk of surprise, hands flung out to catch herself as she stumbled backward. Her fall was arrested by what felt like an iron band around her waist. As she opened her eyes she looked up into the brightest blue eyes she’d ever seen. It was a man who held her and had stopped her falling. A man whose eyes were as bright as the sky right in the middle of a sunny day. Contrasted with his inky dark hair and pale skin, he appeared as unreal as one of the fairies she liked reading about.

“Oh…” she whispered. Her eyes drifted down to the chest at her eye level. Her hands rested there. It was a strong chest. She quickly pulled her hands away as if burned.

“My apologies.” His voice sounded annoyed and harried, his English accent clipped as he stared down at the woman in his arms. She was looking up at him with wide, soft, almost doe-like eyes. He found himself in danger of getting lost in those eyes. He frowned and set her away from him.

“’Tis quite alright,” Jamesina said.

The man quickly stepped back.

Jamesina tried to settle her gown, cheeks flushed and hands trembling. She was flustered and doing a poor job of hiding it.

“Are you alright?” the man asked, peering closer at her.

She kept her lashes down, trying to hide her reactions from him. “I’m fine. Sorry, I dinnae see ye there.”

The man sighed and his annoyance seemingly faded.

Delwyn was always quick-witted and he could not remember the last time he lost his words, like he did now. “It seems to be my curse today,” he said after a small pause. He stepped aside, hands clasped behind his back, to let her pass.

She hesitated a moment, wanting to say something else to him but failing to come up with anything. Instead, she nodded in as friendly a manner as she could manage while she stepped past him. She was quite sad that the staircase continued to curve for as she looked back, he was no longer in sight. Her hand crept up to rest on her bosom.

“Oh my...what a handsome man,” she breathed, blinking up at the empty staircase.