Page 106 of Wedded to the Devilish Highlander
Reid left the room, and Archer went back to his whisky, draining the last of it. He’d told some of the truth, just as he had when explaining the betrothal, but it wasn’t the full truth.
He didn’t want Eileen to be hurt, but he didn’t want to hurt either.
Six years ago, he’d let his father die, and only a few nights ago, he’d almost lost Eileen. If he’d arrived a minute late, or if they’d taken a different route or had more men waiting, he might not have been able to save her. With the way he felt about her, he’d have felt that pain for longer than six years.
He couldn’t go through that all over again.
31
Eileen sat at the head table with Archer, Thomas, and Reid. The celebrations were in full swing.
Half the villagers had come to the castle, most of them spilling out of the Great Hall and into other rooms and the courtyard. Some had stayed behind in the villages, where there were smaller celebrations.
There was no official reason for the celebration, but no one cared. Archer had expressed how he didn’t feel it was right to celebrate their success in getting rid of the traitors within the castle, especially when so many had lost their lives because of it.
“This is a wonderful feast,” Eileen said from beside him. “I’m so happy that me braithers got to be here for this.”
“Aye, me too,” Archer said. “And might I say how beautiful ye look?”
Eileen didn’t have any formal wear, but she’d had some help from Ivy, who’d lent her a dress for the evening.
“Aye, thank ye, Archer,” she replied. “Ye look mighty fine, too.”
It didn’t help that he looked very fine in his tight brown trousers, cream shirt, and green tartan sash that brought out the green in his eyes. She tried not to look at him.
It had been decided that she was to return in the morning with her brothers, and the more she looked at him, the more her desire flared in her gut—and other places.
It was the way his shirt hugged his chest—the chest she liked to rest her head on. And the way his eyes sparkled in the candlelight—eyes she could not look away from when he was making love to her. And the way his plump lips curved as he sipped from his tankard—the lips she wanted on her body. She could think of two dozen things she would miss, but there was nothing to be gained from dwelling on them any longer.
It was not that her brother had come to take her home, but that Archer had been all right with it. Now, they were supposed to be celebrating, but she felt like doing anything but. She snatched her wine glass and took a small sip, just to taste it.
“Do ye want more boar?” Archer asked.
“Nay,” she replied. “Thank ye.”
“How about partridge? There’s plenty more.”
“Nay, that’s fine.”
“Whatever ye want, just let me ken,” Archer told her.
Aye? Do I? I want ye, Archer, but ye’ve made it clear that I cannae have ye, so what’s the point?
It was the last time anyone would see her as the lady of the castle. After she slipped away in the morning, Archer would inform his people that he was no longer betrothed. Maybe he would give them a reason, but he didn’t need to.
Eileen looked around the Great Hall and felt no comfort in everyone having such a good time. She’d avoided looking at Archer’s mother, who sat beside Thomas. Poor Lyla didn’t know she was about to lose a daughter-in-law. She simply looked content.
Eileen’s eyes then fell on Ivy, and she felt some solace amid the misery of the evening. Calum was talking with her. The normally assured man looked a little lost, and his gruff exterior didn’t look so gruff anymore.
“Do ye see them?” she asked, gesturing toward the couple.
“Aye, I do,” Archer said with a small smile.
He took her hand. It was both the most wonderful thing in the world and the most painful. All he had to do was ask her to stay, and she would agree in a heartbeat.
“They’ll make a fine couple, and there’s nay one I trust more in the world than Calum,” Archer said.
“I remember how drunk he was when we first met,” Eileen murmured. “He threw his arm around me and told me to cheer up, and I’d never been more scared in me life. I thought I was goin’ to be found out right there and then.”
