Page 43 of Captured by a Laird
Wedderburn leaned forward and spoke in a low, dangerous voice. “Has one of them done something?”
She shook her head.
“Understand me, lass,” he said, his eyes sparking green fire. “I’ll not let anyone mistreat ye, no matter who they are.”
“My brothers said much the same,” she said. “Their noble intentions meant naught when they became inconvenient.”
Wedderburn grabbed her by the shoulders, and his fierce expression made her swallow.
“I am not like your brothers or Blackadder,” he said. “I am a Hume, and I protect my family.”
Alison should have felt terrified with Wedderburn holding her in an iron grip and speaking with such ferocity just inches from her face. Instead, she found the notion of his employing all that brawny muscle to protect her rather gratifying.
She did, however, feel a bit breathless locked in his intense gaze. He had the greenest eyes she had ever seen.
Frowning, he looked down to where his thumbs were digging into her shoulders and abruptly released her.
“I didn’t mean to hurt ye,” he said, and moved back to the window.
“Ye didn’t,” she said, though he had a little.
“Or to frighten ye.”
He was looking out into the stormy night with his arm propped against the wall, which gave her the opportunity to examine his strong profile and tall, powerful frame.
“Ye didn’t frighten me either,” she said.
“Hmmph,” he grunted, and cast her a sidelong glance.
“Don’t worry,” she said, venturing a smile. “I’m sure ye can still scare any misbehaving servants witless.”
This time her attempt at humor failed utterly.
“The Blackadders are poisonous,” he said, clenching his hand against the wall into a fist. “I don’t like having any of them in the castle. I won’t toss them out in a storm, but their days here are numbered.”
“What of my daughters?” Alison could not help asking. “Are they not Blackadders?”
“Ach, those wee lasses are sweet creatures,” he said, his expression softening. “There’s none ofhimin them.”
“None at all,” she agreed. Blackadder had ignored their daughters, for the most part. She thanked God she had borne only girls, for Blackadder would have tried to mold a boy to be like him.
Wedderburn stared out the window again for a long while, and she wondered what he was thinking.
“Did ye care for him once?” he asked.
She sensed the question was important to him and hesitated, uncertain how best to answer. No matter how low his opinion was of her previous husband, David Hume placed a great value on loyalty.I protect my family.He would surely disapprove if she told him that she loathed the man who was the father of her children and her husband for ten interminable years. In truth, she had not realized the depth of her animosity toward Blackadder until she was free of his constant presence shadowing her days like a black thundercloud.
Wedderburn returned to stand in front of her, increasing her unease. Finally, she settled on an honest, but incomplete answer.
“I disliked how Blackadder made me feel.”
He ran his finger along the edge of the neckline of her night shift from her shoulder to the valley between her breasts shift, sending little shivers of pleasure along her skin. “How do I make ye feel?”
Distracted by his touch, she blurted out the truth. “Confused.”
“I confess I was hoping for better than confused,” he said with a soft laugh. Then he leaned forward and blew in her ear, sending another thrill of awareness through her. “I see I shall have to work harder.”
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