Page 27 of Laird of Wrath

“Is it so difficult for ye to accept that I’m worried for ye?” she asked, her patience thinning. “Is it so difficult for ye to believe that… I daenae ken, I simply daenae want ye to die?”

Silence fell over them both.

Rhea only just realized she was panting, as if she had been running for her life. Callum looked at her then, but she couldn’t bear to face him. So she turned her gaze to the fire, watching the flames dance in the grate instead.

Footsteps echoed in the room as he approached her. He cupped her cheek in a gentle hand and turned her face toward him. She allowed it, her eyes finding the stormy gray in his. Her lips parted around a sharp breath, his sudden proximity muddling her thoughts.

“Daenae fash,” he murmured, though that hardly helped calm her. “I’m nae so easy to kill.”

She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him that he may not be easy to kill, but he was certainly easy to maim, when he leaned in and claimed her lips in a heated kiss that left her breathless and reeling.

His lips were like flames against hers, igniting a spark of passion inside her. The hand that was holding her face turned gentler, his fingers losing some of their rigidity, but his other hand found her waist and gripped it tightly, pulling her flush against him.

She was suddenly alight with need, her hands coming to rest on his broad, muscular shoulders, her sensitive skin roughened by his beard, her heart thundering like a drum.

It was the first time he had kissed her. It was the first time anyone had kissed her, and she felt as if the entire room was spinning around her, the world coming into sharp focus. She was aware of every touch, of every slide of his lips over hers, of the heated swipe of his tongue over the seam of her lips right before he pulled back from her.

Their eyes met once more, and what she saw in them was neither passion nor tenderness, nor anything she had expected to see after a kiss like that. All she saw was a stone wall, as cold as the ones in the underbelly of the castle, where the light never reached.

“I willnae leave,” he announced. Rhea was about to speak again, but he shook his head, interrupting her. “We have three more weeks to get to ken each other, after all.”

All that passion, all that warmth seemed to have vanished in an instant, and if Rhea had been reeling before, now she was drifting unmoored, not knowing where to anchor herself.

How did he change his mind so suddenly? How could he be sharp in one breath and gentle in the next? Which one was the real him?

Rhea struggled to find her words. And in the time it took her to put her thoughts in order, Callum had crossed the room and left her there alone, the door swinging shut behind him.

9

“We must prepare the feast for Callum’s return before we can even think about plannin’ for theLughnasadh,” Rhea said as she, Sienna, and Lara walked around the Great Hall, trying to plan everything for the feast—from the table arrangements to the decorations, everything that they would need and that would surely be judged by their guests.

The thought of the feast left a bitter taste in her mouth. Everything that had to do with Callum did now, ever since he had started to act so coldly toward her the previous day, seemingly for no reason at all.

She couldn’t understand it. She had been replaying the previous day in her mind again and again, trying to find some reason, some fault in what she had said and done, but she could find none. They had argued, that much was true, but then he had kissed her.

Why would he kiss her if he was so angry with her?

He is so frustrating!

Nothing about this made any sense to her, and she was quite certain that she wouldn’t be getting any answers any time soon.

“What will we need for the feast?” Lara asked. “I could send some servants to purchase everythin’ we need.”

“We will need many things,” Sienna said. “But we must consider how much of it we can afford.”

“I shall go to the market meself,” Rhea declared. She had no other choice. If the people saw their Lady among them, they would be more likely to give her a good price. “And then we shall make a list and send off the servants to purchase everythin’.”

“On yer own, me Lady?” Lara asked, concern evident in her voice. “Do ye truly think that is a good idea?”

“Why would it nae be a good idea?” Rhea countered. “It wouldnae be the first time.”

“Ye shouldnae go out alone,” Lara cautioned. “I have a bad feelin’ about this, me Lady. I feel like… I feel like somethin’ will happen.”

“Lara, ye always think somethin’ will happen,” Sienna pointed out, much to Rhea’s amusement and Lara’s chagrin. “There is nay convincin’ ye that everythin’ is fine.”

“Because I can sense it!” Lara exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. “And I daenae wish for anythin’ bad to happen to ye!”

Rhea sighed softly, reaching out to place a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Thank ye, Lara,” she said. “I appreciate it, truly. But daenae fash. I’ll be fine, I promise.”