Page 93 of Laird of Wrath

Then again, she rarely left her room if she didn’t have a task to complete. She only went out to check in on the injured and their families, to ensure that they lacked nothing, and to have breakfast and dinner with the clansmen who expected herpresence at the table. Her presence, but not Callum’s. No one expected him to be there, and everyone thought he had more important things to do.

Everyone but her.

She knew the real reason behind his absence, and though she had told no one about it, the knowledge weighed heavily on her shoulders.

Shewas the reason. She was the one Callum had been avoiding, and no matter how much anyone tried to deny it, she knew it to be the truth.

Only now, he was standing before her like a madman, staring at her with wild eyes as he gulped in the air.

She didn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say to him, though her heart was beating fast in her chest, threatening to burst from her ribs.

There had been no alarm, no reason for her to think that something terrible had happened or that Callum had come there to warn her about something. And yet by the looks of him, she could only guess that something was terribly wrong.

When he finally caught his breath, Callum gently closed the door behind him and took a few steps into the room, but stopped far before he could reach her.

They stared at each other across the room in silence, Rhea’s heartbeat climbing to her throat. From the looks of it, he was miserable—his shoulders slumped, his expression pained, a grimace twisting his features.

Rhea didn’t know what to make of it. But she had come to know that it was better to let him speak on his own. He didn’t speak often, but when he did, he revealed more of himself than she could ever drag out of him.

“It has come to me attention,” he began, his voice low and careful, “that I may have been a fool.”

Rhea frowned, her brows knitting together. “What am I to do with this information?”

“What I mean is…” Callum trailed off.

He seemed to be tortured by his own words, his own thoughts, the mere prospect of speaking to her. It took him a long time to speak again, and she watched him, patiently waiting for whatever he was trying to say to her.

“I ken that I have hurt ye, Rhea. I ken that I have hurt ye very much and all. I can do for it is apologize. I… I’ve truly been a fool.”

A bitter laugh escaped Rhea’s lips before she could stop it. “I daenae ken what this is, Callum… but I do ken it isnae an apology.”

Callum froze, and for a moment, she thought that he would turn around and march right out of her room, never to speak to her again. That was how angry he looked, though she didn’t think her words warranted this kind of reaction.

But then his features softened again, warmth returning to his eyes. “Ye’re right,” he relented. “This isnae an apology at all.”

Rhea swallowed thickly as he approached her. He stood right before her and reached for her hands, taking them in his own and holding them lightly. His gray eyes were fixed on her, and just looking into them made her want to forgive everything he had done right then and there.

But she would not allow herself to be so weak.

“Forgive me, Rhea,” he said, and he sounded so genuine, so earnest that she almost caved in immediately. “Please, forgive me. I ken that I have pushed ye away time and again. I ken that I’ve avoided ye, hurt ye, and done everythin’ in me power to make ye hate me. But please… please, if ye still have any love for me in yer heart, ye would make me the happiest man in the world if ye gave me another chance.”

Rhea had half a mind to accept his apology, but no more than that. He had hurt her, that was true. He had hurt her more than she thought a man could, and she didn’t want to fall into another trap, to trust him only to have her heart broken again.

But this wasn’t the same Callum who had avoided her for so long, who had grunted in response to anything she said, who haddismissed her time and again. She could see it in him. She could see the change, and she knew that he was telling the truth.

“I love ye,” he rasped, bringing her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “I love ye, Rhea, and I promise ye, I willnae be a fool anymore.”

Tears stung Rhea’s eyes as she looked at him. She nodded a few times, a sob tearing from her throat, before she flung herself into his arms and kissed him.

It was a gentle, careless kiss. Their mouths collided at first and then softened, their lips moving against each other gently, with all the love they held and had not yet allowed themselves to share. Callum’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her flush against him, and for the first time in her life, she felt whole.

“I love ye, Callum,” she whispered against his lips, feeling him smile.

When they broke apart, she returned his smile, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

“It’s been over a month,” she said.

Callum let out a low chuckle. “Indeed, it has. What shall we do about that?”