Page 65 of The Laird who Craved her

Their eyes met, and the room suddenly felt very small.

Claire searched his face, desperately hoping to find the man who had held her only hours before. Instead, she found a man whose jaw was tight and whose green eyes looked exhausted.

"What is it?" Claire asked quietly.

Molly crossed the room without answering immediately, placing the gowns carefully atop the travel trunk and smoothing the folds longer than necessary. Her fingers trembled almost imperceptibly.

"Yer cousins' guards are here," Molly said, her voice completely subdued.

Claire stared, the words making absolutely no sense to her waking mind.

"They have arrived?" Claire whispered.

"Aye." Molly nodded once.

"So soon?" Claire gasped.

The question barely escaped her lips before the devastating understanding crashed into her. She looked straight at Finn, her pulse stumbling painfully.

He is sending me away.

Already.

The warmth of the dream dissolved completely, leaving only the cold morning pressing in from every corner of the chamber.

"Molly," Claire said, keeping her gaze locked on the doorway.

"Aye, mistress," the maid looked at her immediately.

"Would ye give us the room?" Claire asked softly.

For a heartbeat, Molly hesitated. Her eyes moved to Finn, and something very close to reproach flickered there before softening into deep pity.

"Aye, mistress," Molly agreed, dipping her head. "If ye need me, I will be just outside."

The door closed softly behind her, allowing a heavy silence to settle over the chamber.

Neither of them moved for a long moment.

Claire climbed slowly from the bed, her bare feet touching the icy flagstones, though the cold hardly registered. She crossed the room until only a few feet separated them.

"I cannae leave now," Claire pleaded, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Claire," Finn started, his tone rough.

"Nay." Claire shook her head before he could continue. "Nae after last night. Nae after ye looked at me the way ye did. Nae after ye made me believe something had changed."

Finn lowered his eyes for a brief moment before lifting them to hers again, the sorrow in them unmistakable.

"It has," Finn murmured, his voice cracking slightly.

"Then why are ye sending me away?" Claire demanded gently.

He did not answer. The silence hurt more than any cruel words could have. Claire stepped closer until she could see the faint shadow of exhaustion beneath his eyes.

"I woke remembering ye," Claire confessed, a sad smile touching her lips before fading. "I could still feel yer hands. I touched me lips because I could still remember yer kiss. I truly thought I would wake to hope."

Something in Finn's rigid expression faltered, and his broad shoulders sank almost imperceptibly.