“As much as I want ye, I cannae. Ye need yer rest. We’ve spoken about a lot of things this night and I want ye to process it all. Daenae let the moment become demolished by somethin’ as trifle as sex. We will have the rest of our lives for such a pleasure.”
Gabriel’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. Elena found herself trying to close the gap between them, but with every inch she took, Gabriel stole away two.
“Is there somethin’ wrong wit’ me? Is that why ye daenae want to?”
“God, nay,” Gabriel said, eyes wide from shock. “Ye have nay idea how badly I want ye right now. But I cannae, for my own moral consciousness.”
Elena leaned against the bed frame and dropped her head. She pried open her hand revealing the pendant digging into her palm.
“I’ll send Emily up wit’ food for ye, if ye’d like to eat in here,” he said, moving around the foot of the bed. “And more wood for the fire.”
“Must ye go? Will ye nae just stay here and be wit’ me?”
“I do have work I have to do,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“And what of breakfast? Will I see ye then?”
Gabriel paused at the doorway with his hand on the knob. The stress in his back eased as he nodded. “If that is what ye wish, I will see ye then.”
“It is,” Elena said, stealing one last glimpse of Gabriel before he slipped through the door and disappeared.
Frustrated, Elena jumped out of bed. Her body was burning as Gabriel’s fingertips lingered on her skin. She moved to the window and threw open the shutters. Cool air swirled around her quelling the flames of her desires. Closing her eyes to enjoy the breeze, she found herself staring into Gabriel’s face as if he were there hiding behind her eyelids.
She clung to his vision until the air caused her to shiver from the cold. Popping her eyes open, she started to close the window and noticed the etching in the windowpane. The wood was worn down from the years of a blade cutting into the grain of the window.
Running her fingers over the marking she made out two letters, E and G. A smile played on her lips as her heart jumped to her throat.
If he hid my pendant in the false drawer of the desk, I wonder what other secrets he has hidden.It was as if a brilliant light flipped on before her. She spun around the room as little bits of her past began flashing before her eyes.
Elena moved to the fireplace. The carved stone had always been pretty to her, and now she understood why. The swirls and patterns of the stone were birds, horn lark, in fact. Tracing the carved image Elena’s mind opened as new memories flooded her.
“Look,” Gabriel said as they crawled through the tall grass of the glen. “Do ye see them?”
Under the shrub, Elena spotted the nest with three small eggs nestled within the woven mold. She smiled as her hand reached out to pluck an egg from the nest. Immediately, she regretted trying to touch it. Gabriel slapped her hand away and shook his head.
“Unless ye want that egg for a meal, I suggest ye nae touch it.”
“Ow,” Elena mumbled, rubbing the pain from her hand. “Why did ye do that for?”
“My faither says ye cannae touch them. If ye do, the maither will reject the egg.”
Elena blinked and the memory faded from her mind. She gasped and stepped back looking at the fireplace as a whole. The whole thing reminded her of that nest they had found all those years ago. Her mouth fell open as she admired the detailed work.
“I cannae believe he did this,” she said to the empty room.
The rap on the door startled her. Whipping her head around, she cleared her throat. “Come in.”
The door eased open and Emily stepped into the room with a tray of food and a bottle of brown liquid.
“The Laird said ye may nae be feelin’ well and I should tend to ye tonight.”
“I’m feelin’ fine,” Elena said as she turned to look back at the fireplace. “Tell me, Emily, what do ye see when ye look at the fireplace?”
“Daenae ken what ye mean,” Emily said as she took the bottle and poured out the liquid into the small cup next to the plate of food.
“Does it nae look like a nest to ye?”
Emily glanced up and smiled. “So it does. Ye ken, the Laird had that specially made for this room. Took the carver nearly a whole year to complete. But, that’s the Laird. When he wants somethin’ he’ll nae stop till he gets it.”