“Nae tonight, Catherine.” Kendrick dragged her hand away. “Ye should cover up and return inside, lest ye catch a chill.”
His voice was empty, but Catherine did not mind. She was used to his coldness, to his mean way of talking to her.
“Why, milaird? Have ye nae missed me?” She tried to unfasten the brooch that held his plaid together.
“Catherine…” Kendrick grizzled in warning, trying to sit up.
He rose suddenly, knocking her off her haunches. “I’m sorry, Catherine.” He reached out to help her. “Ye should return inside the keep and leave me.”
“Tell me, milaird.” She rose from the ground, dusting herself off. “Do ye see me just as a maid, or as a confidant? Perhaps, as a woman that can take the burden off your shoulders?” Kendrick did not grace her with a reply, and she knew why.
Becoming the Lady of Clan MacNeil was her dream, but it was still far out of reach. She was still a simple maid.
“I beg for an answer,” Catherine cried, holding her hands over her face. She would fake an outburst for a drop of sympathy.
“Catherine, yer testing my patience,” Kendrick held her chin up. “What is this about?”
My tricks are working. His face holds concern for me. Just a little more, and he will be unable to deny me.
She stared up at him with a forced frown. “I only hate it when ye worry, milaird.” She held the hand that was on her face. “Yer sadness troubles me so deeply.”
“I appreciate yer concern, Catherine.” He withdrew his hand from her cheek. “But I mean it when I say, I must be alone.”
Catherine knew her Laird well enough—he was easy to read. She would use his desire for solitude against him.
She placed his hand on her waist, gazing lustfully at him. Kendrick, however, did not seem interested. His empty countenance revealed it all. He removed his hand from her waist and turned away from her.
Catherine swallowed down her outrage. She wantedmore. She wanted him to warm her lips with his tongue as he always did. She wanted him to lavish her without holding back.
She embraced him from behind, but he only shrugged her off.
“I have a feast to attend, Catherine,” he said over his shoulder. “And ye have yer duties.”
But Catherine rushed around him. Without warning, she threw her arms around his neck and took his lips in her own... in such a way he wouldnotbe able to resist.
* * *
Sophia felt as though she was in a prison, trying to divert the direction of her thoughts. The evening was nothing like she had imagined it would be. Kendrick had run off from her like she was a ghost, and the company she had found in his wake was almost as torturous.
The potbelly landowner belched.
Why in the dratted Highlands did he have to drink so much?
“My daughter, Beth… aye, she will become Lady of the MacNeil clan!” Gregor announced from where he was staggering atop the feasting table. His voracious daughter, Beth, and the keep’s strongest manservants struggled to bring him down.
“Let us celebrate,” he roared, filling the hall with surprised laughter.
“What should we do with the drunkard?” one of the men tugging at Gregor hissed.
“Should we put him on a horse?”
“Seeing as he cannae hold his ale, he is unfit to ride a horse,” Logan yawned. “Leave him be till the Laird arrives.”
“Too many troubles for one night,” Lorena commented, coiling a strand of hair around her finger.
“Ye must be tired from waiting,” Logan said to Angus. “I must believe he will be here shortly.”
“It is nae a problem,” Angus assured. “Perhaps the feast was too boring for a laird of his esteem, and he thought to be alone for some time.”