Chapter 9
9
T homas sat behind his desk, glaring at the letter Laird Chalium had sent. He didn’t like the threat behind the words. Nor did he care for what he had to do now.
He ran his fingers through his hair with an odd sense of accomplishment. At least now Astrid and Melody would be safe.
“Laird McFair, I have a bone to pick wit’ ye!” Astrid shouted as she burst through the door to his study.
Thomas leaned back and watched with amusement her display of ire and irritation.
“Please, come in,” he drawled. “’Tis nae as if I was doin’ anything important.”
“Explain to me why the castle now thinks we are to be married?” Astrid demanded as she stopped before his desk and folded her arms over her chest.
The fact that she had the nerve to storm into his study with her attitude only made Thomas admire her even more. It was clear that she didn’t care one bit that he was the Laird, nor did she mind that he had every authority over her. Yet, there she was, like a tomcat fighting for scraps of food.
Amusement flickered in his eyes as he leaned forward. He couldn’t hide the smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Is that nae what we just agreed to?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. “Or do ye suffer from short-term memory loss? In which case, I’d have to ask how ye managed to get to me castle if ye didnae ken ye were comin’ here to begin wit’.”
“I dinnae suffer from memory loss,” she hissed.
She furrowed her brow as she put her hands on her hips. She was a vision that stirred his desire all the more. It was clear as day to Thomas why Laird Chalium wanted her. Who wouldn’t? She was brave and kind. Sharp as a tack and just as gentle.
There was so much to the woman who stood before him that Thomas felt compelled to do whatever it took to keep her at his side.
“Then how are ye unaware that I just proposed to ye?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“Ye call that a proposal?” Astrid gasped, her eyes widening with shock.
It was clear from her expression and her wild gesticulations that his proposal was lacking.
“I asked the question, ye nodded yer head. It seemed very clear to me what I was doin’. I cannae help what ye see,” Thomas said, his smirk widening.
The way her nose crinkled with anger only made him want to needle her more.
“That wasnae a proposal,” she scoffed.
“Aye, but it was. In fact, I’m drawin’ up the contract now so we can get it done and over wit’. I do, after all, have other things to tend to—besides yer issues.”
“This is nay time for jestin’,” Astrid hissed, completely flustered by the turn of events.
Rising to his feet, Thomas rounded his desk and closed the gap between them. Each step was deliberate and measured. He exuded confidence that he could see intimidated her just a bit.
Her breath hitched as he approached her. The way she responded to him only thrilled him. The air between them was charged, as if thunder would shoot right through the thatched roof and crash between them.
“This isnae a joke,” Thomas explained, his voice low and sultry. “Laird Chalium wants ye.”
The very mention of his name made her quake with fear.
“Aye, and ye’re sayin’ ye dinnae?” she asked.
The challenge in her voice excited him. It was as if her spirit was taunting him to do something, anything, to quench the unspoken yearnings of the flesh.
“That is neither here nor there,” he whispered, ensuring that his hot breath tickled her neck. “But if ye dinnae believe me, read the letter for yerself. It was hand delivered.”
“Ye’re sayin’ that Laird Chalium is here?”
Thomas watched her pupils dilate with fear. She was a feisty one, that much was certain, but watching her switch from hunter to prey was interesting.
“Nay,” he answered. “Just a messenger. But here, see what Chalium has to say.”
He dangled the letter before her as if it were some precious prize. She rose on her tiptoes to take it from him and quickly rushed to the fireplace to read it.
Moving back to his desk, Thomas leaned against it, his focus solely on Astrid as her eyes flew over the parchment.
“Astrid.” Her name rolled off his lips. “The best way for me to protect ye and Melody is to wed ye.”
Her head shook back and forth as her shock shifted and morphed into hesitation. For a moment she stared at him, her mouth agape.
“I… I cannae… marry,” she stammered, her voice barely over a whisper, as Thomas watched the letter drift to the floor.
“And why nae?” he asked as he leaned down to pick it up. “Is there something wrong wit’ ye?”
“Of course nae,” she answered. Her voice was firm, but there was a hint of uncertainty that caught his attention.
“Then what is it?” he pressed as his eyes locked onto her. “Ye ken very well that this would appease both sides. Laird Chalium willnae be able to go after ye or Melody, wit’ me by yer side. And as for ye?—”
“Ye want nothing more than to use me, do ye nae?” she asked.
“Use ye? Nay. This arrangement is beneficial for both of us. And for Melody. I doubt ye’ll get a better offer anywhere else,” he said. “Chalium will come for ye. The only question to ask is whether the gates of McFair Castle will open willingly for him or whether they’ll serve as a barrier he’ll never pass.”
“Ye’re that confident that ye can stop him?” Astrid asked.
“Ye have to understand, that letter was nothing more than a threat. Chalium doesnae take kindly to bein’ denied what he believes is rightfully his. And from his point of view, ye belong to him.”
“But I dinnae,” she huffed. “I belong to nay man, least of all him.”
“That may be true,” Thomas said as he moved toward her. He wrapped a loose strand around his finger and rubbed it. How soft it was. “But that willnae stop him from attackin’ the castle under the pretense that I’ve kidnapped ye and the child.”
“And if we have the law on our side,” Astrid interjected as if she had finally understood the plan, “then he willnae be able to touch me or Melody.”
“That is the goal,” Thomas agreed. “So, what say ye? Will ye be me wife?”
His heart pounded in his chest. Although what he was proposing was logical and reasonable, he still had doubts. He didn’t know how to be a husband. He knew how to be a leader and warrior—those things came naturally to him. With years of training under his belt, he could take on any foe and win. But marriage? Even that was a battlefield he wasn’t certain he wanted to brave.
Yet, there was no other option.
“Why would ye do this?” Astrid asked in a defeated tone. “Why marry me? Ye dinnae even ken me.”
“I gave ye me word that I’d protect ye,” Thomas replied earnestly as he felt a pull drawing him closer to her.
Maybe it was the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Or perhaps it was how sad she looked and he knew deep down that he could fix the problem.
“And what if I refuse to marry ye?”
Thomas’s shoulders slumped. Why did she have to be so stubborn about all this? It was a matter of convenience and nothing more. So why then was the need to have her festering deep within him? Was it his lustful nature that convinced him to speak such words?
“Then ye leave me nay other choice but to walk wit’ ye through the danger that Laird Chalium poses,” he answered, his voice dropping to a whisper, raw with emotion. “For I willnae abandon ye in yer time of need. If ye dinnae want me, I can understand that. But for the sake of Melody, do I repulse ye that much?”
Astrid hesitated for a second as the weight of his words lingered between them. He could no longer see the fear in her eyes. In its stead, he saw the hint of resolution.
“Ye may think ye can bend me to yer will, but I’m nae so easily swayed. The letter could have been forged,” she said.
Thomas let the loose strand of her hair slip through his fingers. Slowly, his eyes shifted from the globes straining against the bodice of her dress to her eyes.
“Ye’re stallin’. I could bring in here several witnesses to confirm that a messenger delivered this letter. Would ye rather hear what they have to say about the matter?”
“Nay,” Astrid said, shifting from foot to foot.
Thomas knew it wasn’t the news she had wanted to hear. It wasn’t something he thought he’d be facing either. Yet, as they stood in his study, the path was becoming clearer with every passing moment.
“That willnae be necessary,” she said. “But ye must ken that I have nay intentions of lettin’ ye have yer way wit’ me. I’ll nae lie wit’ ye or give the heir ye want.”
“Willnae or cannae?” Thomas asked.
“Does it matter?”
“Aye, it does,” he answered inching ever closer until he could feel the heat radiating from her body caressing him like a blanket..
He heard her breath hitch. He had no doubt that he had an effect on her. What that was, he was willing to bet that it was something she wasn’t ready to acknowledge yet.
“But we made an agreement.”
“The agreement was for me to tend to yer faither, nae marry ye.”
“So it would seem I’m changin’ the terms of our agreement. The new arrangement will benefit nae only ye but also me. Ye’ll be safe. Melody will be safe. As far as me council, they’ll be pleased wit’ an heir. It’s a win-win solution, nay matter which way ye look at it.”
“And ye think this is fair? Just? Is that it? Ye think ye can trap me in marriage?”
“Trap?” he mused as he leaned closer to her. He watched as her eyes fluttered shut the moment his hot breath caressed her bare neck. “Methinks ye’re the one tryin’ to entrap me.”
“Of course, ye’d turn it around,” Astrid huffed as she opened her eyes. Her gaze was piercing, and it sent a rush through him.
“I offer ye a way out.”
“Ye cannae just change the rules because it suits ye,” she argued, despite the lack of conviction in her voice.
“And yet here we are,” Thomas said, fighting back the smirk playing at the corner of his lips. His presence shrouded her like a warm blanket. “So, tell me, what is it that ye really want? Safety for ye? Or perhaps for the lass? Maybe ye’d rather have the freedom to walk away from all of this, despite the ruin that would befall ye or her, aye?”
His ears perked up as she blew air through her lips. The smirk playing on his lips widened as he lowered his face to hers. Her pupils dilated. The tension smoldered like melted steel in a blacksmith’s crucible.
Astrid struggled with the weight of his words. The truth hung like a noose around her neck. Her eyes flickered with a mix of fear and resolve that only stoked his desire.
Something stirred within him as he pulled in a deep breath. Astrid’s earthy scent swirled around him and filled his head with fog. She was intoxicating, so much so that it took all he had not to pin her to the desk, pull her skirts up, and have his way with her.
In a moment of reckless abandon, Thomas slid his hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her to him. Her lips were sweeter than wine, and she filled him with a longing he had never known existed. The feelings she evoked were unexpected yet welcome. It was as if her lips were the keys to opening him up to a world he had never seen before.
As he dominated and savored her mouth, the yearning to have her intensified. But he needed air. She had managed to take all that he had, and yet he found himself eager to give her more.
Pulling back, he studied her expression. She blinked at him, her cheeks flushed a lovely pink, and it only made him want her more.
“That’ll be the only time ye ever get to touch me like that,” she said, her voice firm.
Yet, Thomas couldn’t help but hear the doubt in her words ring like the bells of a chapel.
He arched an eyebrow as mischief flickered in his eyes. “We’ll see about that. But ye still havenae said whether ye’ll marry me or nae. Ye ken as well as I do that it’s yer best option.”
“Fine,” she relented. “I’ll marry ye.”
“Then I’ll get started on the arrangements. I hope ye dinnae mind having a short engagement? If all goes according to plan, we’ll be married by tomorrow evening.”