Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Fergus sat in his study, waiting for Aiden to come and give his daily report. The desk he sat behind was grand, mahogany, belonging to his father. He swept his hands across it, wondering how many reports his father had gotten here, how many nights he’d spent sitting in this chair.
Fergus should be thinking about what Aiden might say, thinking of the clan.
But he could not go five minutes without thinking of Jeane, of the kiss they had shared.
He cursed himself for not having his head on his shoulders, feeling up in the clouds every time he thought of her soft curves beneath his hands, the way her lips had opened up for him as he slid his tongue across them.
He shifted in his seat, his manhood stirring to life as he pictured Jeane’s doe-brown eyes, looking up at him with so much want in them that it made him crazy.
He wanted more. Wanted to taste her again, delve deeper into her mouth, let his hands trail all over that soft body of hers. He wanted her in his bed, bare and writhing beneath him, wanted to see if that flush of hers went down to her navel.
He did not know what was wrong with him. He had never wanted a woman like this, not even before when he had had a betrothed.
He had not had a true relationship in years, not since the accident that left him scarred and weary. There had been women, yes, women attracted to his power, but the way they’d looked at him like he was a monster…
But Jeane—she had not looked at him like he was a monster at all. Most women found him unpleasant, even intimidating, and that was as much his size as his scars.
But Jeane touched him as if he were something precious, and he wanted to keep that feeling locked away in his heart forever. She had wanted him too.
He knew it. Could feel it in the way she looked at him, the way her fingers had clutched at his tunic as he kissed her.
A sharp knock at the door broke Fergus out of his fantasies. He groaned softly.
“Come in.”
Aiden walked into the room, instantly heading over to the chair across from Fergus. He had a serious look on his face which always meant trouble from the carefree Aiden.
“What’s the bad news?”
“Nae bad,” Aiden said quickly. “Just… interestin’.”
“Out with it, Aiden,” Fergus said with an edge of warning in his voice.
“The man who attacked ye… Laird Barclay sent him. He wants to take yer lands.”
“Barclay?” Fergus wracked his brain but could not seem to come up with a face to go with the name. “The man had mentioned Leary.”
Aiden looked startled. “Aye? I suppose Barclay was always loyal to Leary, but it’s been years…”
“Aye,” Fergus said, cutting him off. “We’ll wait to hear more before we attack.”
“Me Laird, I think ye should let me do the investigation.”
Fergus looked at him, surprised. “Aye. Who else would do it?”
Aiden smiled, the motion making him look fifteen years old all over again like when Fergus had first met him.
“Aye,” Aiden said simply. He looked down at his hands and then back up at Fergus. “Have ye seen Lottie today?”
“Nay,” Fergus answered, raising an eyebrow. “Have ye?”
“N-nay,” Aiden stuttered. “I was just wonderin’ if ye had heard from the healer. Liliana.”
Fergus almost asked who the bloody hell Liliana was before he remembered the name he had given.
“Nae yet. I’ve been busy,” Fergus said although he had not been doing anything but daydreaming about the said healer.
“She’s bonny,” Aiden said, and Fergus gave him a hard look, his knuckles turning white as he held on to the arms of the chair.
“Ye keep harpin’ on that, and I will take ye down durin’ our next spar,” Fergus barked.
Aiden chuckled. “Ye ken I only have eyes for one woman.”
Fergus relaxed slightly. He did know that, knew that Aiden had been gone for Lottie since they’d both come of age a few years ago.
“Then keep yer eyes off the healer, bonny or nae.”
“Aye, Me Laird,” Aiden said, but he was still smiling. “I think I will go and see if Lottie has had dinner.”
“Tell her I will come and see her in the morning. And Aiden?”
Aiden turned to look at Fergus.
“Leave no stone unturned. Find the man who attacked me, and find out his ties to Barclay and Leary. We’ll strike when he’s outside the safety of his own castle. I will have his head before the end of the month.”
“Aye,” Aiden answered, nodding curtly, and he left the room.
It was past dinnertime, and Aiden wondered if Jeane had found her way back to the great hall or if she was lost somewhere in the castle. A smile twisted on his lips, feeling unnatural. She had been cute as a little mouse, trailing here and there with no idea where she was going.
Everything she did, every word she said, entranced him. Maybe she was a faerie like he had teased her with all that white-blonde hair and those doe-brown eyes. Not to mention the way she had just appeared when he had needed a healer. When he had needed…
He was not sure what he had needed, but Jeane was it, and Fergus could not deny that to himself. He was not in the business of lying, not to others or himself after all.
He left his study after a couple more moments and headed to the great hall.
He often missed meals—lunch here, dinner there—so it was not unusual for him to show up late. Usually, he had Aileen, his cook, make him something whenever he got around to it. But with Jeane here, he wanted to see her, wanted to dine with her.
Jeane sat in the same place as this morning, her plate empty, leaning back from the table. He loved the way she looked up at him, all big brown eyes and small features. He loved the way she instinctively sat near him. She did want him as badly as he wanted her. He just knew it.
“Liliana,” he murmured, sitting down at the head of the table, “have ye seen me sister yet?”
“Aye. I was plannin’ to give ye me report in the mornin’. Lottie said ye were comin’ to visit her.”
“Give it to me now.”
She blew out a breath, puffing out her cheeks, and Fergus found it adorable.
“She has just taken her first dose of medicine. It’ll take a few days to start workin’, and things might get worse before they get better.”
Fergus frowned. “Aye? What does that mean?”
“It means the medicine takes a while to get into her system. That she might cough more for a few days until she gets the bad out of her lungs.”
“I suppose it cannae be helped.”
“It cannae,” Jeane agreed. “But I swear to ye, I’m doin’ all I can to make her better.”
“I believe that.”
“Do ye?”
“Aye. If I didnae, things wouldnae be so calm between us, little mouse.”
“I daenae know if I’d call it calm,” she drawled, and Fergus fought a smile.
“What would ye call it then, lass?”
“I daenae ken,” she said quietly, looking away from him. “I suppose we daenae have a bad workin’ relationship.”
“Workin’ relationship? We’re betrothed, lass. I’d say we are beyond a workin’ relationship.”
Jeane glared at him, glancing around at the other men at the table. The staff was already clearing up, but Mary brought Fergus a heaping plate. He started to eat in earnest as Jeane picked at her stew.
“Ye arenae eatin’ enough.”
“I am,” Jeane assured him. “My stomach has been a bit off.”
He frowned. “Are ye sick?”
She shook her head. “Nay. Just unused to all this fine food.”
“Doesnae yer father feed ye?”
She gave him a small, bitter smile. “Nae like this.”
Fergus frowned. The more he learned about Bennet Forrest, the more he hated him.
“Well, ye can eat all ye like here, lass.”
“Aye,” she said quietly, looking up at him with those big doe eyes.
Fergus let out a breath. “I’d like to take ye back to yer chambers.”
“Are ye askin’ to walk me there?” Jeane asked, with a teasing lilt to her voice.
Fergus’ eyes widened. Was the lass flirting with him? He had not had a woman look at him without fear in so many years; it was hard to tell.
“Aye,” he said quietly.
“I thought ye didnae ask things like that. Thought ye just took.”
Fergus startled at her words. He supposed it did not look good, his kidnapping her from the woods and forcing her into work, but it had quickly become more than that.
“I daenae take,” he argued. “I… persuade.”
Jeane barked out a laugh. “I suppose ye could put it that way.”
“Ye’ll report to me every day about Lottie’s health,” he said, and Jeane’s eyes seemed to darken as she looked away.
“Aye.” The word was clipped. Was she angry? Why?
“Little mouse.”
She looked up at him. “My name is… Liliana.”
“Liliana,” he said, and the word felt foreign on his tongue. He wanted to get her alone so that he could call her Jeane, could kiss her, could touch her.
Jeane excused herself, standing.
Fergus stood too, but he did not bother excusing himself. It was his castle, after all, and even though Jeane might need a softer touch than what he had been giving her, he could not allow the castle to see him weaken.
They walked through the castle quietly. Fergus did not mind the silence, staring at Jeane’s side profile, the clean line of her nose, her upturned chin.
She was beautiful from every angle, it seemed.
“Why are ye starin’ at me like that? Do I have food on me face?” Jeane asked, and Fergus chuckled low in his throat.
“Nay. I just like lookin’ at ye.”
Jeane flushed. “Ye shouldnae say things ye daenae mean.”
Fergus stopped in his tracks as they approached her chambers, shocked by her words.
“What do ye mean by that? I daenae say things I daenae mean.”
Jeane sighed and turned to face him, her back against her chamber door.
“Ye say all kinds of things ye daenae mean. Like ye want to marry me.”
“I told ye, lass. I say what I mean,” he said in a low voice, taking a step toward her. She looked up at him, unflinching.
“Thank ye for walkin’ me to me chambers.”
“Ye willnae invite me in?”
She flushed. “It isnae proper—”
“Of course, it’s proper. I’m to be yer husband.”
“I wish ye wouldnae say things like that,” she huffed, pushing the door open and walking inside. She did not shut it behind her, though, so Fergus took that as a sign to follow.
He left the door open so that she would not be afraid. He did not want to scare her off. She had already threatened to run away, and he could not bear not having her close.
Not now.
He had never felt this obsessed before, let alone with a woman.
He grabbed her wrist, pulling her flush against his chest. She wriggled as if trying to get away, but he held her fast.
“Look into me eyes, lass.”
She looked away from him, anywhere but into his eyes.
“Ye must always look me in the eye if ye daenae want to be punished.”
Her eyes widened, and she finally looked at him.
“Ye daenae get to touch me however ye want,” she snapped, but there was no real bite to it. She was looking away from him again.
Fergus cupped her jaw with one hand, putting pressure so that her mouth popped open.
“I’m to be yer husband. Ye should get used to me touch, lass.”
His hands swept down her back, hovering over her buttocks, and Jeane’s breath started to come faster. He could practically hear her heart pounding as close as she was.
He leaned down to kiss her, but he was only able to brush his lips across hers before she pulled away.
“I told ye,” she said, her brown eyes flashing. “Ye daenae get to do whatever ye want.”
Fergus could not help but smirk as he looked down at her.
This lass was fiery, and that only made him want her more.