Chapter 11
“Have I done something wrong?” Talia asked, dropping her hands to her sides. “Have I displeased ye?”
She couldn’t believe that just a few minutes ago, he had been pressed so tightly against her and kissing her with such passion. Her lips tingled again, and her hand rose to touch them.
Had he really kissed her?
And had she… enjoyed it?
Memories of his hands in her hair, on her body, touching her in places that made liquid heat pool in her core, flooded her mind, unbidden.
Devils!
How could he have kissed her when he was responsible for finding her a husband?
She looked at him again, but he was still looking away from her, his hands fisted at his sides.
“Me Laird—”
“Leave,” he grunted.
“Pardon me?”
“I said, leave now,” he said. “Return to yer chambers at once.”
He turned back to her, eyes cold as he regarded her, and she wondered where the man who had teased her just moments ago had disappeared to.
“I daenae understand,” she spluttered. “Why are ye so angry? Have I done something wrong?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, his expression growing even colder.
“Why is it so hard for ye to do what ye’re told?” he growled.
“I obey only when the commands make sense,” she answered, furrowing her brow.
She didn’t know why, but her heart clenched at the coldness with which he was treating her. It was not as though she expected or wanted him to declare his undying love for her, but surely he shouldn’t be so hard on her after… that.
“Me commands daenae have to make sense to ye,” he spat. “I am yer Laird, and I am responsible for ye, so ye must do as I say.”
“Why are ye being like this?” she asked, unable to keep the grief from her voice. “I thought…” She swallowed. “I had thought ye had changed because—”
“Ye assumed wrong,” he interrupted. “I havenae forgotten me place, and I implore ye to do the same. This lapse in judgment shouldnae delude ye into thinkin’ that our roles have somewhat changed. Now, leave so I may resume me work.”
Talia gasped, tears filling his eyes at his indifference. Her anger flared at being punished for a mistake she hadn’t made. He was the one who had a lapse in judgment, not her. Yes, she should have pushed him away, but…
It still did not mean she had to suffer for what he had done. It was too great an injustice, and she wouldn’t stand for it.
“Ye cannae order me to leave like a child,” she hissed. “We have to talk about—”
“I have nothing to talk with ye about, Talia,” he growled. “Leave now.”
“But—”
He made an exasperated sound and lunged towards her so quickly that she stumbled backwards. His hands reached out to steady her, but he stopped short of touching her, balling his fists.
“Why do ye insist on being so stubborn, Talia?” he forced out, as if the words pained him. “I’m tryin’ to save us both the embarrassment, so leave, or I will.”
Talia looked up at him and noticed the struggle in his eyes, but she did not want to leave. Did not want to run away from whatever this was. Not when he was the confusing one. He was adamant about finding her a husband, and when she found someone she liked, he got angry and left.
She was still lost in the haze of their kiss and the confusion about how a simple request for a workroom could have turned into the heated conversation they had.
That heat had now simmered into an unpleasant warmth that made her feel ashamed, but she wanted clarification.
“I am nae being stubborn. I just want a clarification,” she answered. “I believe it is me right to understand—”
“What more do ye want to understand, Talia?” he interrupted with a huff. “There are mistakes that cannae be explained. Yer childish desire for clarification shows that ye have yet to—”
“‘Tis me right to make sense of what has happened between us. Try as ye might to forget, but I am nae so inclined to do the same, nae when—”
He let out an angry growl and stormed out of the study, slamming the door shut with a force that rattled her.
Angry tears fell from her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around her middle in a bid to soothe herself.
The confusing cad didn’t deserve her tears or the ache she felt in her heart every time he called their kiss a mistake. Shame made her tears flow more freely at the fact that she had enjoyed the kiss.
Devils.
She should never have come to his study. Should never have been alone with him, not when everything he did made her interest in him grow.
Her tears flowed freely down her cheeks but she didn’t stop them, allowing herself the privacy to grieve before returning to her chambers, where Amber or her maid would no doubt be waiting for her.
“Devils!” Darragh cursed, stepping into his chambers. “Shite!”
He slammed the door shut with more force than he had intended, and the sound rattled through him, but it wasn’t enough to rid him of the guilt he felt at having misbehaved earlier.
He hadn’t meant to kiss Talia, even if he had wanted to from the moment he had first seen her, but he had believed common sense would keep him from making such a mistake.
When he had seen Hayden put his hand on hers and the broad smile on her face, he had been filled with an unreasonable rage at her and himself.
At her because she had never once smiled at him so brightly, and at himself for letting it happen.
And while he had asked his mother to watch her, he had been haunted by even darker thoughts of what would happen if she agreed to marry Hayden.
The fact that the man would do more than hold her hand had nearly sent him into a fit of rage, but he had quelled it.
If she hadn’t come into his study, he would never have looked at her lips longer than he should have, and he wouldn’t have teased her the way he had, and he wouldn’t have been brought to the edge of a maddening need to taste the flush on her creamy skin.
What had she even come to ask him for? A room for her to practice in?
Why had the sight of her so unruffled pushed him to want to tease her so?
Devils!
His blood sang with heat and lust, his cock straining against his breeches with the need for release.
It had been so long since he had been with a woman, and with just one taste of Talia’s lips, desire like nothing he had ever felt had him wanting to stroke himself for release.
He couldn’t bring himself to disrespect her by fisting his straining cock to the image of him buried in her warm sheath.
He wouldn’t allow himself to think of her in that manner, not when he had been tasked with finding her a husband whose right was to experience such desire with her.
He rushed out of his chambers, into the hall, out of the castle, and down towards the loch, which would be as cold as death in the night. But he didn’t care. The heat in his blood was driving him insane, and only the frigid waters would shock sense back into him.
The wind by the loch grew violent, as though warning him against the idea, but he was determined. He quickly divested himself of his clothes and jumped in before he could change his mind.
“God above!” he yelled as he surfaced from the icy depths.
The water was colder than he had imagined, and his muscles protested such brutal treatment by sending pangs of pain through his body.
The pain turned from blindingly sharp to a dangerous numbness that warned against a prolonged stay in the water, but he stayed a bit longer.
He didn’t trust his body just yet to release him from his punishment. Just the memory of the moans she had made as he kissed her had his cock stiffening again.
He hadn’t expected her to be responsive or passionate, and he certainly hadn’t expected it to be so difficult for him to end the kiss, but the more he tasted her lips, the more he wanted to explore, to savor the sweetness of her mouth.
She was better than any dream he had ever had, and now that he had failed to rein in his emotions, he doubted he could be around her without making the same mistake again.
“Devils!” he swore, forcing himself out of the water.
If he didn’t get out then, he was sure his body would sustain irreparable damage. He quickly donned his clothes and boots, then made haste to the castle.
It was quiet when he stepped in, and he was thankful for it. His people tended to worry for his health, and no doubt they would fuss over him needlessly, when all he wanted was to be alone with his thoughts.
He turned a corner and spotted Cohen coming from the opposite direction. He cursed under his breath. No doubt the man would fuss over him now.
Damnit!
“Me Laird!” Cohen exclaimed when he saw him. “Where have ye been, and why are ye wet?”
“I went swimmin’ in the loch,” Darragh answered, pushing his wet locks off his forehead.
“Do ye want to catch yer death?” Cohen gasped. “If ye wanted a bath, ye could have called a maid to draw ye one.”
“I didnae need a bath,” Darragh growled. “I wanted to go for a swim.”
Cohen sighed. “I will have to ask Amber to bring ye ginger tea, or ye will catch a chill before the morn.”
“I daenae fall ill so easily.” Darragh continued his trek to his chambers.
“I daenae ken what troubles have pushed ye to the loch so late at night,” Cohen muttered with a frown, catching up to him. “I thought ye were at peace now that the lass was here. Is the search for a husband nae goin’ well?”
“It is goin’ well,” Darragh muttered.
Too well, in fact.
And that was the problem, but he would never admit it to Cohen, or the man would make an absurd suggestion.
“Then ye should be busy planning how to spend yer inheritance.”
Darragh sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Indeed.”
He did not trust himself to say more, or he would confess his mistake.
“I can sense yer exhaustion,” Cohen noted. “I shall leave ye to yer rest.” With that, he left.
Darragh finished the short trek to his room in silence, but when he lay down to sleep, his dreams were plagued with the sweet sounds Talia had made while he had devoured her mouth.
Devils!