Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Duncan remained beside the hearth for a moment after placing the extra log upon the fire. Only when he rose again did he realize something was wrong.
Elaina had turned slightly away from him in the chair. Her shoulders were drawn inward and her hands were clasped tightly in her lap. At first, he thought she was simply shivering. But then, he saw the way her shoulders trembled.
“Elaina?”
She did not answer. Duncan crossed the room to approach her.
“Are ye hurt?”
She shook her head quickly. “Nay.”
The word came out too quickly, and her voice… it sounded wrong. It sounded thin and strained.
Duncan frowned faintly. “Then what is it?”
She wiped quickly at her cheek, as though hoping he had not noticed. But he had.
“Elaina,” he said more gently, stepping closer. “What’s wrong?”
She drew in a breath that seemed to break halfway through her chest.
“Naething.”
It was a poor attempt. Duncan knelt slightly beside the chair she was sitting in, so he could see her face. Her eyes were bright with tears she was clearly trying very hard to hide.
“Ye are crying,” he said tenderly.
She turned her head away again.
“I am nae.” Her voice cracked.
Duncan exhaled slowly. In his mind, the explanation was simple.
“Ye’re cold,” he continued with equal tenderness. “And tired.”
The storm, the mud, the long walk back through the rain… anyone would have been shaken by it.
“Ye’ve had a difficult evening,” he added calmly. “Once the tea comes and ye’re dry—”
“Nay.”
The word broke through his explanation. Elaina shook her head again, harder this time.
“Ye dinnae understand.”
Duncan stilled.
Her voice trembled as she spoke again. “There are things ye dinnae ken.”
He didn’t take his eyes off of her even for one second.
“What things?”
She pressed her hands together tightly, as though trying to hold something inside herself that threatened to spill free.
“Things that change everything.” Her breath shuddered. “Life can change forever in a single moment.”
Duncan frowned slightly. The words made little sense to him.
“I ken that,” he said gently. “But ye’re safe here.”
She shook her head even more fervently and released a soft, broken sound. “That is exactly the problem.”
Duncan’s confusion deepened. “Elaina…”
She was sitting curled slightly in the chair, and her hands were clasped so tightly together that her knuckles had turned pale. Tears still clung to her lashes despite her effort to hide them, and every so often her breath caught unevenly in her chest.
Duncan lowered himself into the chair beside her so that he sat at her level.
“Elaina,” he said quietly.
She did not look at him. Instead, her gaze remained fixed on the fire, as though the flames might somehow give her the strength to keep whatever secret she carried.
Duncan rested his forearms on his knees, leaning forward slightly.
“Me life changed forever,” he confessed, realizing that only one truth could beguile another.
Her eyes flickered toward him then.
“After me parents died.”
The words were spoken simply. There was no bitterness in his tone, only a calm certainty.
“I thought the world had ended,” he continued quietly. “That naething would ever feel steady again.”
Elaina watched him, silently.
“Everything changed. The responsibilities, the castle, the people who depended on me.” His mouth curved faintly, though there was little humor in it. “And I was nae prepared fer any of it.”
The fire popped softly behind them. Duncan let the silence settle for a moment before he spoke again. “If ye believe yer life has changed in a way that cannae be undone…” His voice softened. “Then ye may tell me.”
Elaina’s lips parted slightly, though no words came.
“I will understand,” he promised.
She shook her head faintly again.
“Ye cannae ken that.”
Duncan held her gaze. “I can.”
The certainty in his voice did not waver.
“Whatever it is,” he continued gently, “whatever ye believe has changed yer life beyond repair…” He paused. “Ye are nae alone with it now.”
For a long moment neither of them moved. The storm outside roared on, the wind rattling the shutters.
And Duncan waited.
Elaina sat very still, her hands clenched together in her lap as though they were the only thing keeping her from falling apart entirely. Duncan’s words lingered in the quiet space of the room.
Ye arenae alone with it now.
For a moment she wanted desperately to believe him. But the truth she carried had lived inside her for so long that speaking it aloud felt almost impossible. Her breath trembled.
“Ye cannae understand,” she whispered again.
Duncan did not interrupt her. He simply watched her, patient in a way that only made the tight knot in her chest grow more painful.
Elaina looked down at her hands. The tears she had tried so hard to hide slipped down her cheeks now, warm against the cold dampness still clinging to her skin from the storm.
“Me faither…” Her voice faltered. She tried again. “Me faither is Laird Alasdair Fraser.”
Duncan did not move, but she saw the recognition flash across his face. She forced herself to continue before she lost the courage.
“He promised me tae Laird Lachlan MacKenzie.”
The name seemed to darken the room. Elaina’s voice trembled as the words spilled out.
“It was an alliance, a political arrangement, as though me life were naething more than a piece on his board.”
Her fingers tightened painfully together.
“I watched me maither live that way,” she whispered. “Trapped in a marriage she never chose. Me faither never loved her. He never even pretended tae.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks now, and she made no effort to hide them.
“She taught me healing because it was the only thing she could give me. The only thing that might help me survive.”
Her breath broke.
“And when she died… there was nay one left tae protect me.”
Duncan’s expression had grown very still.
“Me faither decided I would marry Lachlan MacKenzie,” she continued through quiet sobs. “They never asked me if that was what I wanted. A man older than him, a man who conquers clans as though they were cattle.”
She laughed softly, the sound trembling. Her grey eyes finally lifted to Duncan’s. “So I ran.”
The confession seemed to leave her breathless.
“I fled the castle with naething but a cloak and the hope that if I disappeared long enough, they would give up.”
Her voice dropped to a fragile whisper. “And then I met ye.”
The firelight seemed to illuminate the very truth now standing between them.
“I only meant tae hide here fer a little while,” she admitted brokenly. “I never meant fer any of this tae happen. Tae involve ye in me problems.”
Duncan still said nothing. The silence stretched so long that fear began to coil in her chest.
“I am sorry,” she whispered.
…fer the lie, fer bringing danger tae yer home, fer letting meself care…
But instead, she said something else. “I only wanted somewhere safe tae hide.” Her voice cracked completely now. “But I never thought…” The words caught painfully in her throat. “I never thought I would care so deeply about someone.”
The truth of those words frightened her almost as much as the confession about her father. Duncan did not look away. Instead, he took her trembling hand and cupped it with both of his.
“I… admire ye.”
The quiet honesty in his voice caught her completely off guard. He shook his head faintly, as though the admission frustrated him.
“I told meself it was foolish.”
His eyes softened slightly.
“But it did nae change anything.”
Elaina’s heart began to beat faster.
“Duncan—”
“I care fer ye,” he said quietly.
The words were spoken without hesitation. He leaned slightly closer.
“Dae ye feel the same, Elaina?”
The question hung between them. Elaina felt as though the entire world had narrowed to that single moment and to the man sitting only inches from her. She had tried to resist this. She reminded herself that trusting a man had once ruined her mother’s life.
But the truth had already escaped her and there was no taking it back.
Her breath trembled again. “Aye.” The word came out barely louder than a whisper.
That single moment felt like an entire lifetime. Then, he lifted his hand. His fingers brushed beneath her chin, warm and steady despite the rain that had soaked them both not long before. The touch was gentle, almost hesitant, as though he were giving her time to pull away.
But Elaina did not move. He tilted her face upward just enough that their eyes met again. Then he leaned closer. The distance between them disappeared slowly, as though neither wished to rush the moment. Elaina could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips before they even touched.
When they did, the kiss was soft. It was so gentle at first that it felt almost like a question. His lips brushed against hers carefully, lingering for a heartbeat as though waiting for her to change her mind.
Elaina did not. Instead, she leaned into him.
The movement was small, instinctive, but it deepened the kiss in a way that sent warmth rushing through her entire body.
Duncan’s hand remained beneath her chin, steadying her as though she were something precious he feared might slip away.
His thumb brushed lightly along the edge of her jaw as the kiss lingered, slow and tender.
It was nothing like the reckless passion she had imagined kisses to be. It was soft and filled with a quiet intensity that made her heart race. Elaina felt her fingers clutch lightly at the fabric of his shirt, still damp from the rain, as though the contact was the only thing keeping her grounded.
The storm outside seemed very far away now. All she could feel was the warmth of him and the impossible, overwhelming certainty that nothing in her life had ever felt so right.