Chapter 17
“And just where did ye get off to?” Emily asked as Maggie came back to join them.
She felt bad for having lost sight of her while they were, ah, otherwise occupied.
She was still sitting astride Kaden’s lap, but they hadn’t yet spoken about what had just happened.
Perhaps it was improper to remain here. Perhaps she should not have allowed any of that to happen when he had clearly been drinking, no matter how sober he appeared to be.
Maggie licked at the two of them happily, anywhere that she could manage to reach. Something fell out of her mouth as she did so.
“What’s that?” Kaden asked, his brow furrowing as he reached for what seemed to be a folded piece of paper.
Emily’s concerned expression mirrored his, because that hadn’t been there when they had come outside. She couldn’t imagine that paper was just left outside either.
She watched silently as Kaden ignored Maggie’s excited jumps and unfolded the piece of paper.
She couldn’t read what was on it at first, and she certainly didn’t care for the way Kaden’s expression shifted from concern to what she could only describe as cold rage.
Slowly, she rose from his lap until she was sitting beside him, with her legs curled to the side.
“What is it?” she asked, when it became clear that he wasn’t going to offer the information on his own.
“We should go inside,” was the only answer that he offered.
He stood quickly and extended a hand toward her to help her stand, which she accepted. She stopped just to scoop Maggie up in her arms.
She didn’t like the way Kaden was staring along the tree line as if he were looking for something. Were they not alone out here?
Embarrassment flooded her cheeks at the very thought of somebody having seen what she had just done. If her reputation hadn’t been ruined before, it would have certainly been ruined now!
She walked with Kaden hand in hand to the kitchens. The fire was still burning low in the oven despite the hour, likely to ensure that everything was kept warm in here. It wasn’t as much lighting as she might have otherwise liked, but it would do.
“What was in the letter, Kaden?” Emily pressed. “May I read it?”
Kaden checked that the door leading to the grounds was secure and the lock bolted in place from the outside. Then, he turned to the first footman he saw and whispered something in his ear. The young footman’s face paled, but then he ran off to carry out whatever order Kaden had just given him.
Now Emily was nervous about what the note said.
“Kaden? The note?”
He sighed and handed it to her.
She set Maggie down on the floor, thankful that this time the puppy stayed put and sat right beside her left ankle. She unfolded the note and had to read it at least three times before she really understood what it said.
If ye marry her, then ye’re both dead.
Well, that made sense as to why Kaden was so angry. Not only had someone seen them, but they were also threatening both of them as a result.
Emily knew that there were people not very fond of her because of the various rumors that surrounded her, but she didn’t see any reason why they would want her dead. It wasn’t like she was walking around with true enemies.
If either of them were, it would have to be the man pacing the room beside her like a caged lion.
Emily laughed bitterly, the sound dry as she couldn’t seem to conceal her worry. “It’s a good thing that this willnae be a real marriage for the first year at least.”
She turned to Kaden, but he didn’t care for the joke she was trying to make. She just wanted to ease the tension.
“Ye cannae stand there and have me believe that ye have never received a death threat before,” she tried to tease.
“Oh, aye, I’ve received quite a few. But none for the woman who is going to become me wife,” he answered.
He was vibrating with anxious energy, and Emily had no idea how to help. This wasn’t how she wanted to spend the evening after having had her first real sexual experience. She could think of a fair few things, but this wasn’t anywhere close.
“Who would have done this?”
It wasn’t really a question, so she didn’t answer it.
“I have a great many enemies, but this feels far more aimed at ye than me,” Kaden said plainly.
Emily’s jaw went slack.
Was that true? She wouldn’t have thought so. Then again, the threat was only if Kaden married her, not if either of them got married. So, maybe he had a point.
Kaden stopped short and turned toward her as he spoke, but he didn’t quite meet her eyes. “I met that bastard from the cèilidh at the pub tonight. Perhaps it was him?”
Emily shook her head. “Then there’s nay problem. He cannae hurt ye or yer clan.”
Kaden didn’t look convinced, but he was also clearly done talking to her about it.
He nodded toward the door that would lead her back into the castle. “Ye should go to bed. Get cleaned up. I’ll handle it all.”
Emily hesitated for a moment. She didn’t want to leave things like this. It didn’t feel right to just walk away from him when he was as worried as he was.
“Unless there is something else that ye need?” Kaden asked.
Emily shook her head slowly. “I suppose nae. Ye arenae going to confine me to me rooms, are ye?”
Kaden’s eyes widened in surprise and what almost looked like horror. “I would never hold a person against their will.”
She felt a pang of regret in her chest. She had misspoken.
“I just meant…” She swallowed and tried to steady herself. “I tend to work best at night, and I’m at a crucial point in achieving me dream. I can agree nae to wander the grounds, but I do like to be able to move around and such.”
She felt beyond foolish for having to ask permission to move around in her own home.
Home? Where had that come from? It was true though. She could not deny it. She…well, if she had to be honest, she liked it here.
“What sort of dream is this, anyway?” That interrupted her thoughts. Thank God.
“I, ah—” She felt like saying it out loud might make her sound foolish. “I’m writing a book.”
“A book?”
At least he didn’t sound condescending. So many men thought that while it was important for a gently bred woman to be educated, they never actually wanted their women to use their brains for anything other than planning parties and decorating.
That would never be the sort of woman Emily would be.
She would rather die than just be some laird’s broodmare.
“Aye.”
“What is the book about?”
“How to run a clan,” Emily said quickly, and waited for the judgment that everybody always gave her when she said it.
But he was curiously silent. “Me faither always wanted a son. Instead, he got me. I was still raised as a son might be. I can ride and hunt. I have a mind for politics… and many other things, but… Let’s just say he decided I no longer needed those things.
He said they were inappropriate and that he never should have taught me anything like that. ”
“That’s cruel of him.”
Emily shrugged one shoulder. She agreed, but every time she thought about it too hard, she always ended up crying.
She didn’t want to cry in front of Kaden. It was only her first day here, for Christ’s sake.
“So I thought that I could at least compile me knowledge in one place. I ken I’ll have to publish me book under a man’s name for anyone to take it seriously, but I have a lot of information to share about how to be a good and fair laird, how to run a clan.
I—” She stopped herself before she started to really go on a tangent.
She shouldn’t have to explain herself, and yet every time somebody asked her about her dream, she felt as if she needed to justify why she was allowed to have that dream in the first place.
“Ambitious.” Kaden nodded. He didn’t seem to think it was a bad idea at all. “But ye shouldnae publish yer book under any name but yer own. If ye ken as much as ye say, then the book will speak for itself.”
“If anybody even bothers giving it a try,” Emily sighed.
“Then ye’ll just have to give them something that they cannae deny,” Kaden declared, as if it was really that simple. But perhaps to him it was.
“But because of this dream, I need ye to nae… distract me like ye just did. Or I’ll never get anything done.” Emily shifted anxiously as she said it.
As much as she had enjoyed it, they had an agreement, and she wasn’t going to just give up like that.
Kaden smiled softly. “If I were actively trying to seduce ye, ye wouldnae stand a chance.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Ye think so highly of yerself, daenae ye?”
Now it was Kaden’s turn to shrug a shoulder.
He took a step closer, and even just his proximity made her heart skip a beat.
He leaned down like he was going to kiss her again, her arousal flaring anew despite her attempt to control herself.
He lingered, and she almost closed the distance between their lips.
But at the very last second, he tilted his head and kissed her neck once.
“Very well, I willnae do it again until ye ask.”
Emily couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had already done that. It was over now. He couldn’t put her through that humiliation again. He just couldn’t. It wasn’t fair!
“What?!” she squeaked.
Kaden smirked, apparently very pleased with himself and her reaction. “I am a man of me word, ye ken. Or have ye forgotten that ye asked for that nae long ago?”
Emily felt like her face was going to catch fire, and she was going to melt right into the stone floor. He liked getting a rise out of her far, far too much!
She shook her head furiously. “Well then, ye daenae have to worry. I willnae forget meself again!”
She hurried out of the room before Kaden could call her bluff again.
She heard him laughing the whole way down the hall.
Much to his surprise, the wee beastie didn’t follow after the lass. Instead, she tilted her small furry head up at him and whined.
She looked utterly pathetic, as if taking another step in her exhausted state would be the end of her. She let loose a large, overly dramatic yawn and blinked her brown eyes up at him.
Kaden swallowed hard and then bent to pick up the wee thing.
Maggie didn’t move much at first, certainly not the same wriggling pup that she had been earlier this afternoon.
This time, she merely licked at his arm, the only space that she could reach without having to move much.
Another small yawn, and she promptly fell asleep in the crook of his arm.
She was so small that he didn’t even need to use both arms to hold her in place.
He stroked the top of her head with just one finger, and she didn’t so much as stir. “Maybe ye’re nae so bad after all…”