'Do you think?'
Irresistibly drawn by the intensity emanating off of him, she stepped closer until they were almost touching. 'Yes, I do think. I also think that if you had wanted to hurt Talorc's pride and were as uncaring of the feelings of others as I accused you of being, you would have used me and then discarded me. But you did not.'
In truth, he had not harmed her in any way.
'Only a weak man has to resort to using a woman.'
'I don't think Ulf would agree, but that is why you were so sure Drustan would not hurt Cait, isn't it?'
'He is not weak.'
'And neither are you.'
'Ulf thinks I am.'
'Ulf is hotheaded and bloodthirsty. He truly does not seem to care who gets hurt or ends up dead if his pride is satisfied. I don't think he would make a good leader. Your clan would constantly be at war.'
'I agree.'
'It is a blessing you were born first then.' The urge to touch him grew with every passing breath.
'I wasn't. He was born two years before me.'
'He did not challenge me when I stepped into my father's place upon his death.'
'Because he knew he could not win against you.'
'Yes. If he were truly stupid, that would not have mattered. He would have challenged me anyway.'
'You admire him.'
'In many ways.'
'It hurts you that he criticizes your choices.'
'A warrior is not so easily affected.'
Unable to stifle the desire any longer, she reached out and laid her hand against his chest, right over his heart. 'I think a warrior is affected, but he does not show it.'
Her body jolted in recognition of that slight connection, and that secret place between her legs that only he seemed to affect ached for something she could not name. It also grew moist and she pressed her legs together in private embarrassment and tried to assuage the ache.
Lachlan's nostrils flared and she could swear he knew her body's reaction to being so near him. 'I am not so weak.'
'Neither was my father, but when he lost my mother, he lost part of himself. Warriors feel, even when they don't want to.'
'Your father was a bastard to you.'
'He never hurt me again after that time at the pond.'
'Physically maybe, but he hurt your tender heart.'
'How can you know?' she asked in a whisper.
'He sent you to marry a Highland laird he knew nothing of. He was willing to let you go to pay for his own mistake. He did not value you as a father should value his daughter.'
'I told you, I asked to be sent.'
'Because you were terrified they would send your deaf sister.'
'Yes.'
'He forced your hand.'
'Sybil did.'
'You were wrong about more than my character, you know.'
'What else was I wrong about?' she asked with a smile. His arrogance was starting to charm her.
'Abigail would not have been miserable here.'
'I think you are right. Given time, I think even Talorc would have warmed to her. She is very sweet.'
'Then you two must have a great deal in common.'
Emily did not know what to say to that and stared into Lachlan's dark eyes with their intriguing golden rims for several silent moments.
He ran his fingertip over her lips, making her shiver. 'You are a good friend to Cait.'
'I care for her.'
'She cares for you, too.'
'Yes.'
'Very much. She offended Drustan by insisting she be allowed to check on you.'
'He thought she should have trusted him that I was unharmed?' she guessed. She was beginning to understand these Highland warriors.
'Yes.'
'You are both so arrogant.'
'But not cruel?'
'No. I do not think you are cruel.'
'And Angus?'
Confused, she asked, 'What about Angus? I never thought he was cruel, except maybe by association.'
Lachlan didn't look pleased by that bit of news. 'You show a preference for his company.'
'Not over yours. I couldn't have.'
'Couldn't?'
'No. It would be impossible for me to show a preference for his company because I prefer your company above all others.' Perhaps she should not have told him, but part of her needed to let him know how important to her he had become.
Something shifted in his gaze. If she didn't know better, she would think it was relief. 'That is good to know.'
'Is it?'
'It shouldn't be.'
She didn't ask why. She could guess and she didn't want to think about how impossible a future between them would be. 'I may be wanton with you, but I am not a wanton. I do not feel for any other man what I feel for you.'
'And Talorc?'
'I will ask him not to send me home, but I cannot marry him now. I do not think he will mind.' As a werewolf, he would have even less desire to marry Emily than Lachlan did, for no fire of desire burned between the two of them.
'Because I have touched you?'
'Yes,' she whispered, not adding that she wanted no other man's caresses. She had revealed enough.
'You are worried he will consider you soiled by my touch?'
'No.'
'You do not want him to touch you the same way.'
He saw too much, but she refused to answer.
'I have barely begun to touch you, Emily. There is so much more pleasure to be had between us without the breaking of your maidenhead. More intimacy than you can imagine.'
Sometimes he was so crude and yet it did not offend her, merely embarrassed her because she could not hope to match his honesty in this matter. Not yet anyway. 'I was naked with you,' she reminded him. How much more intimate could it get?
'Learning to swim.' Without warning he swept her up into his arms. 'And now it is time I taught you something else.'
He carried her to a chair beside the fire and sat down.
'Here?' she asked, shocked he had not taken her someplace more private.
The great hall was empty, but it might not stay that way.
'If I take you back to your room, I will bury myself inside you and damn the consequences,' he admitted in a guttural voice that revealed a depth of feeling his stance and conversation had not hinted at.
'And you cannot do that.'
