Page 9 (1/2)
He felt the force of her declaration like a hard punch to his gut Disappointment surfaced It tasted bitter, a little sour in his mouth “I hear Nikolai was extremely persuasive”
Her desperate gaze searched his face, her eyes swiled to define “I don’t love him, Lachlan I never have”
Invisible hands squeezed his chest, tighter, tighter, forcing all the air fros Resent, punch at the wind as it whistled through the trees, a virulent assault on fate, on coincidence, on whateverhe’d ever wanted It took every effort not to roar fiercely at the heavens: a warrior’s battle cry, soressive, inarticulate
“You don’t love him, yet you married him” He tried to suppress the venom in his tone “It does not make any sense”
“It doesn’t lanced down, slid her booted foot back and forth over the dead leaves “It’s complicated There is much you do not understand”
He touched her then He could not help himself
Taking her chin between his finger and thumb, he forced her to look at him Her skin felt warm and soft despite the crisp chill in the air While the perfume of pine swirled around them, his head was filled with the unique wo to her hair, clothes and skin: a smell so potent he inhaled deeply
“Tell aze settled on her mouth and he brushed the pad of his thu I could have done to prevent hi you”
She visibly shivered as he dropped his hand “There is nothing either of us could have done” She sighed; her deep, sorrowful exhale las said he reirl He came with anotherfrom the blood affliction, the older man explained how his skin was sensitive to the sun They persuaded rant them access to the mine and to the chambered cairn on the ancient Pictish site that borders our land”
Curiosity flared “Do you knohat they were looking for?”
“Douglas said he re an old leather book He mentioned that his ancestors were from these parts Apparently, the proof lay in a carved symbol” She rubbed her hip as she spoke “They took samples from the well near the cairn and a selection of rocks from the mine”
Lachlan struggled to understand how all the events were connected “If Nikolai caain access to the mine, that still does not explain why he married you Or why he left here less than a week later”
Isla shook her head “All I know is I felt an overwhel desire to protect the ht to check that nothing had been disturbed Then one night, two years ago, my mind became free of the burden Suddenly it becaht about it since”
“Perhaps we should go down into the ” Lachlan knew if he could understand Nikolai’s motives then it would help him to make more sense of it all “I think we should visit the cairn too”
Isla took a step closer She put a tre No matter e find, I will still be the wife of another man I will still be the woman who made false promises”