Page 33 of A Laird and a Gentleman

Tendrils of warmth reached out to her, binding her to the man before her as she’d never been to another before. Offering her something she never allowed herself to want before. Acceptance for who she was. Tears burned behind her eyes. A single drop slid down her face and burrowed in the corner of her mouth. Another followed the first. The salty taste lingered on her tongue, reminding her of another time she had cried.

She’d been five years old on the night her mother had disappeared. Mariam flinched. Even now she could feel the switch her father had taken to her backside as the loss of her mother tore through her. At first, she’d cried for her mother, then for herself, and finally for what her life would now become. Without her mother to intercede, her father would—

“Mariam?” Cameron’s voice jarred her back to the present.

She batted at the tears with the back of her free hand. Her father had beat the tears out of her that day. She’d never cried again, until now.

“It’s all right to cry, and to be afraid.” He stood and pulled her up, gathered her into his arms.

She leaned forward, letting her forehead rest in the crook of his shoulder. She shivered and he pulled her that much closer. Warmth seeped from his body to hers as her tears continued to fall. She should be ashamed that she’d allowed herself to show such weakness, but she wasn’t. She didn’t feel foolish at all. In fact, in Cameron’s arms she felt safe, and protected. Something she hadn’t felt in years.

Cameron said nothing, simply held her and rocked her ever so slightly back and forth in the cradle of his arms. The scent of damp muslin mixed with the taste of salty tears filled her senses as her tears slowed, then stopped.

After a time, she pulled back and looked into Cameron’s face. At the sight of his gray eyes so filled with warmth and acceptance, a new sensation unfurled inside her. It was something she’d never felt before. It wasn’t a pleasant or gentle emotion. It twisted her insides a heartbeat before the sensation faded into tenderness. She let the moment pass as she took another look at the man who held her so close.

There were smudges of darkness beneath his eyes. Evidence of what the last few days had cost him. She brought their entwined hands up to press against his cheek. “You look weary. Promise me you’ll rest tonight so you’ll be ready for anything as you travel with my father in your presence.”

“I will.” He leaned into her touch. “And you must promise me you will stay inside the castle while I am gone. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you while I was away.”

He watched her with concern on his face and tenderness in his eyes, and she felt a sudden rush. The feeling was completely new. She’d never felt like this before. “I promise,” she whispered as she found herself staring at him, captivated by the man before her. Another question came to her, then died on her lips as his gaze turned warm and sensual.

He released her hand to graze her cheek with the backs of his fingers, smoothing backward into her hair before he gently cupped her head. A tiny thrill fluttered in her stomach and a heated shiver ran up her spine. As his head dipped closer, Mariam’s breath caught. He was going to kiss her.

Her heart thumped in her chest so loudly she thought he must hear it. He bent farther and instead of kissing her lips, he pressed his lips to her forehead, as though suddenly unsure. He drew a deep breath and pulled back while still holding her tightly, but not so tight she couldn’t pull away if she wanted to.

But she didn’t want to.

He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lifted it until their gazes met. “I know I shouldn’t do this, but I suddenly find I cannot help myself.” His voice was so deep it made her shake.

In fact, the whole room felt as though it trembled as he brought his lips to hers. Mariam sighed at the sweet offering of his mouth. His tongue traced a hot line between her lips, coaxing them, urging them to part, and then insisting. She didn’t resist. She let him in, surrendering mindlessly to the splendor of his kiss. Her hands shifted over his heavily muscled shoulders and forearms as her lips moved against his with increasing abandon.

The kiss went on as Mariam’s body continued to shudder. In fact, she realized, pulling back slightly without breaking the kiss, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. A loud crack splintered the cocoon they had created.

Her desire turned to ice. They broke apart and turned toward the sound as the room undulated around them, then stopped.

Whatever it was had ended.

Mariam’s gaze dropped to her feet, to the finger’s width line that zigzagged through the flagstone floor. Sweet heavens! Her gaze shot to Cameron’s.

“That was not you.” The sound of Cameron’s voice echoed in her head before the words registered.

“How do you know?” she asked, drawing a deep shuddering breath. “How can you think it was anything else?” Once again, she’d let her emotions get the better of her.

He stood, inspecting the line that traversed the entire length of the great hall. “I’ve felt tremors like this in the earth before. My grandfather used to say such trembling was caused by the tension between earth and water.”

He turned back to her, and there was certainty in his eyes that lessened her fear. “When this happened before, did the shaking come again?” she asked.

“I was only a boy at the time, but nothing else ever came of the event.”

She frowned, not quite convinced. “You’re certain?”

“Positive. The same will be true again,” he said with conviction.

He chose to believe it wasn’t her. At the feel of his hand wrapped protectively around hers, Mariam’s rapid heartbeat subsided, and her fear melted away.

“Come,” he said. “Let’s look at the world outside. I’ll prove to you that everything is as ordinary as it should be.”

She nodded and followed him out of the castle and into the courtyard. A soft night breeze whistled through the trees on the hillside in the distance, carrying with it the tangy scent of heather. Overhead, moonlight broke through the thin, charcoal-hued clouds. Between the clouds, the stars glittered just as they did most nights. Nothing was different. Relief rushed through her.