Page 86 of The Shadow Path
“If you’re saying I came on this trip very unprepared, you do not have to remind me.” His eyes softened. “In my defense, I was trying to give you space.”
“I know. I appreciate that.” She rested her chin on his chest. “I don’t think I want space from you.”
Duncan’s eyes were soft. “I’m not going to ask.”
Carys frowned. “What?”
He blinked. “Sorry. Misspoke.”
“No.” She sat up. “Not going to ask what?”
Duncan sat up next to her, grabbing a wool blanket and throwing it around her shoulders. “Forget it, darling.”
“You know I’m not going to.” What was he doing? “Why are you being weird?”
“I’m not…” He scowled. “Weird. What kind of thing is that to say after last night?Weird. The fuck, Carys?”
“You’re being weird. Talk to me.”
He threw his legs over the side of the bed. “We should get dressed, and you need to eat something. You barely ate any dinner last night. Don’t deny it—I noticed.”
“Duncan.”
“Fine!” He grabbed for his clothes. “I’m not going to ask if you still have feelings for Lachlan, okay? That’s what I wasnotgoing to ask, but then I had a slip of the tongue and now I’ve asked it and I’m an arse.”
Carys’s racing heart calmed as she watched him throw on his tunic and pull on his pants from the day before. “You’re not an arse.”
Duncan froze and looked up. “I’m not?”
“Ican’tsay I don’t have feelings for Lachlan, but… not like this.” Her cheeks went red. “They’re not like the feelings I have for you.”
The hunger and the craving? She’d never felt that with Lachlan. Not on this level. Not ever. Being with Lachlan was as easy and comfortable as slipping on a familiar pair of shoes.
Being with Duncan was like bashing your head against a brick wall before the brick wall hugged you, fucked you, then fed you a hearty snack.
“Oh.” His eyes narrowed. “Ever?”
“What?”
“Youneverfelt like this about him?”
This was too messed up to even examine before coffee.
Carys crawled out of bed. “Do you know where my robe went?” Her feet hit the ground, and she immediately got goose bumps. “And where are my slippers?”
“Fine, we don’t have to have a conversation about this, but be aware that I am not backing off.Ever.” Duncan tossed one slipper across the bed. Then the next. “And if you suddenly get feelings for Lachlan again, I’m not stepping aside.” He pointed at a window for some reason. “That’s princely bullshit, and I told you, I’m only noble in very small quantities.”
“Trust me, I get the picture!” She found her dressing gown tangled in the blankets at the foot of the bed. “Now do you want coffee or not?”
She was storming toward the door when Duncan caught her around the waist, swung her close, and planted a kiss on herscowl. “Och, you’re bonny when you’re angry, lass, but you do know how to sweet-talk a man in the morning.”
Laura foundthem moments after they got back to Carys’s room and called for boiling water. “Hmm.” She narrowed her eyes and looked at Carys. Then at Duncan. Then back to Carys. “You two had sex.”
“How?” Carys hissed. “How do you always know these things?”
Duncan frowned. “Christ, she’s good.”
“One, you’re both wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday, which in this place is not a dead giveaway, but two, there’s just this…” She waved a hand as she walked to the wardrobe where Carys hid her coffee. “There’s a thing.”
