Page 46 of The Highlander's Accidental Wife
Then, Damien’s hand dropped, and he stepped in front of her and Sophia. “I told ye to apologize to yer daughter,” he said. “For ye seem to have forgotten that she is now partofmehousehold, and nay one is allowed to speak to her in such a manner.” He took a step forward and rested his hand on the pommel of one of his swords. “Unless they want to lose their tongue.”
Her father scoffed, but he seemed wary and clicked his tongue.
“It has been a long journey. I apologize if you think I am being too harsh.” He eyed Damien. “Though I admit, it was unsettling to hear that you left my daughter alone right as she arrived.”
He snorted, and the snort seemed to say,I expected no less from a bloody Scot.
Helena felt her stomach twist. God, but she’d been too much like her father at their first breakfast.
“And you forget, Laird MacCabe, that wife or not, I am owed something for her. She is still my daughter, not yet a Lady.”
“Wrong,” Damien said and stepped forward, fury radiating from every line of his body. “Verra wrong.”
Sophia pressed closer, and Helena’s hand flew out, pressing against his back. But he did not seem to notice. Her fingers dug into his shirt as he spoke his next words.
“Shewasyer daughter, Lord Lovell,” Damien said, and his shoulders seemed to heave. “She ismewoman, now. And forever, once I wed her.”
Her father, barely visible beyond Damien’s bulk, paled, but then he sneered, “And when will that be? A year from now?”
Damien tensed up, and Helena’s hand fell away.
“Two weeks. With the storm, provisions are delayed, as are our guests. If ye had bloody waited, maybe ye would have arrived at our home in a better mood.” Damien’s voice lowered. “I welcome ye to rest.”
Helena almost laughed at that. How could her husband-to-be make a welcome sound so much like a threat?
Then, he strode off, not looking back once, and her father stood there, gaping like a fish.
She bobbed an ironic curtsey to him and then whispered to Sophia to go to the kitchen and look for Lady Merie, who would settle her and Jolly and get them treats.
Then, ignoring her father’s grumblings and demands, she all but ran to find Damien, thinking that her heart might burst if she had to wait another moment.
CHAPTER 19
Helena foundDamien in the stables, talking in a hushed tone with a groom and gesturing toward his horse in the distance. He did not look up as she approached, but he seemed to go still, and she knew he knew she was there.
Loitering by the doorway, Helena waited until the groom left, smiling and nodding to him, then looking at Damien. He was feigning interest in checking over a foal, lifting its head and inspecting its teeth. She glanced around and saw that she’d cleverly boxed the Laird in without realizing it.
He had no way out except past her.
“Thank you,” Helena said in a soft voice.
Damien grunted and nodded, then stepped inside the stall and stripped off his clothes. She quietly stepped over and saw him running his hands over the foal, his rough hands gentle on the silver flanks.
Helena sighed and leaned her elbows on the door, before cupping her chin in her hands. Still, Damien did not look at her.
“Did you have business, or were you just cross with me for being late for breakfast?”
At that, he jerked his head up, and anger flared in his good eye. For a moment, he did not seem to know what to say, then he growled, “Nae everythin’ is about ye, Milady.”
“So, it was breakfast,” she sighed, and his face twisted, his gaze going back to the horse. “We’ll have to learn to talk these things out, Damien.”
“Will we?” he muttered. “I confess I’m shocked that ye are still here and did not run off.”
Helena straightened so fast that she nearly fell. “That was a bloody test? You have lost your mind.”
A smile flickered across his face. “Now, ye ken. And nay. I did have business. The situation that looked like a test was a mere boon.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Helena fired at him. “You cannot get rid of me.”
