Page 38 of Married to the Icy Highlander
But now was not the time to ponder on his wife’s qualities, least of all in front of the whole village.
“As if ye’re any better! Sleepin’ yer way up to the husband ye want? Yer faither clearly didnae tan yer hide enough as a bairn,for ye have such a sharp tongue on ye!” Ferguson sneered, reaching for Ceana’s arm just as Neil stepped between them, his hand already on the pommel of his sword.
“If ye wish to keep yer hand, I suggest that ye do what the lady says and leave. I willnae let a man speak about me wife like that, let alone touch her…” Neil’s voice was icy calm but laced with danger.
He knew good and well that this was exactly why he had the reputation he had. He wasn’t afraid of violence, not by any stretch.
The small crowd around them had paused their celebration, watching to see what their Laird was going to do next. Neil didn’t think that his temper had ever risen so high and so quickly before. He could hardly pull air into his lungs for how badly he wanted to cut the man in front of him.
That was fine by him. Let them watch. Let them all see what would happen if they dared to disrespect his wife in front of him. Anyone who did so from this moment forward would not be met with the same grace and patience he was showing right now.
“Nay, dinnae waste yer blade on a worm like him, M’Laird,” Ceana interjected, gently placing her hand on top of his own, keeping him from drawing his sword. “Besides, we dinnae want to ruin the festival. And he was just leavin’.”
Ferguson didn’t look like he wanted to leave at all. He seemed to be spoiling for a fight. But, wisely, he took a long look at Neiland the anger on his face, shot Ceana and her mother a glare that nearly cost him his eyes, and reconsidered his next steps.
He was red in the face and nearly frothing at the mouth as he sharply turned on his heel and stormed through the crowd, knocking the villagers this way and that as he went.
Slowly, the people around them went back to their activities now that it was obvious that he wasn’t going to fight the Laird.
“Are ye two all right?” Neil asked Ceana, looking her over because he didn’t trust himself to touch her. Not yet.
“Aye, we’ll be fine, thank ye,” she answered.
But Ida only nodded, her face flushed a bright red. She was very clearly shaken by the ordeal, and he couldn’t blame her for it. She bent down to pick Myrtle up, who didn’t seem very pleased, and looked around.
“I think I’ll go and collect Peter now—take him back home with me. It’s late, and I’m feelin’ a bit faint…”
“I’ll escort ye,” Neil offered, but she merely waved her hand in his direction.
“I can manage. I’m embarrassed, nae infirm,” Ida said sheepishly.
Before she could take another step, Ceana caught her by the arm. “Maither, I willnae let him near ye again,” she promised.
“We willnae,” Neil echoed.
Was Ferguson the one who was harassing her mother this whole time? Was he the one who they had owed money to? It made Neil sick, thinking about a man in such a position taking advantage of a widow and her family after such a loss. It wasn’t right.
If that was the truth, then Ferguson didn’t have any honor at all. That wasn’t a man Neil could respect. It took such a small man to beat or hurt a woman, most of all someone so gentle as Ida.
Neil found himself reaching for Ceana, his fingers barely brushing against her arm as her mother nodded and walked off. He had intended to pull her closer, but when he looked at her, he glimpsed… fondness in her eyes.
His fingers ran down the inside of her forearm, brushing against her palm, but she pulled away from him before he could intertwine his fingers with hers.
“I… um…” she trailed off.
He couldn’t have interpreted the look on her face for a whole bag of coins. Then, she was gone. One moment she was there, and the next the crowd had swallowed her up.
18
Was it truly so terrible for a lady to wish to be chased?
Ceana couldn’t have the conversation that she felt they needed to have around quite so many people as it was. Neil had stood up for both her and her mother like it was the simplest thing in the world. He had stepped up and reassured her, and even offered to escort her mother home. He might have simply been doing his duty, but it still meant a lot to her.
Then, he tried to hold her hand.
It wasn’t fair. He was playing dirty, and it was working. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she couldn’t seem to steady herself no matter what she did. It had taken far too much of her self-control not to kiss him for threatening Ferguson like that. It was exactly what she had been imagining for so long. Far longer than she cared to admit, she had longed to see someone properly put him in his place. And Neil had done it so effortlessly.
Ceana walked just beyond the edge of the forest, pacing for a moment before finding a large tree to hide behind. She needed to calm herself. She tried to wrap her skirts around herself as best as she could, knowing that she could not stay here long before the night’s chill would seep into her bones.
