Page 52 of Married to the Icy Highlander
“Faither! Faither!” Jeanie’s voice shouted from the other side of the thankfully locked door. “Did ye forget our chess game?!”
Jeanie had never asked to play chess with him before. If anything, it had felt more like something she forced herself to do.
“Faither?! Do ye hear me?!” Jeanie called again.
Neil dropped his forehead to Ceana’s chest with a reluctant groan. “Aye! I hear ye, lass!”
“Ye’re late!” Jeanie added in a reprimanding tone.
“Just… give me a moment,” Neil sighed, kissing Ceana one last time before rising slowly. “Of all the worst possible timings…” he muttered.
Ceana only laughed, sliding out of bed, and he took his time admiring her naked body. He almost forgot why he needed to get dressed so badly. He shook his head to clear his mind and reached for his clothes, pulling his shirt over his head and tying it hastily. It would likely look askew, but he couldn’t care less.
“Go on down for breakfast, lass. I’ll meet ye there!” he called, and he could feel Jeanie pouting behind the door.
He had no idea if she had actually left or not, but at least her knocking had stopped.
When he was dressed, he quickly moved to help Ceana into her dress. “I think I like undressin’ ye a good deal more.”
Ceana only smiled, pulling her hair into a semblance of an updo, but it was far looser than it usually was. He could hardly take his eyes off her. Now that this need had awoken inside of him, it was going to be damn hard to pretend that he didn’t want her at every moment of the day.
“Ye cannae keep her waitin’, so ye had better stop lookin’ at me like that,” she teased, pulling on her shoes and heading toward the door.
“I dinnae want to stop,” Neil answered honestly as he pulled on his boots and then trailed after her.
He grabbed her arm before she could open the door, just in case Jeanie was out there, pressed her against the wood with his body, and kissed her. He was going to need something to tide him over for the hours to come, but he could already tell that he wasn’t going to be able to think about anything else now that he had her. Claimed her. It was all he wanted to do.
Ceana giggled and pushed at his chest. “Stop it, yer daughter’s waitin’ for us.”
Neil groaned and nodded.
They headed down for breakfast together, having already missed the people who had awoken at an appropriate hour and hadn’t gotten carried away.
Jeanie was practically bouncing in her chair as she loaded her plate with sweets and pastries. Neil ruffled her hair as he moved past her. He might have made a comment, but a messenger was waiting for him to take his seat. He held out his hand expectantly as he and Ceana sat down.
He opened the letter without bothering to check the seal like he normally would because of the distraction sitting right beside him. He didn’t recognize what it was until he saw the handwriting—and he immediately lost his appetite.
“What is it?” Ceana asked, before popping a piece of bread in her mouth.
Neil couldn’t even find the words to answer her as he scanned the contents of the letter. It was the first one that his brother had sent to him directly since abandoning his post and his home.
Ceana leaned over his shoulder and read the letter, her eyes widening.
“He says that he’s happy for us,” Neil muttered, not wanting to alarm Jeanie or have her start asking a bunch of questions. “Glad that we found a ‘solution’ but he had to leave.”
Ceana swallowed hard and waited for him to finish speaking.
He found it rather annoying that his brother called what had happened a ‘solution’ because it would have never needed to happen in the first place if he hadn’t left without prior notice.
“He says that he’s with his lover… and that he willnae be returnin’ any time soon.” Neil couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice.
“His lover?” Ceana echoed. “I didnae ken that he had a lover…”
“Neither did I. Why would he agree to marry ye if he had a lover?”
“Clearly, he never intended to do such a thing,” Ceana said sadly. “And the letter doesnae say where he is?”
Neil shook his head, folding back the letter and tucking it into the bag at his belt.
