Forbidden Heart (Hearts of the Highlands #6) - Paula Quinn Page 0,47

only part of her showing in her full habit. He took her in like a lost man in a desert finding an oasis.

He said nothing. His eyes spoke for him. He wanted to kiss her, not just her lips, but her chin, her neck…lower. He wanted to ravish her.

“Captain, I—” She wanted to ask about Cecilia Birchet. But she didn’t.

She was too afraid she felt the same way about him and turned away.

“I must go.” She hurried out of the room—keeping Lizzie’s laughter in her thoughts instead of the heat of the captain’s gaze.

She found Matilda returning to the castle. When Silene told her the captain had gone to her chambers with the kitten and he waited for her there, she muttered an oath, but Silene knew she wouldn’t remain angry for long.

When she thought about it, she realized the captain didn’t need her help with Matilda. He had but to smile at her and she would give in. Silene wondered if she was so easily moldable in his hands.

She left the castle and made her way to the chapel. She slipped inside and looked for the priest. He’d come to her the day after she arrived but Father Alphonsus had been with him, so she didn’t get to say much.

She had much to confess. She asked him if it was a sin to change her mind about saying her vows. It didn’t go well. First, he warned her of her uncle’s ire, and then he warned her of God’s.

After her prayers and penance, Silene left the church. She wished she could talk to Agnes or Marjorie Anne. The sisters would never betray her. Would Father Nathaniel? Oh, why had she told him anything? He said God would be angry with her. She wrung her hands together and prayed as she hurried over the drawbridge and stepped through the inner gate. She didn’t want to go back to the castle yet.

She spread her gaze over the sunlit yard. The villagers were out and about. Perhaps someone needed some kind of help.

She started forward and spotted the captain descending the stairs behind Alex and Margaret. She hid behind the western wall and watched him step onto the grass. Daffodil was curled up in a tiny bundle at his neck. They walked away from the crowd and went behind the bakehouse and into the gardens of Dundonald. The children ran ahead and squealed with delight when the captain set the sleepy kitten in the grass. He called something out to the children.

Silene wanted to get closer. She couldn’t see the kitten from where she was but from the children’s laughter and the captain’s beaming smile, the little feline must have been doing something to please them.

She stepped out from her hiding place. He saw her immediately though he made no move to go to her. She could feel his eyes on her, facets of emerald, hooded, curious eyes. Her cheeks burned when he smiled and then turned to look over his shoulder to make certain they were alone.

“Did you speak to Lady Matilda?”

“Aye. She agreed that Daffodil was a bonny cat. But she still refuses to let the children keep her.”

Silene frowned but, as she suspected, Matilda wasn’t angry with him. He hadn’t needed Silene today. He wanted her there. He liked her being here now. He hadn’t stopped smiling.

“Did ye speak with Father Nate?”

“Aye.”

“Good. D’ye feel better then?”

“Nay,” she shook her head. “I feel worse. He told me God will be very angry with me if I changed my mind about my vows. That is not what I wish.”

He swallowed hearing how she thought about not saying her vows. Then he nodded—and then shook his head. “Why would He not tell ye what to do? If ye are aboot to do somethin’ so terrible as to fall in love with me and anger Him…why would He need a priest to tell ye not to do it?”

He said she was falling in love with him. Was she? “Because I can pretend that I do not hear.”

He was quiet, searching her gaze. “I dinna believe it, Silene.”

“You are temptation of every kind, Captain.”

He scowled. “I dinna want to be a temptation fer ye.”

She smiled, loving his guileless nature. “You must realize that you are difficult to resist.”

“Then dinna resist. Let us go before Father Nate together—”

“And your betrothed? What of her?”

He barely missed a breath. “What aboot her? I never loved her. I dinna wish to marry her. I was doin’ John a