He watched disappointment darken her gaze. Even that was an improvement on where he'd been with her only a day ago. Then she hadn't thought well enough of him to be capable of feeling disappointment.
Before she could object, Callum went on. "But since then, I've learned to appreciate your spirit. That fiery hair isnae the only thing about ye that burns, my lady."
She didn't look convinced. "You showed how much ye appreciated my spirit last night when ye hauled me away to your chamber like a captive slave girl."
He gave a soft laugh. "Aye, I did. And verra exciting I found it, too. You're a verra exciting woman, Mhairi Drummond, and no’ just because you're so bonny, ye steal my breath away."
"That's just the thrill of the chase," she said with a gesture of her free hand.
"Och, there's that. Sitting here beside ye now, and you showing nae sign of wanting to leave, my heart is beating as fast as a stag running over the hills. I'm fair bedazzled with looking at ye."
He expected her to protest, especially as he referred to her looks once more. But her looks were as much a part of this enthralling woman as her extraordinary vitality.
"Oh."
Tenderness stabbed him anew when he saw that his words made her bashful, instead of outraged. For a long time, they regarded each other in silence.
He'd wanted to kiss her at least since she'd tricked him and hidden in the forest on the way here. A powerful urge to press his lips to hers rose. But he, judged a courageous man, quailed at the thought of shattering this sweet, surprising concord that stretched between them.
"I believe that ye value me as more than a prize to be won or a counter to lure my father to the negotiating table."
She'd shocked him over and over. This was perhaps her most shocking announcement yet. "Ye do?"
His unhidden astonishment made her smile. She'd smiled more tonight than she had since she'd come to Achnasheen.
"Aye. When ye told your clan that any slight to me is a slight to you, I realized that you do indeed mean to give me your respect and an honored place at your side."
"I do," he said, as if making a solemn vow. Was what he'd said in the hall the secret behind her friendlier attitude?
Not long ago, he would have rushed to make another proposal. But if she came to know him better, he came to know her, too. By blundering in now, he risked destroying all the progress he'd made in the last day.
By God, it was braw to have her looking at him as if he was part of the human race, and not some two-headed beast worthy only of her disgust. While he was damned sick of counseling himself to patience, he saw more patience was required.
At last he saw some reward for waiting. So he smiled and gestured toward the staircase. "Shall we proceed downstairs, my lady?"
Chapter 16
The moment she entered the hall, Mhairi noticed the change. The air of simmering hostility was absent, and the maids who served her meal even dared to share a smile with her.
The Mackinnon's stark warning that disloyalty to her was disloyalty to him had clearly hit home. She remembered the rush of overwhelming emotion when she heard those astonishing words, putting his allegiance to her above his allegiance to the clan. For one blinding moment, she'd imagined what it would be like if she married him.
The thought had always terrified her before, but no longer. It was far too easy to picture a life in this beautiful place, taking these people as her own, accepting the powerful, handsome laird into her bed.
Into her bed…
She could no longer pretend she didn't find him physically appealing. Every touch of his hand whispered of seduction to come. Today, he’d touche
d her often, and she'd let him. Even welcomed the firm grip of that capable hand on her arm.
As she sat beside the Mackinnon at the high table, her eyes dwelled on him as she struggled to make sense of the confusion fermenting in her heart. He was talking to John Drummond who sat on his other side, a position of honor tonight and another sign that things had changed at the castle over the last day. Her cousin responded politely enough, but he remained wary, she could see.
They were discussing events down in London and finding common ground in their disapproval of the latest factional maneuvers at the court. One might almost imagine the Mackinnon was a sophisticated, intelligent, modern man.
Who was she trying to fool? He was all that. But he was also the villain who had snatched her away from her father and locked her up and hauled her up to his chambers like a pirate seizing a captive.
Even then, Black Callum hadn't hurt her. She was still as virginal three days after her abduction as she'd been when she arrived. That fact still astonished her. They both knew how much he wanted her. Even Jean couldn't stand in his way if he was determined on taking her maidenhead to force her into marriage.
No, the Laird of Achnasheen was no angel, but nor was he altogether evil. In fact, the more she saw of him, the more she acknowledged that in many ways he was a good man. A man any woman would be proud to claim as her husband.