With a sigh, Ian crossed his arms where he stood, near the door. "I'm sorry this happened, lass."
"So am I," she said softly. "And I certainly don't expect you to marry me just to protect the family fortune."
"Of course you don't expect it. But are you willin' to do it?"
She lifted her head with a snap, and felt her own eyes widen as they found his. "What?"
He moved across the room until he stood just in front of her chair, and then he dropped down onto one knee in front of her. "Will ya marry me, lass?"
"Get up, Ian." She shot to her feet as she said it. "Get up and stop being ridiculous."
He rose to his feet as well, but kept trying to hold her eyes with his. And even though she kept averting her gaze, she found it drawn back to his over and over.
"I donna find it ridiculous at all, Kira. There's…somethin' between us. Somethin' more powerful than makes any sense, given the brevity of our acquaintance. You canna deny it."
"I don't deny it. I've felt it too. Hell, it took my breath away from the first time I set eyes on you—I even felt it when we spoke on the phone, but Ian, how will we ever know where it might have led, given time? If we're forced to marry now, our relationship will never have a chance to develop in a natural way."
"It felt pretty natural on the water yesterday, love." As he said it, he slid his arms around her waist, pulled her a little closer, until their bodies were touching.
"It's insane, Ian. No, I can't do it. I'd like to keep seeing you—I'm compelled to. I don't think I could stop if I tried. But we can't get married. Not like this. We barely know each other."
"And yet it feels as if I've known ya forever," he said.
She lifted her head in spite of herself, and he lowered his, kissed her, folded her up in his arms and held her hard as she opened to him, kissing him back as the heat flared between them. Her entire body began to tremble, and she felt an inexplicable, overwhelming rush of emotion that tightened her throat and burned in her eyes.
When he broke the kiss and she melted against him, she felt his heart pounding as rapidly as her own. And she didn't doubt he felt the same mindless need that she did. And yet it made no sense.
"There's no such thing as love at first sight," she whispered, because she was incapable of speaking more loudly than that.
"We've a week, Kira, a week in which to make this decision. I've lived to be near forty, and never felt the likes of this before. I've no illusion I'll be feelin' it again with another woman. But it makes sense to take the time we've been given before makin' any decision. At least, donna refuse me until our time expires."
He stroked her hair, and she clung to him. "I just don't understand any of this. Not what I feel with you, not this curse—"
"I can promise you one thing, Kira. That curse will never harm ya, not if I'm the one you trust to keep ya safe."
She lifted her gaze to his. "I'm afraid."
"Aye, an' so am I. But I've a suggestion."
She stared into his eyes, wondering if the caring she saw in them could possibly be real.
"Try to pretend it's just us, just the two of us, with a week to spend together. Forget the will an' the curse and all the rest of it. An' just focus on the two of us."
"How am I supposed to do that, Ian? How can I, with the aunts, and the castle and all of it, looming over me like a big blade waiting to fall?"
He lowered his hands and clasped both of hers. "Come away with me. Your family owns a cottage on the coast, which they've given my family the right to use at will. It's close enough that you can visit your relatives if you wish it, and yet far enough away to give us time and privacy to…to see where this may lead."
She looked down at their clasped hands, and sniffling, she nodded. "I couldn't say no if I wanted to."
His hands tightened on hers. "I'm glad to hear it. I can think of nothing else but you, and I want nothing more than to be with you."
"I know. I feel exactly the same way. I just wish I understood why."
He licked his lips, lowered his head, and for the first time she had the feeling he was keeping something from her.
"What? What is it?"
He met her eyes again, and shook his head, as if whatever thought had crossed his mind didn't matter. "Go and pack up some things. I'll info rm your aunts of our decision."
She did as he suggested, packing a week's worth of things into one small suitcase and snatching up her makeup bag, and then she headed down the stairs to meet him. But as soon as she reached the bottom, the sounds of raised voices caught her attention.
Slowing her pace, she crept nearer to the room, the very study where she and Ian had spoken only moments before.
"You promised me you wouldna get involved with her, Ian," Aunt Esmeralda said, her tone ice-cold and clipped.
"That was before I met her. Esmeralda, what I feel for her—"
"Is exactly what I warned you against. I've feared this very thing, Ian. Do you not see that it's unfolding just as I predicted?"
"Maybe it's supposed to," he said softly. "At least if we spend some time together, we might—"
"Aye, aye, fine. Spend time together. But not there. Not at that cottage, of all places. Ian, it's certain to end in tragedy."
"It willna," he said, his tone grave. "Not this time."
She heard his footsteps coming toward the closed door, but they stopped when Esmeralda spoke again. "If she knew all of it, Ian, she wouldna choose to go there with you."
"Aye, indeed, what the lass needs is more of her spinster aunts' silly superstitions clouding her mind."
"The curse is real, Ian, and it culminates in the two of you. How can you not believe that when you've seen it with your own eyes?"
His hand clutched the door knob, began to turn it. "If that's true, then it's with us the curse will be broken. I would think you'd want that, Emeralda. To finally be free of this dark belief that you've allowed to keep you prisoner your entire life."
"I canna watch her die at your hand, Ian."
"I promise you," he said. "That will never happen. More likely the moon would turn to dust than I would harm a hair on Kira MacLellan's comely head."
The doorknob turned, and Kira backed up rapidly, suitcase in hand, to the bottom of the staircase, and stood there as the door opened. Ian exited the room, and saw her there, met her eyes and quickly pasted a warm smile over the troubled expression on his face.
"Are you ready, then?"
Trembling, and reminding herself that she did not believe in curses, she nodded.
He came closer, and took the bag from her hand, then touched her cheek gently. "You look frightened, Kira. Are you having second thoughts?"
"I just…I just have the feeling there may be something you haven't told me."
He glanced back toward the study door. Esmeralda stood there now, watching them. Ian faced her again, and said, "There is something. But I'll tell you all of it, lass, once we're alone, and have time and privacy."
She held his eyes.
"Hysteria and superstition needn't be a part of the conversation," he said. "I far prefer calm and logic to those things."
Kira felt herself nodding. "That makes sense. Frankly, another night here with the ghosts of this place haunting me isn't something I've been longing for."
Esmeralda stomped away, muttering, "And you think the cottage will be better?"
Chapter 8
The "cottage" was bigger than most houses she'd seen. Two stories, with peaks and gables, and a widow's walk, perched on high, looking out over the sea. Its siding was pale blue, its trim white, its driveway a worn dirt track. The grass was higher than it should have been, with tufts of weeds and rushes standing higher than the rest, here and there, waving softly with the ocean's breeze. Beyond it was a rocky beach, and the sea, its waves rolling in endlessly. Seagulls cried and swooped in every direction. The place was beautiful. But dark. Something about it gave Kira a chill right down her spine.