Part 6 (1/2)
”Nay, not at all. My father loves me, and well I know it. I do talk too much. 'Tis a fault I've had all my life. My mother claims it's because I had no other sibling, and since she wanted to have a large family the good Lord gave her me. I might be a single child, but I make enough noise for several dozen.”
Ewan snorted at that.
”Was that a laugh?”
”Nay, it was a noise of agreement.”
”Mmm,” she said as she stared at him. ”You know, I'm thinking that must be why you're quiet.”
”What do you mean?”
”You have so many brothers, I imagine it was rather difficult for you to be heard over them.”
”Believe me, I can make myself heard over them if needs be.”
She came to ride by his side. ”I don't know,” she said doubtfully. ”Your voice is so deep that I doubt you could get much out of it in way of a shout.”
Nora lowered her voice to a deep pitch that sent a strange s.h.i.+ver down his spine. ”See how when I talk like this, it's far too deep.” She raised her voice back to its normal level. ”Nay, no real bellow would be possible with that. Poor you, to be so cursed.”
”Poor me, indeed,” he said under his breath, wondering why he was unimaginably amused by her.
There was something refres.h.i.+ng about her now that he thought about it. She was rather brash and stood up to him in a way no one other than his brothers ever had.
Most women were intimidated by his height and scowl. He'd scarce had to do more than turn a glance to a maid to send her flying off in the opposite direction, or worse, have her start giggling at him.
He hated giggling.
Nora never giggled.
Her laugh was pleasant. Soothing.
Then she began to hum.
Ewan reined his horse in and stared at her.
She paused and looked up at him with large eyes. ”Why are you scowling at me now?”
”You are interminably pleasant. How can you sit there and be so happy over nothing at all?”
”It certainly beats being sad over nothing at all. Don't you agree?”
He stiffened at her implication. ”I happen to like being sad over nothing at all. I find it suits me.”
”A smile would suit you better. My mother always says that a smile is dressing for the face.”
”And I always say the face, much like the body, is best left naked.”
Her cheeks pinkened at his words. ”Do you always speak so freely?”
”I thought you said I don't speak at all.”
Her face fair glowed with impish delight. She was enjoying their verbal sparring, and though he hated to admit it, there was a part of him that liked it, too.
”You're certainly an interesting dichotomy,” she admitted. ”I will give you that. A paragon of contradictions.”
”How so?”
”Well, you live in a cave, which suggests a rugged demeanor, and at the same time you made sure that you brought the comforts from home. You act beastly to people and you treat beasts with care. What say you to that?”
”I say that you have spent entirely too much time contemplating me.”
Just as he had spent entirely too much time contemplating her and the way the breeze played through her blond hair that peeped out from under her brat. The way the curve of her lips looked so moist and inviting.
Lips that would probably be as soft as a rose's petals.
Lips that would taste like heaven...
He shook himself from that mental direction. The last time he had thought such foolishness, he had paid well for it.
And so had Kieran.
”Do you like living alone?” she asked suddenly. ”I'm not sure if I would like it or not.”
Before he could respond, she added. ”Of course, I talk so much you're probably thinking that I could carry on a conversation with myself for so long that like as not I'd never miss anyone else.”
He smiled in spite of himself.
Nora gasped. ”Was that a smile?”
He cleared his throat. ”Was what a smile?”
”That strange curvature of your lips. You know, the one where the corners are actually going up instead of down.”
It was all he could do not to smile again. ”I know not what you mean.”
It didn't work.
She sat back with a satisfied look on her beautiful face. ”You have a most pleasant smile, my lord.
Perhaps 'tis best to keep your smiles hidden. The rarity of them will make them all the more valuable. So I shall cherish that one until I gain another from you.”
She was the strangest woman he had ever met. Quite daft, point of fact.
She continued to chatter, and he found himself listening to her in spite of himself. Listening to the cadence of her voice, the soft lulling quality of it.
There was something soothing about the sound and the fact that she didn't really expect to converse with him, but was content just to prattle away on her own.
But what disturbed him most was the craving she awoke inside him.