Page 24 of One Forbidden Kiss with the Laird (The Cinderella Shepherd Sisters #2)

S elina rose early, feeling tired and unrefreshed.

What little sleep she had snatched after the excitement of the dance and the walk home after had been filled with dreams of Callum.

Each time she drifted off she was plagued by visions of what might have been, of Callum in various states of undress, ravishing her in a hundred different ways.

After each dream she woke hot and breathless and yearning for Callum’s touch.

It was a relief when she heard the household stirring, even though she had only managed to snatch a few hours’ sleep. Being tired was better than torturing herself with dreams of a man who was soon to be married to her half-sister.

Selina dressed slowly, taking her time to brush out her hair, pulling at the tangles from the night before.

When she was finally ready she surveyed herself in the little mirror on the wall and deemed the reflection presentable.

There were dark rings under her eyes, but she doubted the Kingsleys would look at her long enough to notice.

As she left her room and started towards the stairs she was surprised to find Catherine marching up to meet her, a grim look on her face.

‘Good morning,’ Selina greeted her, trying to sound cheery.

‘Hardly.’ Catherine caught Selina by the arm and forcibly propelled her back into the little bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

‘Is something amiss?’ Selina asked as Catherine stood by the door, glaring at her.

‘Harlot.’

‘Excuse me.’

‘Don’t try to play the innocent little miss. I see through your deception.’

‘Catherine, I have no idea what you are talking about.’ Selina tried to remain calm, but a shiver of fear ran through her. Catherine was normally spiteful rather than outright cruel, but today she had a wild look about her as if she might be capable of anything.

‘Last night. I saw you sneaking in with Lord Leven, leading him to your bedroom.’

Selina felt the blood drain from her face and suddenly she felt light headed. Reaching behind her, she felt her bed and sank down on to it.

‘It isn’t what you think.’

Catherine snorted with derision. ‘I suppose you invited him back to play a game of chess or discuss something as mundane as ornithology.’

‘Nothing happened. Lord Leven was merely ensuring I got home safely.’

‘You were meant to be home already. I saw you leave the dance, you told everyone you were coming back to Loch View Lodge, but instead it was just a ruse wasn’t it? To give you time to seduce my future husband.’

‘No.’ Selina shook her head desperately.

It was difficult to justify, difficult to defend herself.

She had been in the wrong. Instead of coming home as she had said she would, she’d attended the party for the locals in the barn.

She’d welcomed Callum’s offer to walk her home, even though she knew spending time with him alone was dangerous.

And she had stood in the doorway to this very room wishing he would kiss her, wishing he would take her in his arms and ravish her on the narrow bed.

‘Nothing happened,’ Selina repeated.

Catherine took another step forward. ‘So you were here all night, were you? Tucked up in bed?’

‘No. I admit I went to a party, after the dance Sir William arranged. It was for the locals, held in one of the big barns close by.’

‘You went unchaperoned.’

‘Lord Leven’s mother was there and plenty of the other village women.’

‘If you were a lady, this would be enough to ruin you,’ Catherine spat. ‘But bastard children have no reputation to lose anyway. Perhaps you should be thankful for that.’

Trying to ignore Catherine’s barbed words Selina pressed on. ‘In the early hours of the morning Lord Leven offered to escort me home. He knew a way into the house that meant we wouldn’t need to wake the servants. He saw me upstairs, to the hallway outside my bedroom, and then he left, Catherine.’

‘You think that just because you did not manage to seduce him while the rest of the household slept it makes everything else you did acceptable.’

‘No,’ Selina said quietly. ‘I know it is not. I shouldn’t have gone to the party in the barn and I shouldn’t have agreed to Lord Leven walking me home.’

‘He is my fiancé, near enough. In a few weeks I will marry him and you will return to your penniless life of drudgery. Why do you insist on trying to jeopardise things for me?’ There was a hint of petulance in Catherine’s tone, but Selina saw the anguish there as well.

‘You keep throwing yourself at Lord Leven. How do you not understand—he is going to marry me. You are not made for marriage with a man like that. Perhaps he thinks to amuse himself with a dalliance for a few days, but you are worthless, Selina Shepherd. No decent man is going to want to marry you.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Selina said quietly. ‘I know things have not been easy for you since we arrived in Ballachulish.’

‘Things would be easier if you would just go away. Crawl back to whatever dingy hovel you came from.’

‘I will be gone soon,’ Selina said softly. ‘I will be far away in England and you will be here, married to Lord Leven.’

‘Don’t you forget it,’ Catherine said, her voice low and dangerous.

‘I have been waiting to marry for years, always on the peripheries while my father advises patience so I can be the head of a worthy household. Now is my time. I will be Countess of Leven. I will be Lord Leven’s wife and my son will be the next Earl of Leven. ’

Selina saw the raw ambition in Catherine’s eyes and felt a chill of fear.

She had always assumed it was Sir William driving this match, but she realised Catherine was just as keen.

She wanted the title and the old family name, she wanted all her old friends to have to call her Lady Leven, to acknowledge her superiority in rank.

For too long Selina had viewed Catherine as a spoiled, spiteful girl.

They had done nothing but argue since Selina had arrived at Sir William’s house to inform the man she was his illegitimate daughter.

Now she was fast realising that Catherine was indeed spoiled and certainly often spiteful, but there was more to her than that.

She was ruthless and ambitious and would think nothing of destroying Selina to get what she wanted.

Selina reminded herself that soon she would finally be free of the Kingsleys, even if that meant also leaving Callum behind.

The rational part of her had accepted they could not be together.

His mission was to buy back the land his father had lost, to secure the future of the people of Ballachulish.

That meant he had to marry Catherine. Selina might feel a little heartbroken, but she had seen there was no other way.

Yet the idea of leaving Callum behind, of returning to England knowing she would never see him again in her life, made her heart ache in her chest.

‘Stay away from Lord Leven or I will ensure the whole world knows what a whore you really are and I will persuade Papa to drive you away with no money and none of the clothes he’s paid for this past year.’

Selina watched as her half-sister flounced out.

Once she was sure Catherine was gone she slumped onto the bed and blew out a loud breath.

Her hands were shaking. She had no doubt if her father found out she had been sneaking around with Lord Leven he would deal with her harshly.

She did not want much from the man, but with no funds of her own she needed him to arrange her transport for the journey back to England.

After a few minutes her pulse had slowed and her hands stopped shaking, but Selina was still not ready to face the rest of the Kingsleys.

Catherine had not told of Callum’s late-night visit to the house yet, but at the slightest provocation she might decide to tell their father.

Then everything would be over for Selina.