AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER1
The feast wasin full swing. Guests dressed in various colors, moving to the beat of the drums stretched as far as the eye could see, but Astrid Wright was tired of trying to avoid bumping into every drunken Scot around her.
“Keira, I cannae dance anymore. I am going to stand at the side for some time,” she called out to her sister, who was dancing right alongside her.
“Why nae? Ye ken Faither never allows us to visit ceilidhs anyway. Stay here and dance till he comes looking for us,” Keira reasoned, and Astrid couldn’t help but smile at the bitterness in her young sister’s voice.
She understood Keira’s sentiments perfectly well, since she too had to face the restrictions their father put on them. Despite being the daughters of the Laird of O’Donnely, the two girls did not have much freedom. Astrid knew the reason behind her father’s harsh restrictions, even if it did not make much sense to her. Despite that, it was not in her heart to go against him. Hence, both she and Astrid had no choice but to listen.
“We still have ample time before Faither asks us to return home. I am sure I can stand at the corner for a few minutes.” Astrid smiled, holding her sister’s hand.
“If that is what ye want! Although, even while standing at the corner, ye will have enough eyes on ye as being the bonniest girl at the entire ceilidh,” Keira said, her words having a flattering ring to them.
“Ye dinnae have to flatter me like this when we both ken it is true,” Astrid joked before dancing out of the circle and waving at her sister.
She finally breathed a little as she stood at one end of the large hall, her back resting against the wall. She hadn’t attended such a feast for about a few months now and hence was having a grand time. Despite that, a hint of sadness had been lurking just underneath the surface.
She could not pinpoint the exact reason behind feeling this way, but it could simply be the fact that she knew this moment would soon be over.
Although, she knew this was not the right place to be thinking these thoughts. She was still slightly upset when her attentions turned elsewhere. For about an hour now, she had been feeling eyes on her. It felt as if someone in the hall was watching her very closely.
The unnerving feeling of the hair at the back of her neck standing up returned, and she once again knew that she was being watched. Her brown eyes scanned the entire room before they landed quite easily on a pair of green ones. Just as she had thought, whoever the man was, he didn’t flinch or break eye contact. Astrid could see he was not the least bit embarrassed at being caught. It was as if he had wanted her to find him.
She continued looking as he smiled at her. The man was not only tall but also well-built and muscular. His dark hair gave him a dangerous gleam that made Astrid wish to find out more about who he was. He could be someone dangerous, her mind told her, but Astrid decided to not let her inhibitions get the best of her.
So, she didn’t think twice before smiling back at him. That was encouragement enough for him, since as soon as she smiled, he shuffled in place as if contemplating for two seconds before walking across the hall to stand right in front of her.
He is extremely handsome.
The stranger smiled at her, and Astrid had to crane her neck to take a better look at him.
And so tall.
“Flynn,” he said in the way of introduction.
“Astrid,” she replied, not knowing what else to say. They were standing two feet apart in order to make sure they heard one another well over the loud beat of the drums.
“Why is such a bonnie lass standin’ all by herself?” he asked, and Astrid couldn’t help but blush softly at the compliment.
“Ye took too long to come and greet me. What is a lass supposed to do?” Astrid joked, throwing the blame entirely on him.
He caught the hint of playfulness in her tone and stepped even closer. His scent permeated her nose and almost made her swoon. Clean and a little bit manly.
“I had been tryin’ to make ye look at me for so long. I came over the moment I saw ye wanted me here.”
“Who said I wanted ye here? Ye walked here all by yerself, uninvited.”
“Astrid, please,” Flynn said, his voice deepening as he maintained eye contact, “I think we both are aware that ye wanted to talk to me as much as I wanted to talk to ye. Or is that not so?”
Astrid blushed at the question, knowing perfectly well he already knew the answer to it, but she still decided to play coy. “Yer much taller than everyone else here. I was merely wondering how it must feel to be the odd one out.”
“The odd one out, ye say?” Flynn laughed, making her smile as she noticed he laughed beautifully. “I could ask ye the same thing, since yer the most beautiful woman out here tonight. How does it feel to be this beautiful?”
She could not understand if she was flattered or flustered. A man this handsome stood too close to her and was calling her beautiful, which was rather confusing. She was a confident woman and knew that she possessed some sort of beauty, but despite that, she had never been involved in flirtatious banter with a man.
“Now ye think I am beautiful?”
“I do think so, yes,” he replied with a smile.
