Sighing, Devon removed his coat and crossed to the window. He pulled back the curtain and stared into the distance. Cool air leaked in around the casement, making him glad for the fire, smoky as it was. The night was especially bright, lit by the full moon, the stars twinkling all around. It would have been a magical night for a midnight ride.

But only if he had Kat to share it with. God, what a coil. His last few days had been ruined. Blast it, he was locked here in a ramshackle castle with a warring couple and a marriage-minded shrew while the woman he—

He caught himself. The woman he what? Liked? Enjoyed? Lusted after? What was she? His mind seemed unable to define it, to define her.

He sighed and rested his forehead against the damp windowpane. Deep in the woods, a faint light twinkled, a glimpse of golden warmth.

He couldn’t seem to stop thinking of her. Of the feel of her lips beneath his, of the fullness of her in his arms. He loved women, loved their foibles, their airs, their frivolity. They amused him, but none had ever engaged him on a serious level.

But with Kat, he found himself wondering who she was behind that enigmatic exterior. She simply did not play by the known Rules of Womanhood. She didn’t flirt. She didn’t laugh at his sallies unless they caught her by surprise. She didn’t try to impress him or engage his interest in any way whatsoever.

She was completely devoid of the artifices most women used. Artifices that had, until very recently, amused him in a mild sort of way.

What was strange was that the more he saw of Kat, the less amused he was by what he had once considered natural feminine wiles. In fact, he was finding Murien’s company onerous. What bothered him most was the realization that, had he met Murien two weeks ago, he would have been completely taken by her. At least for a month or so.

He sighed, pushing the curtain back further, to rest his shoulder against the window frame, feeling the chill of his own chamber.

He’d wager Kat’s cottage was warm. There was something almost magical about that place, something uniquely comforting and homelike. Somehow, Kat had turned her cottage into everything that Kilkairn Castle was not. He sighed. Once he left Kilkairn, every day would feel like today. Every day he’d smile and talk and nod and feel utterly alone. Being with Kat had spoiled him.