Page 129 of Evil Hearts

Lachlan’s hair was tied back in a leather bind, though several strands had fallen free and spilled over his face. With daylight pouring in through the mouth of the cave—the skin that had covered the entrance pulled aside from what she could see—she could make out even more details than the firelight from the previous night had offered. His face wore a shadow of a beard around his soft-yet-firm-looking lips. Seeing them now, she remembered how Munro’s kiss had felt, but suddenly yearned to see how his compared.

She felt her breath draw up as she realized what she was thinking.Just what are these two turning me into?She asked herself.

“How many eggs would you like?” he gave her a charming grin and her heart began to race.

“Umm… t-two should be fine,” she smiled back and looked over, seeing a beautiful yellow sundress hanging next to her. “Is that for me?”

“It was our mother’s,” Lachlan smiled. “I hope ye don’t mind, but we figured ye’d want to wearsomethingfor today.”

She blushed as she realized that she was still topless, her bra folded as best as she would have expected beside the dress. Trying to not seem klutzy, she reached for the bra; the feeling of exposure both embarrassing and liberating, but nevertheless feeling inappropriate. “I don’t wear dresses very often,” she admitted as her hand brushed against the softness of the dress. “Though itisbeautiful…”

“Aye! Try it on,” he grinned as he continued with the eggs and bacon.

She smiled back and stood from the pelts, realizing too late that her pants were still bundled around her knees. The air grew heated as Lachlan’s gaze fell to her panties and she bit her lip, recognizing the hungry gleam in his eyes.

“Ye best dress yerself, lass,” he tore his gaze from her body and unnecessarily tended to a strip of bacon. “You’ll catch yer death of cold if ye don’t.”

Though she doubted that she’d ever have to worry about the cold after the night she’d had with the two of them, she nodded and secured her pants before shrugging into the sundress.

As Lachlan turned his back to her as he finished with the eggs, Katarina felt a moment of uncomfortable clarity. She didn’t want Lachlan to be a pleasant memory from this vacation. She wanted to get to know him better, and while she had shared thenight with himandhis brother, there was something abouthimthat compelled her. Guilt and dread washed over her; did her sudden interest in Lachlan over Munro make her a bad person? Was there even any hope for anything of substance? She was a foreigner in a foreign land—a pampered artist; an entertainer!—and they were savage, cave-dwelling hunters. Who knew how many girls they’d had in this cave! And there she was dwelling on thoughts of more; what’s more, she was dwelling on thoughts of more with the one brother that seemed the most distant! As she finished dressing, she shook her head of the thoughts.

This was no time to be thinking like this! She’d found the inspiration she was there to find, and—dammit!—she needed to paint!

“So, about painting…”

She saw Lachlan’s shoulder’s tense. “Aye?”

She cleared her throat, “Will you two be willing to accompany back to town? All my supplies are back at the inn.” She took a deep breath, looking over as Lachlan finished plating the food.

“Aye, once Munro returns, we’ll see to it,” he smiled, handing her one of the plates. “For now, eat up.”

“Thank you, Lachlan,” she blushed at the sound of his name on her lips and looked down to hide her reddening cheeks, “Are you… are you mad at me?”

“What would make ye think I was mad?” he raised an eyebrow, his beautiful green eyes taking her in.

“I… I’m not sure. I guess I didn’t want you to think I was easy,” she looked down. “Last night was… well, it was a new thing for me.” The index finger of her right hand found a loose curl over her ear and began to twirl it absently. Though she’d never been one to fidget with her hair, she felt the need to be more aware of her appearance, and the old resentment to her stubborn curls had reawaken along with her uneasiness of the hard-to-read therion highlander’s stoic expression.

“It was new for me too,” he answered, suddenly not making eye contact. He shoveled an entire egg with a tail of blackened bacon into his mouth and began to chew. As he swallowed, his eyes fell upon her chest, and she wondered what, exactly, he was admiring. “That dress fits you perfectly. Munro was right about it.”

“Oh? And what did Munro say?” she smiled, beginning to eat.

“Only that the dress would fit ye like a glove,” he chuckled.

Katarina paused and smiled, looking down at the intricate pattern woven throughout the dress. It was beautiful. She looked up, wondering why the two would keep their mother’s dress with them in a cave.

“Where is your mother?” she asked.

He paused for a moment, staring into the dying flames of the cooking fire to avoid eye contact with her. She noticed the sudden tension in his shoulders and she instantly regretted having asked.

“She… passed away,” he muttered, shoveling another bite into his mouth, then adding “Several years ago” around the bite. Lachlan looked down, shaking his head. “We were only lads then…”

“I’m so sorry, Lachlan,” she bit her lip. “I didn’t mean to pry…”

“It’s no’ a problem,” he smiled warmly towards her, but it seemed forced. “She was a fine woman—a fierce woman—an’ she loved us with all her heart ‘til ‘er dying breath. She didn’t die in vain.”

“‘Tis no’ a conversation to be had this early, Lachlan,” Munro stepped through the entrance, his eyes sunk to the floor with the same pain as his brother’s.

“And what would ye have me do?” Lachlan turned, “Lie to her? Tell her our mother’s lively about, prancing through the meadows?”

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