Page 50 of Rescued By the Highland Warrior
Moira’s eyes fluttered open and for a moment she forgot where she was.
The sunlight’s warm glow streamed in through the window by the bed, and Moira sat up to look sleepily upon a clear blue sky.
She blinked the sleep from her eyes, stretching her limbs as her mind did its best to catch up.
Where am I, and why am I so relaxed?
Then she remembered—the wind howling against the lodge, the pellets of thrashing rain, and Roderick. His lips had been on hers, his mouth and hands exploring her body in ways that had her screaming.
Had it all been a dream?
No.It happened. She remembered it vividly—all of it.
Everything that her body had been urging for had finally happened—she had been intimate with Roderick, let down her walls for him, and he had given her the kind of passion she had never dared to let herself imagine possible for someone like her.
She told herself that she should have been thinking about what it might mean going forward, how unprofessional and complicated it all could get. But for some reason, she didn’t care.
She smiled as she pulled the blanket tighter around her body. She still felt his lips on her, the parts where he had touched tingling with new life—and she couldn’t hold back a strange fuzzy feeling that traveled through each part of her body, filling her with an unexpected warmth.
All of this was new to her. She felt like a different woman, one who was perhaps on her way to being a little less cold.
Moira moved her hand gently to the space beside her. It was empty and she realized with dread that Roderick was gone.
Her body responded in a way that was completely beyond her control, an all-consuming sadness washing over her. She scolded herself for it. The last thing she wanted was to become one of those lasses who turn needy just because they’d been intimate with someone once.
She refused to become like that.
And yet, something took flight in her stomach when she heard his footsteps returning. As though each step brought a sense of relief she hadn’t realized she needed—a lifeline of sorts.
Moira quickly smoothed her hair, schooling her expression into one of casual ease, as though she hadn’t just been deep in thought.
Pathetic,she told herself. But still, as the sounds of his footsteps came closer, her stomach turned both fuzzy and warm.
“Roderick,” she said, turning slightly and watching as he stepped through the doorway. His presence filled the room with an ease that both comforted and unsettled her. She felt close to him now those full lips had been on hers, those hands had explored her body.
But then again, there she was—naked in bed and there he was—fully dressed, with an unreadable expression etched across his face.
“Ye should have woken me,” Moira said softly, “I didnae realize that ye were already up.”
“Ye said ye hadn’t been sleepin’ well so I wanted tae let ye rest.” he said coolly.
“That is very kind of ye,” she smiled, outstretching her arms. “Dae ye want somethin’ tae eat? I was thinkin’ we could–”
“We should be gettin’ back to the castle,” he said coldly. “I think it’s time now that the storm has cleared.”
“Aye,” Moira said, doing her best to keep her expression neutral, though her heart sank at the abrupt tone in his voice.
The warmth that had filled her just moments ago, the lingering traces of last night’s passion, all seemed to vanish into the cold distance between them.
She forced a small nod, gathering the blanket tighter around herself. “Aye, ye’re right. We should get goin’.”
As she looked around for her things, her gaze flickered to the nightstand where the letters had once been.
They are gone.
Suddenly his abruptness made sense. At least partially, although she wanted to know more.
“Did ye read them?” she said, her eyes locked on the place that had once been occupied by the letters.
