Page 34 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
“How did ye end up here?” the Laird demanded.
Holly turned to look at the burnt cabin before looking back at him. She couldn’t tell him that Eliza had let it slip. “What is this place?”
“Why did ye come here?” he growled.
Holly wanted to know what had happened in this place, but it was not the time to ask him.
“I never meant to come here,” she replied. “I was only… well, it’s none of yer business.” She almost bit her lip as she stumbled through the few words that she managed to get out.
Elias took her arm before she could leave. “Ye’re to be me wife, so I would say that it is me business.”
Holly wanted to protest. She longed to find the words that he would believe, but he was so close to her, and it clouded her mind. If she could only not let it cloud her judgment, too.
“I cannae say,” she said softly.
“Ye cannae say?” the Laird asked. “Yer head is still injured, so I’ll let it go for now, but this isnae the end of it.”
“Nay, of course nae, Me Laird. I think the fresh air is doin’ me some good. Will ye walk with me, and we can get away from here.”
“Aye,” the Laird said quickly. His eyes flickered between Holly and the cabin. His expression was tense.
It all made Holly want to know more about the cabin and why it had been burned down. Who had burned it down? Why did it hold so much pain for the Laird?
She went to him. He had taken her pain away briefly the previous night with his lips. Could she do the same for him?
His anger was raging such that she didn’t try. She didn’t know if she could do enough to cool his anger. Was it her place to walk up to him and kiss him? Was that expected, now that they were getting married?
“Ye look very handsome today, Me Laird,” Holly said, taking the focus off the cabin. She didn’t look back at it again.
He did look good. Elias wore a pair of tight plaid trews, a white linen shirt, and an oversized shawl over one shoulder. On hishead, he wore a blue woolen tammie, and there was a belt and dirk around his waist.
“Thank ye,” the Laird said as they walked out of the area around the cabin. After a few steps, he looked much more relaxed. “Ye also look a picture.”
Holly suddenly burst out laughing.
The Laird stopped walking and turned to face her with the same fiery intensity in his eyes. “Why are ye laughin’ like that?”
“Me Laird, look at me! I slept in the same clothes I wore yesterday, and they are crumpled even though I tried to smooth them out, and I have a bloodied bandage wrapped around me head. Are ye sure ye still want to take me as yer wife?”
Elias looked her up and down, his eyes roving over her body. She could feel the anger radiating from him, but he hid it well.
“Aye, ye’ll do just fine,” he said.
There had been few occasions where Holly was dressed worse than she currently was, but she felt splendid listening to his words.
“Will ye take me arm as we walk?” Elias said.
Holly had to gulp down the spurt of emotion that shot up from the pit in her chest. She had not realized until that moment that the pit of passion he had created only hours ago was still there. When he had left her room in a rage, she knew it would be a long time, if ever again, before they kissed, but now the distance between the previous kiss and the next one shrank.
She took his arm, her hand trembling as it had done when she petted Ollie in her bed. She gripped him hard to hide the tremor.
The Laird didn’t say anything as he led them away from the burnt cabin, but the farther they got from it, the more relaxed his body felt. His muscles slowly slackened, and while Holly was glad for that, it made her want to know about the cabin even more.
When we are married, he willnae be able to cast me out easily. I could ask him then.
What if the secret is darker than I imagine, and I cannae leave him so easily after discoverin’ it? What if it’s where he burned his last wife?
Holly scrunched up her nose, trying to rid herself of the thought. It was a ridiculous thought without reason to be in her head. Yet, what if…?
