Page 25 of A Healer for the Ruthless Highlander
It made her uncomfortable to be so far from home. In general, she didn’t like sleeping outside, even though her job often forced her to. She missed the much more familiar sounds of home—her sisters’ slow breathing and her father’s deep snores across the hall.
In a different environment, everything was new, strange, and foreign, and that made her uncomfortable. Even more so, considering her current situation.
Restless, and perhaps wishing for something to distract her, she approached the door. But she heard nothing.
“Must have been a guard,” she muttered, forcing herself back to bed.
She tucked herself in and squeezed her eyes shut, pushing all thoughts of Kenneth out of her mind. She had to remember why she was here—to heal Hunter.
So, she focused on that, forcing herself to believe that the sooner she found the cause of his illness, the sooner she’d return to her family.
“Soon, ye will leave here. Ye will go home to yer sisters and forget this terrible incident,” she promised herself.
But try as she might, she couldn’t get Kenneth out of her head. And her thoughts always circled back to him.
To his half-naked body, pressed against hers. Unharmed, strong, firm…
To his tongue, running down her neck and chest…
A moan caught in her throat, but then she sighed. Eventually, she drifted off, inevitably dreaming of the man she couldn’t get out of her mind, and of the encounter that she desperately wanted to repeat.
Leana’s footsteps announced her presence even before her figure emerged from the corridor.
Kenneth raised his head slowly. He was reluctant to let go of thoughts of the woman he had dreamed of all night. The mere memory of her firm, soft lips set something inside him aflame. But he had to suppress the urge to lunge at her and ravish her on the table.
So he took a sip of his tea, listening to Valerie’s laughter as she entered the dining hall with Leana.
It was obvious that his cousin was trying to befriend the healer—which was good in many ways, and worrying in many others.
And although he didn't say it out loud, everyone knew that the Laird was very protective of his family, especially since his return.
He knew well how much Brenda had suffered during the years of Kenneth and Hunter's absence. The woman imprisoned by her marriage to the man she did not love. Her only joy came from the occasional letters Kenneth was able to send her, telling her of his and Hunter's adventures.
Brenda's life had improved since his return to the castle to take up the position of Laird, and especially since Valerie came to live with them. But that didn't stop Kenneth from worrying about her and his cousin's welfare. A part of him feared that Valerie might become too close to Leana, which would mean that the blonde would suffer when the healer left the castle.
Besides that, Valerie was a pleasant and energetic girl who rarely failed to make good conversation. But that was the problem. Shewas prone to excessive chattering, and at that moment, Kenneth needed Leana’s attention to be focused solely on his brother.
Of course, the attentionhehad paid to the healer the night before was not exactly conducive to that goal, but he chose to dismiss the encounter. It was only a minor incident—one that could not be repeated, no matter how much he wished to.
Even though Leana’s mere presence was capable of igniting something within him that he thought he had mastered.
Her eyes, which flickered to him for only a moment, were filled with a thousand questions that he wished he could answer.
She was obviously troubled, and that amused and pleased him. She averted her gaze when she realized he was watching her.
With only a quiet “Good morning,” she went to sit at the other end of the table, next to Brenda, while Valerie followed with a jovial gait.
It was better this way, and for the same reason, Kenneth decided not to think about the past encounter, even though he followed her every word with special care and attention. He ate, pretending as much as possible not to be interested in the conversation between the three women. But his attention was focused on them.
Focused, of course, on the way Leana shifted restlessly in her chair. The way her fingers played with a strand of hair thatescaped from her braid, and the way she glanced at him from time to time and then bit her lower lip almost suggestively.
But it was obvious that she had not done it on purpose. She didn’t even seem to be aware of her gestures and the flush on her cheeks. On the contrary, she was trying very hard to pretend that nothing had happened the previous night, as if Kenneth was just a picture on the wall.
“Did ye sleep well last night?” Valerie asked as the maids served breakfast.
“Aye, thank ye,” Leana replied, her eyes trained on her porridge.
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.” Valerie looked pleased, as if she herself had prepared everything for Leana’s stay. Kenneth barely held back a laugh. “Just remember, ye can ask me for anythin’ ye need. It is me duty to look after ye.”
