Page 9 of A Healer for the Ruthless Highlander
For a moment, Kenneth waited, thinking that she might start complaining again. But she didn’t. She just inched back a little, her hips bumping against his briefly as she tried to make herself comfortable. Then, she adjusted her cloak, so he couldn’t see her face.
I’m goin’ to go mad if I have to ride with her like this for hours…
That was not far from the truth. Their bodies didn’t touch, but Kenneth knew he wouldn’t be able to resist that fleeting caress without wanting more.
Fortunately, Leana’s temper brought him back to reality.
“Ye’re seriously goin’ to keep me prisoner for a month,” she huffed, more than indignant.
“As me guest,” he reminded her as he took up the reins. His men, like him, were ready to leave. “I need ye only to do yer job.”
“And what is that job?” Leana asked.
She turned slightly to look him in the eye, but he did not answer. Instead, he urged his horse into a gallop.
CHAPTER 5
This is goin’to be more complicated than I thought.
At first, Kenneth thought he could control the situation, but the brush of Leana’s body against his own was driving him crazy. Having her so close, without being able to touch her, was proving to be difficult. Something he wasn’t particularly familiar with.
Although he avoided it, he couldn’t help but stare at her from time to time. In fact, he found himself looking for excuses to do so.
Despite her stubborn streak, the healer was a beautiful woman, with thick hair framing her heart-shaped face, and a nose covered in freckles like constellations.
Her skin was lightly tanned, and from the way she looked at the forest, Kenneth assumed that she was probably comfortable with hard work, or fieldwork. More than that, he liked it becauseit showed that she was a strong, independent woman who could stand on her own two feet.
In his many travels, Kenneth had discovered that not all women were like the ladies of the castle—quiet, obedient, and submissive. In fact, he had met female pirates in many ports. Brave, independent girls who were not afraid to make their own way in the world.
He had also met healers like Leana and other kinds of women. Those women did not always have many choices or decent ones, but Kenneth respected a strong woman who feared nothing.
It was that strength, perhaps more than anything else, that had drawn him in. For even halfway to the castle, and though they had barely exchanged a word or two, the lass did not look intimidated. On the contrary, he was sure she was still looking for a way to escape.
“Ye said… Ye said ye needed me for a month,” Leana murmured after some time.
It seemed she had been considering her words.
“Aye.”
“Is there a compelling reason?”
“I wouldnae have bothered if there wasnae,” Kenneth replied.
Instead of angering her, his answer seemed to soften her. She turned slightly toward him, her hood pulled back over her face. Even then, he could see the deep blue of her eyes, and it was easy to get lost in the dark pink of her lips.
“Ye ken, if that was the case, ye could have written to me. Ye wouldnae have had to kidnap me. I would have come willingly,” she assured him.
“Maybe. But ye would have been late.”
And I cannae wait a minute longer than is absolutely necessary.
“Anyway, I think there were other, less abrupt ways ye could’ve summoned me.”
“There werenae,” Kenneth replied simply.
Leana scoffed in annoyance. “Are ye always stubborn?”
“And are ye always so inquisitive?” Kenneth shot back.
