Page 56 of Her Highland Prophecy
He had not even stopped to consider that moment when he had found the letter on his bed the next morning. What she must have thought of him for disappearing after that!
“Nay, me Sassenach Princess, dinna fash,” he hurried to reassure her. “It didnae have anything to do with that. I promise.”
Her green eyes searched his own, as if she was trying to see his sincerity in his eyes. He looked back at her gently, as he continued to caress her hand. He never wanted her to think that her advances were unwelcome.
“I believe you,” she said. “But please don’t do that again. I’m only here for a few weeks after all, and I don’t think we should risk being at odds with each other.”
“At odds?” he asked, unfamiliar with that particular turn of phrase. She chuckled.
“It means angry or quarrelling.”
“Ah. Aye, I didnae like it either,” he said.
They smiled at each other and he felt lighter than he had in days. He had felt awful while he had been avoiding her, torn between the desire to protect her and the need to be with her. Now that he was near her again, he didn’t think he could give it up so easily.
“Good,” she said. “Will you spend the day with me tomorrow then?”
He shook his head, still not used to her brazenness.
“Aye, me Princess. What do ye want to do?”
“Anything. Why don’t you show me a little bit of the Clan lands? We could go on a ride?”
That sounded like a decent idea. And if he didn’t tell anyone what he was planning, it would be just unpredictable enough to keep them safe. The only problem would be taking her out of the Castle so soon after she was ill.
“Will ye be well enough to come with me? Ye dinnae look so guid right now.”
“I’ll be fine,” she replied dismissively. “I just need to rest tonight.”
“If ye need to rest longer we can go on a different day,” he said. She still looked very pale and he would hate to tax her system any more than he had to for his own satisfaction.
“You worry too much.”
“With good reason,” he defended himself. “Look at what happened to ye when I wasnae around to protect ye.”
“Then you know what the solution is, right?” she asked with a raised brow. “Don’t start avoiding me again and I will be fine.”
“As ye wish, Princess,” he said.
They smiled at each other again and he knew that it was time for him to leave. Eleanor would only have so much patience with him being in her room alone before she broke back inside.
He did not want to leave her. He looked deep into her green eyes, beautiful to him despite the obvious signs of her recent illness. Her hair was limp on her shoulders and her stance screamed of weariness, and yet she had never seemed more beautiful to him than at that moment.
She was real and she was there at this moment, but soon that would change and she would be gone from his life. He did not want to waste any more time apart if he could avoid it. Even if she left him in three weeks, any heartache he would feel then would be worth it if he was allowed the opportunity to be with her now.
He lifted his hand and gently pushed her blonde hair behind her ear. She was gazing at him with wide green eyes and he could not resist her. He leaned in closer to her slowly, allowing her to pull back again like she had before.
She didn’t.
“Gordain,” she murmured, her low voice a caress to his ears.
He inched closer, his hand cupping the back of her head lightly. Her eyes fluttered shut making the dark circles surrounding them even more prominent.
It was like a bucket of ice water. It felt wrong to kiss her while she was lying ill in bed. Still, he wanted to give her something.
He could feel her each exhale against his cheek through her parted lips. She was so tempting. He wanted to lose himself in her but knew that he couldn’t.
He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of her mouth. Her skin burned under his lips, the skin of her cheek maddeningly soft. He pulled back quickly as the desire to kiss her fully started to assert itself.
