Page 16 of Highlander of Steel
Killian glowered at the men and slowly drew his sword. He couldn’t help it. He wouldn’t allow his councilmen to speak ill of the woman who had had ample opportunity to kill him. An entire journey to try and end him, one way or another. A woman who, to his mind, was the most exquisite he had ever seen.
“How dare ye!” a familiar feminine voice shouted at the same moment. “Ye take that back! Ye daenae even ken me!”
The entire room turned toward the door, where the sound had come from.
So, she’s awake.
Killian resisted the urge to smile and strode over to the door, before pausing to see whether she would burst in. But she was a laird’s daughter through and through; she needed to be invited in, her manners holding her in the hallway.
A second later, he pulled the door open. And there she was, her face a charming shade of bright red, wringing her hands in consternation.
Ailis Lyall, the woman who had caused such uproar by doing nothing at all.
Haloed by a shaft of light that filtered through the windows behind, the thin layer of dust on the glass making the light around her almost angelic in its haziness, she was every bit as beautiful as he remembered. More, in truth.
Her face was heart-shaped, her plump cheeks never without their youthful roses, her chin dainty and her lips full. At that moment, her lower lip was pinched between pearly white teeth. Anxious, despite her rude interruption.
“Ye’ll bruise yer lip doin’ that,”Killian wanted to tell her, but she jumped in ahead of him.
“I apologize, me Laird,” she said quickly, lowering her green gaze. “I didnae mean to overhear. I was waitin’ to speak to ye when I heard what those men said about me. They werenae… nice things to say, even about a captive. With respect, whoever said that, I have to wonder how ye were raised. Such ill manners.”
The councilmen who had derided her had the decency to look chastened, a touch of pink tingeing their faces, too. They mumbled under their breaths like young lads who had been caught in some mischief or other.
“Everyone out,” Killian ordered calmly, sheathing his sword.
No punishment needed to be delivered by a blade when Ailis had just lashed them with her tongue.
6
Apparently forgetting how fervently they had argued with their Laird, the councilmen shot to their feet with a sharp scrape of chairs. Heads bowed, they made a swift exit, refusing to meet Ailis’s eye as they skirted past her.
Ye expect me to follow yer advice, yet ye cannae even repeat yer cruel comments to the lass’s face.
Killian returned to the now-empty table and leaned against the edge, his arms folded across his chest, waiting for her to speak.
For a moment, Ailis held his curious gaze, before lowering her beautiful eyes again. “I probably should’ve held me tongue, but it’s nae one of me strengths.” She paused. “Did I interrupt somethin’ important?”
“If ye consider war and yer fate important,” he replied.
Her head snapped up, and she bit her lip.
Ye’re goin’ to have to stop doin’ that.
Killian nearly mirrored the gesture, his gaze drawn to her full lips. Only, this time, he wasn’t concerned about her bruising her lip. He wondered what sound she would make, what expression might grace her face, if hewere to scrape his teeth over that lip.
“How much did ye hear?” he asked to distract himself.
Her chin dropped back down to her chest. “More than I care to admit.”
“So, ye ken they’re nae happy about yer presence here.” It wasn’t a question.
She shifted awkwardly, picking at the folds of her skirts in agitation. The dress didn’t flatter her figure at all; it was clearly made for someone less voluptuous, less shapely, less sublime.
It’s nae as if ye let her pack her belongings.
Still, clothing could be easily remedied.
“Perhaps ye should just throw me in the dungeons, then,” she mumbled. “I willnae deny that I favor a feather bed and me comforts, but I suspect I’d feel less… uneasy if I was actually treated like a captive. It’d only be fair, too, if I’m put in yerbraither’s situation. And it’d undoubtedly make yer people feel more comfortable if they kent I was thrown in the dungeons.”
