Caitlin looked away again, her cheeks flushing. “It...it’s difficult to explain.” She sighed and looked back at him with a sad expression. “It’s too easy for me to panic and run when I’m scared. It’s an automatic response, something my subconscious does without my control.”
He studied her in the darkness. He’d seen enough men damaged by battle to recognize it when he saw it in another. She’d been hurt, badly hurt, and he could tell she was used to keeping it well hidden. “What happened to ye, lass?” he asked softly.
She opened her mouth to speak and, for a moment, he thought she might tell him. But then she shook her head. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
Kai watched as Caitlin seemed to retreat into herself. Whatever secrets were locked behind the wall she’d built would not be revealed by a few warm words or friendly gestures. Not yet anyway. Inexplicably, Kai found himself wanting to break down that wall, to see the real Caitlin hidden beneath the armor she wore to protect herself.
For a few seconds, they simply stared at each other, caught in a moment that felt like it could last forever.
Then she cleared her throat and ran a hand through her hair. “How did you know I’d gone, anyway?” she asked, clumsily changing the subject. “I didn’t think you’d notice me. You seemed a little...busy.”
“Busy?”
“With your...um...friend.”
Friend? Did she mean Mae? Was that a hint of jealousy he heard in Caitlin’s tone? He laughed softly.
“Something funny?” she asked.
He held up his hands. “Nay, lass, nothing at all.”If only you knew,he thought.You thought I didn’t notice you? You thought I was too busy with Mae? Dear God, lass, dinna ye know an act when ye see it?
The truth was that he’d done nothingbutnotice Caitlin all evening. His eyes had followed her wherever she went and he’d been unable to stop the surge of jealousy that ran through him when she’d sat with Emeric and then Conall—even though he’d been the one to instruct them to guard her. He’d longed to go over and join them, to joinher, but had stopped himself, busying himself with Mae’s attentions instead. Normally such flirting would soothe him, but tonight it had only made him feel out of sorts, like the mask he always wore for the outside world no longer quite fit.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Caitlin prompted.
He sighed. “I knew ye were gone because I went to yer room. To check on ye, ye understand?”Because I couldn’t stay away,he thought. Because I lay in my bed—alone!—thinking about you all night. Dear God, lass, do you have any idea how frightened I was when I found you gone?
But he couldn’t say any of this to her. He couldn’t expose himself like that.
It was his turn to clumsily change the subject. We had best be getting back. We need to warn Rosa and the villagers.”
He climbed into the saddle and settled himself behind Caitlin, her back pressed against his chest. He could feel the heat of her body through his clothes, and it was both a comfort and a distraction.
As he nudged the horse from a walk to a canter, he forced his thoughts to more urgent matters. Those raiders had been coming to Aberfeldy. Why? Were they searching for Kai and his men? Were they working for Leif Snarlsson? Or were they just opportunists out for plunder?
“Caitlin,” he said softly. “What can ye tell me about the men ye saw? Did ye hear them say anything?”
“I heard them arguing. Some of them wanted to plunder the village but the leader said not to. They were going to torch the place then run. The leader said the ‘master’ wanted the people scared, not dead. I don’t know who this ‘master’ is.”
Kai suspected he might. Caitlin shifted on the horse, her back rubbing against his chest. He tried to push down the flare of desire that shot through him at the sensation.
Finally, Aberfeldy came into sight in the distance, just a cluster of shadows in the darkness lit only by a few candles burning in windows. Kai heard a sudden ‘twang’ and an arrow thudded into the dirt right in front of the horse’s hooves. The beast whinnied, shying to one side so Kai had to saw hard on the reins.
“Damn it, Emeric!” he yelled. “Are ye trying to get Caitlin and me killed?”
Branches above rustled and Emeric suddenly dropped to the ground. He shrugged. “Sorry, Kai. I didnae realize it was ye.”
“Evidently. What are ye doing out here?”
“Looking for ye,” Oskar said, stepping out of the trees. “Mae said ye weren’t in yer room when she went to...um...keep ye company. When we couldnae find ye or Caitlin, we thought we’d best come looking. Where have ye been?”
Kai didn’t answer Oskar’s question. “Gather everyone,” he snapped. “I need to talk to the whole village. It seems Caitlin may just have saved all our arses for the second time.”
