She was furious that he’d taken her on the path away from her clan and toward his, especially since he’d known she wanted to return to her home and her kinfolk. She was even more furious that he’d left her brother behind, even if he’d managed to draw the pursuit after them.
It didn’t matter that he might have been right about the relative safety of going to Sinclair Castle rather than Gregor Keep. What mattered was that he’d so blatantly ignored her words and her wishes and treated her like a piece of luggage.
She was also still furious that he’d been the one to take care of her brother. And even with Finlay telling her that Blake had cared for him, she wasn’t sure she trusted the words. Finlay knew the feelings she’d harbored for Blake – he’d said as much. She wouldn’t put it beyond him to lie to try and soothe her ire. She found it ridiculous that he could forgive the man who’d taken him captive.
All of that, and she still couldn’t quell the sense of gratitude that he might have cared for her brother and made sure he didn’t starve. Nor could she eliminate her affection for him, and the memory of the pleasure he’d showed her made her nerves quiver and her stomach tighten with desire.
Not just desire for his touch, but desire to know what it would feel like if he gave her all of him, and truly claimed her.
She didn’t want to think of such things, not while she was still angry with him. But it was hard to ignore the urges of her own body when his was pressed against her, and she could feel the heat and strength of his hard chest and firmly toned muscles against her.
It was all so frustrating, she wanted to hit something. She wanted to hit him. But at the same time, she didn’t want to risk actually hurting him further. Or take the chance of falling off the horse.
They rode through the day in silence, stopping only for periodic breaks to eat and drink some water and rest the horse. By the time the sun started to set, they were only a few hours from Sinclair Castle. Even so, she wasn’t sorry when Blake guided the horse to a halt by a loch and started to gather tinder and twigs for a fire.
Once the blaze was going, he set out what remained of their food. “Dae ye want aught?”
“Nae. I’m fine.” Her stomach was too riled with her tangled emotions to want food. Not that she was going to tell him that.
She half wanted him to say something else, but he left her alone, and she felt annoyed to feel gratitude that he did so.
Still, as valiantly as she tried to ignore him, she couldn’t hold her silence when he stood and calmly began stripping his clothes off. “What are ye doing?”
