She swayed in his arms, her knees buckling.
He swore and wrenched away. Seeing the dizziness swim in her eyes that she fought to hide. “You aren’t well. You should be in bed.”
Before she could protest, he swept her up in his arms and started to carry her upstairs. Instead of arguing, she snuggled her head against his shoulder and sighed with contentment. It was a sound that stole into the deepest part of him.
He settled her in her bed, wanting nothing more than to slide in beside her. The most difficult part was that he was almost certain she would not refuse him. When she recovered, she was his.
He propped a pillow under her head and bent to give her a soft kiss on the forehead. “Rest. I will have Morag check on you later.”
She nodded, a look of concern crossing her face. “Lachlan, are Gilly and Mary very angry with me?”
He shook his head. “No. Though I do think they were disappointed that you did not say good-bye.”
“I planned to send for them.”
He would never have let them go, but the thought that she truly cared for his sisters warmed him.
“Have you reconsidered the situation with Mary?”
He frowned. “My decision hasn’t changed. Why would it?”
Her cheeks heated. “You said you cared for me. I thought you might have understood—”
“It doesn’t change anything.” For Mary or for him, he realized grimly. Duty came first. But Flora wouldn’t see it that way. Given the limited ties to her family, he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised.
“Please. Won’t you at least reconsider? As a sign of goodwill, perhaps?”
He tensed. “Don’t ask me to choose between you and my duty or doing what I think is right as chief.” It was a warning. Whether to himself or to her, he didn’t know.
“I’m not. All I’m asking is that you reconsider. I don’t think revisiting the matter impinges on your duty.”
He stroked his jaw. He could give her that. But she would give him something in return. “Very well, I will reconsider the matter.” He smiled. “On one condition.”
Chapter 12
A few days later, Flora was having second thoughts about accepting her erstwhile kidnapper’s offer to stay as his guest. If she’d refused, as she ought to have done, she wouldn’t be in this predicament.
She almost regretted her decision…almost.
She could blame her acceptance of his invitation on shock, but that wouldn’t be truthful. Admittedly, she’d been surprised by his request, but shehadgiven the matter some deliberation.
In truth, there was nowhere she would rather be than the dilapidated old keep that was now fading into the distance behind her. Even though Lachlan had brought her to his castle against her will, she’d grown fond of the place. More than fond. With Lachlan and his sisters, Drimnin was as close to a home as she’d felt in a long time. Maybe ever. She’d never lived with her sisters, and for the first time realized how much she’d missed. As her mother had always been chatelaine, she’d also never had the opportunity to make her own improvements on a place.
She supposed she could have returned to her cousin’s lodgings in Edinburgh or gone to Hector or Rory, but for all she knew, they would force her into a marriage of their liking. She gazed at the handsome man riding beside her, ignoring the self-satisfied look on his face. Although Lachlan wanted to marry her, he gave every indication that he would not force her to do so—which was more than she could be assured of from her brothers. Marrying him was one way of getting a reprieve from her brothers’ agendas, she thought with a wry smile.
But Flora knew the real reason she’d agreed to stay was that she couldn’t bear the thought of saying good-bye to him.
But that was before he’d tricked her. The wretch. She looked at him again, this time taking in the expression on his face.
On one condition.She should have known better.
Lachlan glanced at Flora as she rode beside him, her blond hair shimmering like a diamond in the sunlight. The sky was a wide swath of endless blue stretching to the hills rising in the distance. He smiled, feeling lighter than he had in quite some time.
It was a perfect day for a swim.
His companion, however, did not share his enthusiasm. Her expression landed somewhere between peeved and furious.
“Now, lass, don’t look so sour. You did promise. And wasn’t it you who told me that I would get more bees with honey?”
