Lily abruptly turned away from him and cleared her throat. “Where is your clan, anyway? How much longer do we need to travel? We have journeyed for days now, and I am exhausted.”
She heard the thuds of his footsteps as he approached and stood behind her. She gasped because of his nearness, then swallowed hard again.
“By nighttime, tomorrow,” Killian whispered in her ear, his hot breath sweetly falling on her skin, notching the heat higher till she felt warmth pool between her thighs. “We must find ourselves another horse, though, and find our way out of this forest, or else we mightnae make it back.”
His thick, masculine scent enveloped her senses, and her entire body warmed with a flush.
Lily cleared her throat again. “You should be able to find us a horse… Stealing is your specialty, is it not?”
They began walking, and she lifted her heavy foot with each stride while they made their way past the thick clearing of shrubs and trees.
“I am skilled, aye, but I am no thief. I shall buy us a new horse.”
“Ah, so your clan is wealthy.”
“Probably the wealthiest,” he answered. “I have put many years of hard work into making sure it is. My brother and I …” he trailed off, and Lily suspected he had more to say.
“We are wealthy,” he finally said after a pause, then cleared his throat. When Lily lifted a hand to rub the back of her neck, he added, “It is McColl, by the way.”
Lily stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. “You are Laird McColl?”
“Aye,” Killian answered with a nod.
Lily wondered what Laird MacColl would want with Yvaine. He had attempted to kidnap her, so that could only mean he wanted something, or he was simply out to stir trouble.
She had to find out what his plan was.
And his reason for doing this.
They walked for a long time, and soon, her feet began to ache just like the rest of her. She was exhausted and tired of walking, but she was never going to tell him that. Not while he walked with so much energy.
Lily stole a glance at him and watched his strong shoulders as he walked without looking to her side.
What is his name, though?
That was the first thing she should have known about him since he had kidnapped her. Her curiosity doubled with each passing second.
“I should at least know the name of my kidnapper,” Lily said after a long silence passed between them. “I’d like to remember it when I finally kill you.”
A light chuckle escaped him and tickled her senses. “Killian,” he said in a breezy baritone. “Ye should remember it. But ye will never get the chance to kill me, lass,” he added in a mocking tone.
By the time they arrived in a small village, she watched him buy a horse so they could continue their journey.
Their next stop was another inn, and Lily sensed they were drawing closer to his clan because the people here seemed very different to her. They were still a Highland clan, but unlike the suffering and hardship she had first seen when she had moved to the Highlands with Amelia years back, the people here fared better.
The inn they stayed in resembled a home inside. The wooden floors were squeaky clean, and the bedding was much betterthan the first one they had to share. The thought of lying in bed with him again made her nervous, but there was no escaping it.
Lily thought of home again and escaping Killian before dawn. Here, no one knew her, and if she was alone, she could make it back home safer than if she were with him.
No one will be able to identify me if I am alone.
But he was a well-known laird, and whoever sent those men probably knew she was with him.
Who would want me dead?
It made more sense that their attackers wanted Killian dead just as much as her. He was of more value.
More important.
