“Ye dinnae have to be here, Lily. I have let ye go back to yer people. Ye can stand by them and fight for them.” His eyes pierced hers as his heart fluttered. “Ye dinnae have to stay here.”
“I do not want to leave just yet,” she answered, then sighed. “I am sorry for your brother, Killian. He did not deserve what happened to him, but someone has tried to kill us twice now, and I really do not believe it is Laird McLennan. I do not recognize any of the men we saw today, even though they were dressed like men from Clan McLennan.”
“What are ye sayin’?”
“I am saying there might be someone else posing as Laird McLennan… Some other enemy you do not know you have. I am saying, together we can find out who it is and make them pay. If Laird McLennan is guilty of what you say he did, then I will help you make him pay.”
Killian arched an eyebrow and shook his head. “Is this some sort of trick to use against me and vindicate yer friend?”
“No. This is me offering a truce.”
Lily stuck out a hand, and Killian feared that if he touched her, he would want to do more than just take her hand. A part of him had also let her go back at the valley because, after that kiss in the inn that night, he had not been himself.
The sound of her moan slipped into his mind when he least expected it, and each time he looked at her, his body stirred passionately.
Just like now.
He saw her staring at him, too, her lips slightly parted, her eyes fixed on his lips. Killian felt a rush of heat, and he could not stop himself from taking her hand in his.
“Truce,” he agreed as they shook hands. When he realized she did not stop staring at him, he chuckled lightly to lighten the moment. “But a truce is all I can give ye. Anythin’ else ye want… ye will have to beg for.”
Lily got the meaning behind his words because she instantly flushed beet red and jerked her hand away from his as if he scalded her.
13
Lily stayed in her bedchamber for the rest of the morning, staring outside at the fields, watching the servants go about their daily chores. Sitting still was not her strongest suit. She preferred to either be in the garden, where she could tend to flowers, mix herbs, or practice her swordsmanship.
I miss McLennan.
She missed Amelia more. They had spent so much time together since they had first met that Lily had gotten used to being her shadow. She had helped Amelia with almost everything before they had come to Scotland, and now that Lily had all this time to herself, she did not know what to do besides training.
The practice tousle with Killian this morning had showed her that she still had a lot to learn.
He is skilled.
Killian moved swiftly, and with precision. She had seen him fight on the battlefield too, and she knew how he timed his attacks to make sure he took his opponent down once and for all. She admired that the most about him.
“And his looks, too,”a voice chirped into her head and made her flush with heat.
Her skin tingled as more intrusive thoughts raced through her mind. His body rubbing against hers as they had ridden together, the feel of his hardness when she had tackled him to the ground earlier.
Did he feel the tension too?
Because it was all she felt when she was around him. That hard desire to just throw caution to the wind and keep her body close to his.
What am I thinking?Why did I stay?
Lily should have run when he had given her the chance. She was not one to make stupid choices. She was precise and calculated. She could have escaped!
A soft knock sounded at her chamber door, and it opened before she got the chance to respond. Niamh walked in and stopped a distance away from the bed.
“Ye arenae my brother’s betrothed,” Niamh began. “Ye also shouldnae have used me to threaten him like that. It was wrong.”
“Why did you come back here?” Lily asked as she turned to face her. She was still wearing the same clothes she had arrived in and had turned down every earasaid the servants had brought her earlier. “You know I could hurt you in my bid to escape. Your brother must have told you I am dangerous. Why did you come back here.”
“Because I am nae afraid of ye,” Niamh confessed in a louder tone before she took another step towards Lily. “Ye willnae hurt me. Me brother tells me ye two have a truce.”
Lily scoffed as Niamh tilted her chin up and continued in a defiant tone, “Ye’re here to help him find out who killed our brother. That means ye’re good.”
