“Is it nae?” He wore an amused smile now. Lily didn’t need to hear him say anything else to know he was teasing her.
Shockingly, he lifted a hand and trailed a finger over her cheek. His touch was so light that she went weak in the knees. Lily never froze, or melted. This man made her want to do both things.
“Oh, dear Lily,” Killian began, dropping his tone a notch. The low timbre sent a shiver down her spine. “Ye have naethin’ to fear. I told ye… I willnae do anythin’ ye dinnae want… I am a man of honor.”
“I am not scared of you,” Lily hissed. “And I do not know what you speak of.”
“Somethin’ tells me that ye do, Lily,” he countered. His voice trembled this time, and his gaze dropped to her lips. “Somethin’ tells me ye remember. Because I do. I remember every single gasp…” He took another step closer, and she backed away. “Your lips… your taste… it is seared in my mind. It is a memory that will never fade.”
A lump formed in the base of her throat, and she swallowed hard to get it down. Sweat clung to her skin, her palms, her forehead.She needed to breathe, or else her chest would explode from all the pressure that mounted inside her.
The resulting spike in her pulse was no good either. She doused the heat pooling in the pit of her stomach by recalling how he had kidnapped her and had nearly hurt Amelia.
Lily hoped if she remembered all his transgressions, she wouldn’t feel this way for him. But none of that worked.
“I…” She sighed when no words came out of her parted lips.
“I will see ye at supper,” Killian said as he drew away from her as if he felt nothing, then turned away.
Lily closed her eyes, exhaled, and balled her fists to keep herself from reaching out to him and begging him to kiss her like he had that night.
She heard her chamber door clicking shut, then found the courage to open her eyes. His absence instantly filled her with an aching need to be close to him again.
I should have run when I had the chance.
A tantalizing yet dreadful sensation spiked through her. Killian was no good for her. The best way to stop thinking about him was to make sure she was too preoccupied to let her thoughts go there.
14
Lily was bent on driving him insane, Killian was certain of that now. Everything she did, every move was edged towards making him lose control.
Killian kept reminding himself of the only reason she was in his keep.
To help. She is here to help me find our attacker.
“Do ye trust that she will help?” Fletcher asked as he slowly paced around Killian.
He was yet to recover fully from his injury, but he was feeling much better and stronger. Killian was thankful for that. He could not lose another person dear to him right now.
I cannae handle it.
“Trust isnae the issue here,” Killian answered in an attempt to justify why he had called a truce with Lily.
She always defied him. Enjoyed riling him up. Never quit putting up a fight. He could list a handful of the things the woman did that drove him mad already. He found all of them endearing.
“She couldnae even show up to supper as discussed so we could have a conversation. She defies ye at every chance she gets… Can ye trust someone like her?”
“She is a skilled fighter,” Killian argued as he rubbed his chin. “We will be lucky to have her fight for us.”
“Ye have over a thousand men in yer army—skilled men. Ye dinnae need her, m’laird,” Fletcher pointed out, his brows drawn together in worry. “Send her back to McLennan Castle, and we shall charge into battle to take down Laird McLennan once and for all. I wasnae in support of a war before, but now that he has tried to kill ye twice, I willnae stand for it.”
Killian rose to his feet and walked over to him. “Ye shouldnae put too much strain on yerself. Yer wounds are yet to heal right.”
“I wouldnae be in this condition if it werenae for Laird McLennan. We must act, or our people will think ye’re weak, m’laird. He has taken too much from us. It is time we fought back weak.”
Killian nodded, and then helped Fletcher settle on the settee instead of responding to his edgy words. “I willnae charge into battle without preparation,” he said. “I havenae been one to make decisions rashly, and I am tryin’ to make sure we are attackin’ the right enemy.”
“But—”
