“They will watch ye,” Killian said, shoving away the insane thoughts that invaded his mind each time he looked at her.
This time when he turned away from her and ordered that she follow him, he saw the smirk on her lips.
He watched his men lead her into the bush, and he went to the river bank to drink, guiding his horse with him so it could drink too. A long minute after he did not see his men return, his instincts kicked in, and he wandered into the bush to look for them.
“Odhran?” he yelled at the top of his lungs, calling out to his most trusted confidante. “Matthew…”
Killian shouted their names three more times as he searched around him, then he saw footprints deep in the mud and followed them towards a deeper part of the bush.
He heard a large growl as he drew closer, and froze in his tracks.
A wild boar.
The black boar growled again as the lady stood in front of it, and Killian watched from behind her as she stayed stiffly poised. She had managed to free herself, and the blood stains on her clothes proved she had killed his men too.
So, she is strong.Her brother must have taught her a few things about fighting.
He had underestimated the woman! Killian gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to leap in and save her from the boar if it decided to attack.
She suddenly made a strange call sound and gently lowered herself to the ground on all fours while howling out like an animal.
What is she doing?
Killian watched her, confused and yet at the same time amused. Whatever those sounds she made, they worked, because the boar growled at her one more time, turned and then continued on its path into the thick forest.
She gently lifted herself off the ground and dusted off her hands. Killian relaxed as she faced him and huffed out a breath. The air from her lips blew some tendrils of her hair off her face, and the gentle breeze around them ruffled it backwards.
“Your men are dead,” she announced as she met him with her unflinching gaze again. “It was easy to kill them. Especially because they had no self-control. Seeing a lady undress probably got them excited.” Her lips curved at the corners, and her eyes gleamed. “You are next.”
“Ye think it’ll be easy to take me out too? I certainly cannae be seduced by ye, me lady, trust me.”
“Oh, I do not need to seduce you,” she countered as she grinned again. “I just need to kill you.”
The words were barely out of her lips before she thrust her right leg forward and drew out a dagger from beneath her stockings. Killian caught a glimpse of her fair leg when she lifted the leg of her breeches up, and a tight knot settled in the base of his throat as desire knocked the wind out of him.
He recovered, however, as she leaped towards him with ease, her dagger aimed for his throat as she threw him to the ground with her weight.
3
He was stronger than her, but if she could get his neck, then it was over. He dodged her aim, arching his neck far away from her blade while his right hand held her wrist up with strength.
Lily’s shoulders started to hurt as he kept pressing her hand back. She could feel the slicing pain cut through to her back, but it didn’t matter. She had to kill him and leave their bodies as a trail so her family could find her if she did not find her way back.
“Ye little…” he cursed as he finally hooked his legs around her waist and flipped her over.
Lily groaned as the back of her head made contact with the ground. She saw white lights as her vision blurred, and he seized the moment to snatch the dagger out of her hands and toss it far away from her.
“Do ye wish to die? Do ye ken I could hurt ye in a second?”
The heat from his body mingled with that from his breath as it fell over her face. Lily struggled some more, but his body only pressed harder against hers. In the next second, she felt a pool of warmth slide through her body. She melted into his body and gasped, confused at what was happening to her.
“It is over,” he said as he pinned both her hands over her head with one of his, then used the other to search her for other weapons.
His large palm glided down her stomach to her waist, and Lily felt her body melt further into the ground as a tingling sensation swept through her. Her nerves sang because of it, her pulse accelerated, and soon, her lungs constricted, so she had to forcefully gasp for air. His hands felt hard on her body, and heat burned the back of her neck.
His body pressing against hers should feel uncomfortable, but instead, it felt right. Lily gasped when his hand moved between her thighs and he pulled out another sharpened stick.
Realizing what his touch was doing to her, she writhed on the ground to try and get away from him.
