Page 27 of Trapped By the Exiled Bastard

He should never have kissed her, and yet he could not bring himself to regret it. He needed to talk to her. He needed her to know that her looks were the least of her draw to him—that her spirit, her dedication, and her determination to survive had pulled him in before he knew it was happening. But would she ever allow them to be alone together again? Did he deserve it if so?

“I will stay,” Elin said quietly. “I have nowhere else tae go, and ye have been… kind tae me. All of ye.”

There was a pause, then Noah said, “We’re pleased tae have ye.”

Theon nodded in agreement. “Honored,” he agreed.

Dinner was served, and while the others chatted and joked and laughed, Keir remained silent. He tried to look everywhere except at Elin, and yet his eyes strayed to her no matter where he tried to set his gaze. Her lips, naturally red as the sweetest berries. Her eyes, brighter than any shining star in the sky. Her hair, her curves, her smile—all of it, all of that loveliness, and it all paled in comparison to the woman she was beneath. He knew then, at that very moment, that he would never not seek her out again, no matter how crowded the world may get. He ate his food without tasting it, wondering how he could get her alone and explain.

“Keir,” Theon’s voice interrupted his musing.

He roused from his thoughts and noticed that everyone, including him, had finished eating. The clouds had opened again, though it was only a drizzle, and nobody minded enough to run for cover yet. “Aye?” he asked, trying to act as though he had been paying attention the whole time.

By the look in Theon’s eyes, he wasn’t fooled, but Keir was grateful that his brother didn’t say anything about it. All he said was, “The storm tonight is supposed tae be even worse than the one from the other night. I ken ye braved the last amongst the horses, but perhaps ye should find a bed tae sleep in tonight.”

Elin’s head snapped up and her eyes found Keir. “What do ye mean?” she asked. “Have ye been sleepin’ outside? Have… have I taken yer cabin and yer bed entirely?”

“Nay,” Keir said too quickly.

Graeme snorted.

Keir cleared his throat. “I mean… aye, but it’s nae problem. I wanted tae leave the whole cabin tae ye so that ye might feel comfortable. I can sleep on the floor of one of me brother’s rooms if the storm is tae be that bad. Dinnae fear. I’ll be fine.”

Elin shook her head. “Nay. I willnae accept that. Ye’ll share the cabin with me tonight, aye?”

“I cannae—”

“I insist,” Elin said. The rain grew heavier, and the others started gathering their things. “There’s room enough for us both.”

Keir opened his mouth to argue, then huffed out a laugh at the look of absolute determination on Elin’s face. “All right, all right,” he said. “You go on ahead and get yerself dried off and dressed for sleep, and I’ll follow after I’ve helped clean up all this mess, aye?”

“Good idea,” Graeme said. He winked. “Nae funny business, now, the pair of ye. This is an honorable camp of brigands, ye ken.”

Irritation scratched at Keir’s skin. “Ye neednae fear it. I’m nae like ye,” he snapped.

“Well-loved by women everywhere? Aye, that much is clear,” Graeme replied and pulled such a silly face that Keir’s irritation had to give way to reluctant amusement. Everyone laughed, then, after a soft word from Theon, Briana and Elin left for the cabins while the men set about tidying up and securing the camp against the coming storm.

Elin fussed over the space in the cabin, rushing to and fro to tidy up her meager things. She wished she’d had time to go and collect flowers or sew something nice to welcome Keir in. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t worked out that he’d been sleeping on the ground all these nights, and embarrassment and shame only managed not to overwhelm her because she was too busy fretting about making the place properly presentable.

Her eyes fell on the bed, where Keir’s jacket lay on top of the pillow. She’d taken to wearing it every single night since he’d given it to her officially. She moved to hide it, then hesitated, instead hanging it neatly over the end of the bed. She was done hiding things that made her happy, and she knew that Keir would smile to see it. Truthfully, there wasn’t much she wouldn’t do to see him smile.

Her heart sped up slightly as she thought of how it had been to be kissed by him. She knew better than to read too much into it or to expect anything from him. It had been the heat of the moment, and she was nothing compared to the likes of Briana, not really. Her body had felt alive for the first time in longer than she could remember, but though her skin hummed with the memory of him, Elin told herself sternly not to expect more than she had already been given. Keir would be her friend, and she must be satisfied with that. After all, where had the act of following her heart ever gotten her before, anyway?

The door creaked open, and Elin’s heart caught in her throat as she slowly turned to see Keir enter. His hair was wet, his shirt soaked through, the water almost sparkling in the candlelight. He closed the door behind him and shook his head, sending a spray around the room in a way that reminded her of a wolf pup so much that she wanted to laugh. Her laughter died abruptly, though, as he peeled the shirt from his skin and tossed it aside.

He was beautiful.

Elin had seen men before, even handsome men, but none had struck her the way Keir did now.

She had known he was tall and lithe and toned, not brawny like many others, but she had not realized just how sculpted the body was beneath his clothes. Light tufts of hair grew atop a muscled chest that reminded Elin of the statues she had seen in books of ancient gods. The hair trailed down his toned stomach, highlighting the divots and shadows between the hard-earned musculature there, and down past his belly button, trailing down, down, until it disappeared below his waistline. She pulled her eyes away, blushing as she realized she had been staring, but she could not get the image of that trail out of her mind. The heat remained and in fact only grew stronger as Keir caught her eye and smiled.

“See?” he said. “I did as ye asked. Nae need tae nag me.”

Elin’s throat was dry, but she managed to force out the kind of playful barb she knew he was expecting. “Ye’re the type of lad who needs tae be nagged, Keir MacKenzie.”

He grinned, and the way the shadows moved with his face highlighted impossibly sharp cheekbones and a jawline with bristles she longed to touch. There was a space between his jaw and his neck that looked so tempting in the candlelight, and Elin wondered what it would be to press her lips there and bury herself in his scent and skin.

Outside, thunder crashed.