Page 56 of Confessions of a Highland Assassin

She blushed lightly at his obvious provocation but smiled. “I didnae want ye tae be alone if ye needed anything. But I didnae mean tae fall asleep, the events of the evening must have worn me out.”

“Thank ye, Ava,” he said before kissing her hand. “Thank ye for taking such great care of me, and for tending to the injured men.”

He was sure there was a trace of a tear forming at the corner of her eye as she looked at him. “Boyd… I was so scared I would lose ye today.”

“Dinnae fash,” he said gently as he cupped the side of her face. “I’ve been injured worse than this ‘afore now. Everything will be fine.”

Ava nuzzled her face into his hand before turning her head to kiss the inside of his palm. “I dinnae want tae lose ye, Boyd,” she whispered as a lonely tear was streaming now down her cheek.

“Ye will nae lose me,” he said gently as he pulled her closer for a kiss, brushing his lips against hers as she leaned into his body. They lingered there for a moment as Boyd gently stroked her cheek as they kissed.

“I’m sorry,” she suddenly said and pulled away as he groaned in pain. “I need tae check yer bandages. They will need changing by now,” she stood and hurriedly walked around the bed to examine his back. “Aye, just as I thought. Ye need fresh bandages. The blood has seeped though from all yer movement. Ye have tae try and be still, Boyd.”

He laughed lightly to himself as she helped him sit up in the bed, placing her shoulder underneath his arm and guiding him up.

“And what is so funny, my Laird?” She asked with a half-hearted smile.

“The way ye fuss about like a mother hen. Ye’ll mak’ a good mother.”

Ava laughed. “Then ye better mind yersel’ and do as I say then,” she teased as she gently undid the node and unwrapped his bandages before discarding them by his bloodied shirt next to the door.

“Yer dress is ruined. How is it that ye managed tae convince Hamish tae let ye help? Did he nae come and see that ye were safe?” he asked as she wrung out a cloth in the basin and began to clean his wound, delicately dabbing the site.

“Aye, he came,” she gave him a sheepish grin. “He insisted I stay in the study. But I gave him the slip when he tucked intae the food on the table.”

Boyd laughed openly at the expression on her face. “God, I cannae say I approve of ye disobeying my instructions, but I’m glad ye gave old Hamish the slip. The council is becoming too big for their own boots. I bet he was madder than a wet cat when he found where ye were?”

Ava placed the soiled cloth in a bowl and picked up a vile before rubbing into her hand and massaging his lower back. “Actually, he was quite impressed that I’d helped save yer life and allowed me tae come and stay with ye. He didnae even shout.”

Boyd frowned at her words as something prickled at the back of his mind. “Ye saved my life? Were there nae other healers there?”

“Aye,” she paused and corrected herself quickly. “Well, it was nae just me. There was Angus and a bunch of other young lasses that helped as well.”

Is it possible that the healer from the forest must have been amongst the lasses who helped? Rory said he could seek her out, didnae he? He reasoned with himself as Ava retrieved the fresh bandages that had been placed beside the bed.

“That Angus is quite the character. I like him. The way he barks orders with authority at everyone around him is great tae watch,” she chattered on while she saw to his wound.

Boyd sat quietly now and watched Ava’s every move as she placed the bandages beside him on the bed. There was something bothering him about the whole situation. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. He was missing something very important, something that his mind was trying to grasp.

“I cannae work like this,” Ava said as she stood and loosened her hair.

Boyd watched as the dark tendrils fell down her back before she swept them back again and used her hands to smooth the hair into a tight bun.

“That’s better, now I can tie up yer wound.”

She looked like a completely different person with her hair tied back into a bun. He frowned as she leaned over him to wrap the bandage around his waist. He breathed in the scent of lavender oil from her hair. Again, there was something very familiar about the scent, even the way she moved her slender body made him search his mind.

Boyd’s world came crashing to a screeching halt when she tied off his bandage and stood with her hands on her hips. “There, that will hold the bandage firmly in place, even if ye keep moving about,” she smiled at him.

He looked down to see the node she’d tied in the shape of a rose. The same node he’d seen from the healer in the forest, and the same node he’d seen earlier when he awoke.

“Is something the matter, Boyd?” Ava asked as she stared at him with a worried frown. “Are ye in pain? Ye look as if ye’ve seen a ghost.”

The memories came flooding back as his mind suddenly placed the final piece of the puzzle. The node from the healer, this kiss from the girl in the woods. The familiarity of Ava Sinclair, the laird’s daughter. The tight bun and the loose hair. Everything fell into place as he stared at her. It was all familiar because they were one and the same person.

“It’s ye!” he hissed angrily as he jumped from the bed and stood in front of her, fighting the pain that shot through his side.

“Boyd! Dinnae move so fast!” Ava panicked and rushed forward to check his wound.