Page 35 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

“I can see that ye are hurt, Aaden,” she insisted. “Let us head back, please. I’ll only worry more if ye insist.”

Aaden seemed to consider his options for a few moments, before he nodded. The two of them headed back to the horses, both looking around for any sign of the brigands, though they were nowhere to be found anymore.

“What a strange attack,” Lilith said as they mounted their horses. Despite his injury, Aaden jumped onto the saddle with ease, though Lilith could see the clench of his jaw as pain undoubtedly shot through him. “What did they want?”

“Well, they seemed like brigands,” he said, though there was something about his tone that made Lilith think he doubted that as much as she did. “I suppose they wanted gold.”

What if it was a targeted attack? But what could they want?

“I’ll tell me faither tae increase patrols,” Lilith said. Even from this distance, she could see the castle as they rode back up the path, rising from the top of the hill. It seemed like an impenetrable structure, a constant in all her years of life, and she couldn’t imagine that the building or the people inside it could ever be in danger.

“Nay,” Aaden was quick to say, much to Lilith’s surprise. At her questioning look, he added, “I’ll tell him. Dinnae fash.”

“I think I’m perfectly capable o’ explainin’ what happened tae me faither,” Lilith said irritably, hands tightening around the reins. Many men thought that she had no place advising her father even on the simplest things and expected her to limit herself to embroidery and painting and playing the harpsichord. She just didn’t think Aaden would be one of those men.

“I ken that,” Aaden assured her then. “I’m nae doubtin’ that, Lilith.”

“Ye’re nae?”

“I’m nae. I only wish tae speak with him about them an’ see if he needs me assistance. I’ve dealt with such brigands ‘afore.”

Lilith gazed at him in silence for a long while, though Aaden only gave her a thin, tight-lipped smile before he stared straight ahead once more. Lilith had suspected him of hiding something several times before only to be proven wrong. It was only now that she knew what he looked like when he was guarded—when he was trying to keep something from her. It was as though a veil had been drawn over him, obscuring his thoughts to her.

But what is it that he’s hidin’?

Perhaps once again, she was being too distrustful. Aaden had put himself in harm’s way for her. He had shielded her from the brigand’s blow, using his own body to keep her safe, and Lilith couldn’t help but be touched by the gesture. Many men had sworn to protect her as the laird’s daughter, but none of them had fought for her like this, in front of her very eyes.

Aaden never once hesitated. He had saved her life.

—

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Ye’ll be fine, but ye shouldnae exert yerself today,” the healer told Aaden as she gathered her gauzes and jars full of pastes. They were in his guest chambers, with her hovering over his bed and Lilith sitting by his side, watching the healer work carefully.

In fact, Lilith hadn’t left his side since the attack, as though she was determined to protect him from anything else that might befall him. Aaden had tried to reassure her, telling her that he was mostly unharmed and that nothing could happen to him within the castle walls, but she had still lingered, never once leaving his room.

He couldn’t complain. If anything, he enjoyed the company and dreaded the moment she would leave.

What he dreaded more, though, was the knowledge that Ruadh was sending people after him. He had recognized one of those men who had attacked them immediately, for he had seen him before. He was one of Ruadh’s guards, that Aaden had seen around the castle in his recent visit.