Page 27 of Secrets of a Kilted Seduction

“Thank ye, Moira. I’d like that very much. It’s been a pleasure tae meet ye,” Alana told her, a little taken aback by the older woman’s invitation. It sounded as if the healer was fond of John MacIver, whereas she herself felt the opposite. Nevertheless, as she hurried back to Tadhg, she thought she had found a friend in Moira and that anything the old healer had to say about Laird MacIver would prove interesting.

When she got back to their chambers, she saw Tadhg had stripped off his shirt and was holding it balled up against his chest wound as he sat at the table, waiting for her. Seeing him half naked again made her blush, but she put her embarrassment aside out of concern for his injuries.

Hurrying over to him, she set down her supplies on the table and handed him the beaker of steaming tea. “Drink that. It’ll help with the pain.”

“Aye, I ken what it is. That bloody awful willow tea that ye’re always trying tae make me drink whenever I cut mesel’,” he grumbled before obediently sipping the hot brew anyway.

She went to the washstand, filled a bowl with clean water from the jug, and brought it back the table. “I’d hardly call gettin’ shot in the shoulder with an arrow a cut,” she said as she bustled about, referring to one of his many former injuries she had treated over the years.

Rolling up the sleeves of her gown, she commanded, “Let me look at yer chest.” He moved the balled-up shirt aside and dropped it. She saw it was soaked with blood, and more blood was coming from the gash on his upper chest. The tip of Blaine’s blade had caught him and sliced through the center of one of his tattoos, a cluster of beautifully inscribed Celtic circles. Blood was welling from the lip of the wound and running down over the elegant indigo curlicues, spoiling their symmetry.

“Ach,” she tutted, thinking it a shame, “ye’ll have a scar there now.”

“Aye, another tae add tae me collection,” he murmured, his eyes still on her.

“Ye say that every time,” she reminded him, beginning to feel hot as he continued to watch her every move. She tried to ignore it, paying attention to what she was doing. Using a clean cloth, she staunched the bleeding as best she could and inspected the wound. “Well, ’tis a clean cut at least. Hopefully, the fact that ‘’tis bleedin’ like that means there’ll be nae dirt left in the wound, but I must clean it well just the same.”

“D’ye ye think it’ll heal all right?” he asked, with only mild concern.

“Looking at it, I’m slightly—slightly, mind—reassured ye have a good chance of recovering with nae ill effects, but we’ll see.”

“I trust ye,” Tadhg said as she tore up the clean cloths she had brought from the infirmary and, after dipping them in the water first, began the painstaking process of cleaning him up.

He gave a rueful chuckle as she dabbed gently at the wound. “It seems like only yesterday ye were doin’ this fer me hand,” he observed, holding up the hand where the red slash across his knuckles was already showing signs of healing nicely.

“Aye, it was only a few days ago, though it seems like longer with all that’s happened,” she murmured as she worked. It was very hard to focus on what she was supposed to be doing with his warm, half naked body just a hairsbreadth away. Why did he have to be so braw when she was trying so hard to keep her distance from him? It did not seem fair.

“Ye’re always puttin’ me back together, eh, Alana? Ye must have saved me life many times with yer healin’ skills,” he told her with a half-smile, never taking his eyes off her face.

“Aye, too many times. But that’s what happens when ye keep takin’ risks and getting’ yersel’ cut tae pieces all the time,” she scolded him mildly, trying to ignore the beguiling scent of musk and fresh sweat coming off him. She really was getting overheated now and had to wipe the perspiration from her brow with the back of her forearm.

“I dinnae mean tae, but when ye’re a scout, it happens sometimes,” he replied with a matter-of-fact shrug.

“But ye dinnae have tae pick fights on purpose like ye did today and get yersel’ all cut up again.” She hated the way she sounded as if she cared, but could not seem to help it.

“I had tae fight him, Alana, ye must see that. The man was takin’ advantage of ye when he thought I couldnae hear him,” he replied softly.

“I’m nae so sure about that,” she admitted, managing to staunch the bleeding at last.

“What? D’ye think he did it on purpose then?” he asked, suddenly alert.

“I think he daesnae believe we’re married. Maybe he wanted tae see how ye’d react. Maybe he has other reasons fer wantin’ tae provoke ye. Maybe he’s just a hothead who cannae resist a challenge. I dinnae ken. I’ve only just met the man.”

She reached for a pot of salve, looking him straight in the eyes as she did so, wanting to impress her words upon him. “But I wish ye hadnae done it, Tadhg, because it can cause naethin’ but bad feelings. And now, here we are, as ye say, with me puttin’ ye back together again.”

He smiled at her in a way that made her knees feel like jelly. “Are ye nae just a wee bit proud that I beat him?” he asked slyly.

Alana tried not to smile, but she felt the corners of her mouth turning up just the same. “Maybe. Maybe nae.”

“Ha! That means ye are,” he said, a gleam of triumph in his eyes. He looked so happy for a moment, her heart softened towards him a little more.

“I said maybe. I owe ye me thanks fer protectin’ me,” she relented at last, covering her blushes by opening the salve and dabbing a cloth into the pot.

“Ye dinnae ken how good it is tae hear ye say that,” he murmured, surprising her by reaching up and brushing his fingers across her cheek in a gentle caress. A shiver went through her body at his touch, and she froze in place, the cloth poised in midair as they stared into each other’s eyes, their faces inches apart.

All I have tae dae is lean over and put me lips tae his…

She pulled herself out of his gaze and began applying the salve, but her heart was racing, and she wondered how much longer she could hold out without giving into her desire to be his once more.