Page 65 of Taken By the Heartless Highlander
He walked under the treeline where, only days before, he had first taught Scott to learn to fight. Despite his relatively small size, the boy was a quick study and was already more capable than many of the guards. He was small but quick as a whippet, and Noah was growing fonder of his cocky grin by the day.
He moved slowly through the trees, enjoying the peace and stillness beneath the canopy.
It didn’t take him long to find Keira. Despite an initial worry that she might be in an area of the forest he rarely went to, he remembered their conversation about white mushrooms. He made for a grove where he knew he had seen some before.
Sure enough, as he rounded a large oak tree, he saw her kneeling beside a rotting log, her hand reaching far underneath. Spiders and small insects scurried from her path as she plucked several mushrooms out of the ground for her basket.
He felt a wave of relief at the sight of her. Every time she was not within his eyeline, he had visions of her strapped to that plank, burning alive; it was a fear he could not shake, and it made his chest tight.
I’m already obsessin’ over the lass; imagine how bad it would be if she was truly me wife?
He watched her fingers scrabbling in the earth, pulling away the soil until she could place her spoils carefully in the basket beside her. Her hair was trailing into the dirt and she seemed careless of her clothing, focused entirely on her task.
This was her gift—that was quite clear to him. She was made to heal the sick, and she had a talent for it. When her mind was engaged in her duties, nothing else penetrated it.
He glanced down at his shoulder. Ever since her attention to it it had barely pained him and healed faster than any wound he’d ever had.
He hid a smile as Keira gave a small yelp at the particularly large beetle that scuttled out from under the log.
The agitation in his gut finally dissipated, and calmness settled through his body now that he knew she was safe. But he would make sure this was the last time she left the castle without his permission.
“Stealin’ again, lass?” he called, leaning against the tree as she jolted to her feet and frowned at him.
“Me laird!” she said quickly, brushing down her skirts and looking guiltily at her basket brimming with plants.
“I told ye before, ye shouldnae disappear,” he said angrily, walking toward her in the clearing. “I wouldnae say pickin’ mushrooms is a priority when there is a man who wants ye dead!”
“I need them for me work,” she protested.
“Well, these plants are mine, just as everythin’ else in this forest is mine; I dinnae give ye permission to collect them.” He felt satisfaction roll through him as she lifted her chin defiantly and picked up the basket.
“And what exactly am I stealin’?” she asked, throwing him off from his irritation as he looked at the tiny brown-topped fungi nestled inside. “If ye wish to make an inventory of the forest—ye will need to ken what all this is.”
She watched him expectantly as Noah wracked his brain for any information he might have gleaned over the years, but his mind was blank.
He was surprised to find himself amused as he looked back at her, those deep blue eyes assessing him with an almost smug expression.
“Alright!” he muttered. “What are they? Ye ken I dinnae ken.”
She smiled. “Penny bun,” she held one out to him. “They’re very tasty at this time of year.”
He eyed it suspiciously. “Is this ye poisoning me to take the lairdship for yer own?”
“We arenae married yet,” she said.
Her tone was light, but it still sent a skitter of excitement through him. The feeling thrilled and worried him, and he hurriedly pushed it aside.
“Ye can eat these?” he asked doubtfully.
“Ye can.”
She held it out to him, and, simply because he was tired of her constantly getting the best of him, he parted his lips, inviting her to place it directly into his mouth, and waited to see what she would do.
* * *
Keira stared at his full lips and open mouth, waiting for him to laugh and take it from her. But he did not laugh; his eyes were quite serious. They were the same unique green she had seen when they first met. She decided privately that his eyes looked best beneath a canopy of trees.
After a short pause, she stepped forward, the tiny mushroom held lightly in her thumb and forefinger, and gently lifted her hand to his mouth.
