Page 9 of Taken By the Heartless Highlander
“And what if ye had taken the priest for a husband? Would yer life nae be easier?”
She looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed in a frown. She shook her head, speaking barely above a whisper.
“I dinnae expect a man who has lived in castles all his life to understand.”
“Ye think I’ve never had ta make a hard decision? I do what is right by me clan, that doesnae always mean what is right for me.”
“I ken what ye are tryin’ to say, but me life would have been much worse with Lucas. I would have had to give up healin’ and everythin’ I have worked for. He doesnae want me for a wife, he wants a prize to flaunt to the world and show he’s won me.”
Noah closed his eyes briefly before looking away and out of the window. He could imagine that was true. The priest didn’t strike him as a man capable of love. He looked back at Keira, at the intense beauty of her face. Any man might be driven mad by it.
“Ye spoke of a fire?” he asked, attempting to distract himself from the yearning in his gut.
“Yes,” she replied. “He was the last villager we found alive.”
Noah stepped forward, his arms unfurling as excitement sparked in his blood.
“The village was set alight?”
“Yes, it was already burning when I got there. But it had been set aflame by some men who had already departed. They took nothin’, just burned it to the ground.”
MacDunn. He thought instantly.Only someone as crazed as he is would set a village alight for nae reason and leave without takin’ any of the spoils.
“So he is back,” he muttered under his breath. He looked up at her sharply. “Does yer Laird ken of what happened?” he asked.
“Yes,” she nodded.
“Good.”
“Who is back?” she asked, making as though to get up from the bed.
“I have already told ye to stay where ye are, dinnae make me tie ye to the bed,” he barked, and she immediately put her legs back under the blanket. He didn’t miss the shiver that ran across her shoulders either.
He watched her settle back under the covers, quenching his own simmering desire with deep breaths that calmed his racing heart.
She had asked about MacDunn and he could see no reason why he should not tell her the truth. There was little an unknown healer from a village miles from MacDunn’s lands could do with the knowledge. He found himself interested in what she might have to say about the matter.
“Have ye heard of Laird MacDunn?” he asked.
She frowned. “I think so. He is one of the lairds close to Donaldson. Are ye sayin’ he attacked the village?”
Noah nodded. He would need to write to his fellow lairds to tell them of recent events.
“Whatever he hopes to achieve is unclear. I am workin’ with the other lairds in these parts to try and find out his motives. I shall never understand it. Setting fire to villages like a coward with nae cause. If I want to kill a man, I do it with me bare hands.”
He watched her eyes widen at that, and a look of discomfort passed across her face.
Noah shrugged. He had already revealed too much and did not like how unguarded and raw he felt around her. The sooner she was out of his sight and his castle, the better.
“A maid will draw ye a bath. Come mornin’, I want ye gone,” he said sternly.
As he crossed the room to the door, he heard her voice behind him.
“Are ye always this gracious, Me laird?”
He scowled and slammed the door behind him in answer.
CHAPTER5
