Page 28 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
Nay, nae only that. What else are they tellin’ me?
The angle and depth of the shadows told her someone was standing at her door with a light. Her eyes searched throughthe crack in her eyelids for something she could use against the intruder who had come for her.
How quickly would the Laird come if I screamed out for him?
She didn’t have to worry about poison anymore. Felix had decided to directly attack her, sneaking to her room in the middle of the night to end her life.
A long, thin candle sat in a stout bronze candleholder on the bedside table. Holly took deep, steady breaths, preparing to make the move she dreaded. Her decision was forced when the shadows moved slightly—Felix had stepped closer to her bed.
She reached out her hand as quickly as she could and grabbed the candlestick, jerking upright in bed to face the intruder.
“What do ye expect to do with that?” Elias asked from the foot of the bed.
Holly looked at her hand, noticing that the candle had come out of the holder when she grabbed it. Her weapon was a cylinder of wax.
“What are ye doin’ in here?” she demanded. “Ye nearly scared me half to death. Do ye nae ken that it’s rude nae to knock afore ye enter a lady’s bedchambers?”
“Aye, I ken that, but I didnae want to wake ye if ye were sleepin’.”
“Well, ye did wake me.” Holly looked again at the candle in her hand and pushed it back into the holder on the bedside table.
“Aye, I ken that now, but me intention wasnae to wake ye, but to check on ye.” Elias held a lantern in his left hand. “Ye took a nasty bang to the head, and I wanted to make sure ye were still with us while ye slept.”
“Aye, well… I suppose that’s nice of ye.”
“I suppose it is,” the Laird said. “And ye have nay reason to ever be scared in the castle. We have guards stationed all around, and I’m only a short walk from yer room. Ye’re safe here, all right?”
Holly felt her lower lip tremble a little. She didn’t know what to say to the Laird after that. She had thought of Felix a few times since the betrothal had been broken and how angry he must have been, but she had not considered until that moment that she was safe now. He wouldn’t risk breaking into a castle to get to her.
“How are ye feelin’?” Elias asked.
One of the last things Holly could remember was talking to Cassandra about how fierce the Laird was on the battlefield. As he stood by her bed, his features aglow with the light from the lantern, he looked a million miles from that. The light still caught his angular chin and the scar running down the side of his face and crossing over his eye, but the glow added color to his skin, softening him. And his lips…
Holly’s eyes widened a little. She had been staring at him for too long without saying a word. Slowly, she raised her hand and touched the fabric tied around her head. The wound was still a little tender, but the dull ache was gone.
“I’m doin’ better,” she said. “Cassandra is a good healer, and ye took quick care of me, Me Laird. Me goodness! Ollie!”
“Ye dinnae need to worry about him,” Elias told her. “After ye left me room, I found him curled up under the desk. That’s another reason I came to yer room—to let ye ken that he was fine.”
Holly felt her heart flutter, enough to almost force a smile that she managed to hold back. He had informed her upon waking up that he didn’t want to disturb her but to only check on her, yet now he spoke about her cat.
She caught another glance of his pink-tinted lips.
Why did ye really come to me room tonight? Do ye still wish to kiss me?
“Ye’re welcome to visit yer beastie whenever ye like,” Elias said.
Holly sat up a little straighter. “Ye mean, come to yer room?”
“That’s where he is.” There was a burning intensity in the Laird’s eyes, and Holly found she couldn’t look away.
Until she heard a small meow outside the room.
“That’s where hewas,” Elias clarified. “He’s been followin’ me around. I think he’s lookin’ for ye.”
“And he has the good sense nae to enter without bein’ invited in,” Holly said, raising her eyebrows.
Elias smiled some more. He backed up with the lantern, the shadows changing and flickering as the lantern moved with him, a contrast of orange and dark gray.
