Page 36 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
He was close to her, and she tried not to look at his lips, lest she betray her thoughts. She looked into his eyes instead. The pain was still there, but it was overshadowed by something stronger. He was not only toying with her—he wanted the kiss, too. The thought almost made her knees buckle, and she was glad when her back hit a tree, or she might have fallen. She pressed her back against it to hold herself up, and her lips parted slightly.
She wanted nothing more in the world at that moment than to be kissed by Elias. She had to hold the words back as they echoed in her mind:Please kiss me!
“So, if I were to do this”—Elias took her wrist and lifted it above her head, pinning it to the tree trunk—“ye wouldnae like it?”
“Nay,” Holly breathed, liking it very much.
Something new swirled in the pit of her stomach. No, it wasn’t in her stomach, but lower. She didn’t only want the kiss but everything that came after, even if they weren’t wed yet.
“And if I came close to ye like this, it wouldnae do anythin’ to ye?” Elias stepped closer, and his body pressed up against hers.
She had felt a stiffness in his trousers when she had been on his lap, and now she felt it pressed against her again. She couldn’t tell him what he was doing to her; she couldn’t give in, no matter how much she wanted to. She would let him have his way withher, but it would be him doing it, not her. She would get exactly what she wanted without having to beg him for it.
“It doesnae affect me,” she lied, her body betraying her as she arched into him.
She breathed through her nose, hearing herself. She couldn’t calm her body anymore. He had control over her.
“And if I do this?” Elias asked, bringing his face close to hers.
Dinnae lean forward! Let him come to ye.
Holly didn’t know what she was feeling. He had some hold over her, and she had to use all her willpower to steady herself against the power he wielded.
His breath tickled her lips, and she looked from his eyes down to his mouth, willing it to make the journey across the last inch between them.
Please!
“I’m still… unaffected.”
It took everything within her to stop the moan from escaping her lips.
“And if I were to?—”
The Laird’s words were cut off by the shriek that came from the trees behind him. He moved quicker than Holly had seen any man move. He held her wrist in one hand and drew his dirk swiftly with the other.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered, all emotion gone from his voice.
He let go of her and stood between her and the trees, his dagger hand just to the right of his waist, waiting to stab someone in the chest.
The thought of the Laird being covered in the blood of his enemies was a shocking one. The shriek from the trees was unsettling, and Holly wanted the Laird to protect her.
He shifted slightly as the trees close to them rustled. He reached behind him to touch her stomach and hold her in place. He took a step forward as the branches moved… and lowered his dagger as a small child appeared.
The child shot out of the trees, tears in his eyes. He looked at Elias for a second before bursting into tears.
“It’s comin’ after me!” he shouted. “I tried to outrun it, but the beast was too quick!”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Quick, come to me!” Holly shouted, holding her arms out to the boy.
The boy looked at her and ran into her arms. Holly wrapped her arms around him.
Elias sensed the safety the child felt from the simple act. He had no reason to feel any way toward the boy, but seeing the way Holly cradled him made him want to protect the lad on her behalf.
“What’s ye name?” Holly asked as Elias waited for the beast to appear.
“Cole,” the boy replied. “Cole McDuff. I’m eight years old, and I live in a house with a straw roof.”
