Page 59 of The Cruel Highlander's Healer
But Eliza did not care. She did not want to see. Did not need to see as she climbed into the bed and pulled the blankets tight around herself.
Eliza did not need to see to be able to think. And think was all that she wanted to do. Think about all the many regrets that she had, and how she wished that she could go back and undo it all.
She had allowed herself to be caught up in the moment. Had allowed the sin of desire to run rampant within her flesh. But that would not happen again, she promised herself.
No, tomorrow she would greet the dawn and the Laird. She would go back to the castle and care for the children. And when her two weeks were up, she would take the money the Laird was going to pay her and return to the forest where she belonged.
Then, she would never think of the Beast of the MacKinnons again.
CHAPTERTWENTY
“Ye can relax just a bit.”
The Laird’s voice rang out behind Eliza, but she did not turn. She kept her back straight, the front of herself scooted as far up on the saddle as she could manage.
“I willnae be relaxin’,” she hissed back, fighting to keep her voice low so the others would not overhear. “Can ye just leave me be?”
The saddle moved beneath her as the Laird shifted his weight, but he did not speak again. The sound of the horse’s hooves filled the air, allowing Eliza to return to her thoughts, which had been spiraling about the night before.
The Laird had returned to their room hours after the events of the night before, and Eliza had still been awake.
She had not spoken to him, though, not as she listened to him unrolling bedding and making a spot for himself on the floor. Eliza had been silent all while they’d readied themselves the next day. Had resigned herself to speaking only to her mother and the guards.
Marissa, for what it was worth, had noticed Eliza’s posture and the cordiality between her and the Laird. Eliza could tell by the way she continued to study the two of them. But blessedly, she had not commented on it yet.
The sound of hooves trotting alongside them tickled Eliza’s ears, and she glanced sidelong. Her mother was there, grey eyes watching her from where she sat atop the horse with Dougal at her back.
“Are ye alright” Marissa asked, nothing but concern dancing in the depths of her shrewd gaze.
Eliza nodded. “Aye, I’m fine.”
Her voice cracked on the final word, and her mother’s brows tugged together in concern.
“Are ye sure about that, lass?”
Her mother’s voice was stern, her gaze searching as they roved over Eliza’s form. Rearranging her features, Eliza tried to affix a smile to her face. She wanted to assuage some of her mother’s concerns. Embarrassed tears had been burning the back of her eyes off and on all morning, and she knew if her mother continued to press, she wouldn’t be able to hold them back much longer.
“I am just tired,” she explained, sending up a quick prayer of thanks when her words did not crack as they had a moment before. “I think the drink got the better of me.”
Marissa’s jaw ticked, her eyes still skeptical. She did not believe Eliza’s answer. That much was certain.
Please believe me, Maither. I pray ye stop askin’ me.
Even though Marissa seemed to not believe her, she did seem to sense the prayer in her daughter’s mind. She gave a terse, quick nod before settling back into her saddle.
Behind Marissa, Dougal’s eyes were also fixed on Eliza. His muscles were tense, mouth pressed into a firm line as he regarded her.
Am I behaving so barmy I’ve got even the guards in a tizzy?
She tried to let her shoulders slump a bit, allowing some of the rigidity in which she’d been holding herself to leech from her bones. But the moment she did her back brushed against Conall’s chest.
His breath tickled her teeth, and she felt the warmth of him. Eliza felt like she might jump out of her skin, but she didn’t move. She didn’t want her mother and Dougal to see her flinch away from the man behind her.
Her eyes focused on the road ahead, refusing to glance in her mother's direction.
She’ll get tired of watchin’ me eventually. Then, she’ll bugger off.
After a few moments had passed, a feminine sigh sounded from the direction where her mother was riding. Eliza knew her mother had given up, that Marissa had accepted that she would be getting nothing else from her daughter.
