Page 76 of A Highland Healer Captured
“Like what?” His tone was almost gentle, but the weight in it pinned her.
“Like ye’ve found somethin’ ye’d lost or something...”
He didn’t deny it. “Because mayhap I have.”
Her throat tightened. “Zander…”
The name hung between them, heavy, intimate. He drew her closer with the next step, until the air between them was only a breath.
“I shouldnae,” he said, voice rough. “But every time I tell myself so, ye prove me a liar.”
Skylar forced a laugh, desperate to ease the heat. “That’s because ye’re nae good at arguing with women.”
“That’s because I’ve met none like ye,” he said, so plain it stopped her feet for a beat.
She faltered, then caught the step again, her hand trembling against his. “Ye’ll flatter me into folly.”
“Ye call it folly,” he said, eyes burning into hers. “I call it truth.”
The music swelled again, the last turn of the reel pulling them closer, tighter, until their faces were only inches apart. Around them the yard roared with laughter and cheer, but Skylar heard only the rough catch of his breath and the frantic echo of her own heart.
“Ye’ll be the ruin of me,” she whispered.
“Then we’re matched,” Zander murmured back.
The tune ended in a crash of pipes and cheers, forcing them apart as hands clapped and voices shouted. But their eyes held, locked across the small space as if neither of them could quite remember to let go.
When the air ended, the yard clapped because they clapped for everything that did not fail them this day. Zander’s thumb brushed the back of her hand once before he let go.
That touched the nerve she’d been guarding. Guilt rose fast and hot. She had no right to be a queen in this yard. She had no right to the look on his face, fierce and tender both. She had a road to take, and a girl’s name written under her ribs like a debt.
She smiled as people smiled back.
She kept breathing.
She let joy burn and harden into resolve.
She was a healer.
She knew how to cut when cutting saved a life.
As twilight steeped the yard into copper and smoke, she felt Zander’s gaze brush her cheek again. She met it and held firm,the way a woman holds steady while she bites down on leather for a wound to be stitched.
She lifted her cup to him in a small salute that looked like thanks and felt like goodbye. He didn’t know the difference yet.
She did.
And for a reason that she refused to acknowledge, it broke her clean in two.
24
She slipped away while the pipers tuned for another reel, her heart hammering in rhythm with their drone. The noise of the yard pressed into the walls like a tide, covering her steps, covering the sound of her own breath. Perfect for slipping out of sight.
“Saints above, lass,” Mason rumbled, levering himself off the wall, a flagon dangling from his hand. “If ye’re slippin’ away to escape the dancin’, the stables willnae be quieter. Fool lads are already bettin’ who can stand longest in a cider barrel.”
Skylar pressed a palm to her chest. “Ye startled me.”
“Aye, so it seems.” His eyes narrowed, less fogged than his ale would suggest. “Ye’re a bit out of breath too, Lady Skylar.”
