Page 38 of A Healer for the Ruthless Highlander
“It is yer turn to be cared for,” Leana continued. “I need to change yer bandages.”
For a moment, Kenneth just looked at her. He remembered how their meeting had ended the day before. The kiss, the yearning… And he wondered if he was ready to feel it again.
The same thoughts must have been running through her mind, for she took a step back and looked at him as if his mere touch burned her. But her expression remained inscrutable.
“I willnae take nay for an answer, Kenneth.”
She only addresses me by me name when we’re alone. Only then does she have the confidence to do so.
“Ye willnae have it,” Kenneth assured her.
Leana nodded. She seemed surprised to have won their little argument.
“Good. Because I’m in nay mood for yer naggin’ and denial.”
“So I see,” Kenneth murmured, still amused by her tantrum.
“Well then, let’s get on with it! I have nay time to waste,” Leana pressed.
She turned away and made her way to the surgery, where she had the necessary supplies to tend to him, leaving him with one question on his mind.
Did she expect this encounter to end like the last one?
“I need ye to take yer shirt off,” Leana instructed.
As soon as she and Kenneth entered the surgery and the door closed behind them, she reminded herself to be professional.
But it’s so hard to keep me composure when it’s just the two of us!
In particular, Leana found it hard to hold a shirtless Kenneth close to her without remembering the dreams that had haunted her since the night before. The firm lips that had kissed her, and the way he had traced her curves with his fingers.
Those images still haunted her, but she knew she couldn’t give in to him. Neither could she show him that she actually wanted him.
Good thing that the anger was still burning inside her, even more so after Kenneth had proven once again that he didn’t trust her methods enough to leave her alone with his brother.
She was beginning to get a little tired of the tug-of-war between the two of them. But Kenneth was stubborn and temperamental, and she simply didn’t know how else to explain to him that he needed to let her do her job and just trust her.
So, she preferred to focus on that thought, on the way he was trying her patience, and not so much on the way he was trying her senses. And it was thanks to her anger that she managed to keep her composure when he, obedient as he rarely was, removed his shirt, while he was still standing.
This time, he stripped from the waist up with his back to her, giving her a view of his rippling muscles. Long and jagged scars marred his back, which was so wide that she could easily doze off on it without him noticing.
Unable to resist, Leana swallowed hard. Her cheeks felt hot, but she could blame it on her anger.
It would serve her well to remember that even though she could hide her feelings and thoughts from Kenneth, she could not hide them from herself.
She could not deny the fact that she desired him. And that desire burned deep in her heart and her stomach, in the most intimate parts of her body—which she had never explored before.
Frustrated and disturbed by the sensation, she moved closer as Kenneth sat down.
“This might hurt a little,” she warned.
Once again, she reveled in being able to stand over him. She loved feeling in control of the situation. That he was, in a way, relinquishing the reins.
And that was only emphasized by Kenneth’s gaze—serene, dignified, and confident. But the silver in his good eye had melted; it glowed with a fire that pulsed deep, deep inside him.
“Do what ye must, lass. I willnae move,” he promised.
Leana took a step forward and gently rested a hand on his warm chest. The tufts of his hair on his pectorals tickled her palm. And yet the sensation sent shivers through her, from head to toe.
