Page 16 of The Highlander Steals a Virgin
Rhys had been called many things in his life: ruthless, a beast, a knave, to name a few. But he’d never been cruel to a woman and he wasn’t going to start now. Especially since the lass was in this position through no fault of her own.
Nay, the responsibility lay completely at me own feet.
“Is she to be prisoner then?” William asked. “Should I bind her wrists for ye?”
“Nay.” Rhys shook his head. “Aye.” He sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair. “She is to be something in between.”
He nodded as if it made perfect sense and left to pack up his sleeping roll and get ready to leave. Myles was tying down his belongings to his horse, already packed and ready to go. He glanced at Rhys, then Amara, and frowned, but didn’t say anything.
Rhys walked over to Amara, who was still peacefully sleeping. He wanted to lean down and kiss her awake. No, he wanted to crawl beneath the covers with her and wake her in a much more pleasant and lustful way. Instead, he toed her backside lightly with his boot.
“Time to leave, lass.”
She mumbled something in irritation and pulled the blanket over her head. Rhys toed her again, this time with a little more force.
“Come now, lazy bones. ‘Tis time to go.”
The blanket inched its way slowly down her face until he could see her eyes. Still drowsy with a softness he had never seen in them before, her eyes lifted up at him, narrowing with annoyance.
“’Tis nae even light yet,” she grumbled, but she at least sat up.
“Considerin’ how slow ye seem to be movin’… By the time ye're ready, it will be.”
She glanced at the fire pit and frowned at the smoke still rising from where he’d smothered the coals.
“Do ye plan to starve me? Are we nae even to break our fast first?”
“We’ll be at the castle shortly. Can ye nae wait?” Rhys asked with impatience. He just wanted to get home and back to his life. He wanted to see Daisy and he needed to talk to the council, to come up with some kind of plan for rescuing Finn.
“I hope ye like stew,” William said as he walked by, obviously hearing their discussion. “Cook makes it thick as mortar, but it keeps the ribs warm.”
A low grumbling sound drew Rhys’s gaze to her stomach. A blush stained her cheeks as she clamped a hand over the offending area and raised her chin.
“Ye daenae happen to have some of that with ye now, do ye?” she asked her palms rubbing her stomach as she bent over with visible discomfort.
There was something about her hands resting on her torso made his groin tingle. But Rhys stomped over to his horse and retrieved his saddlebag. He withdrew the little bit of food they had left, just a chunk of cheese and some nuts wrapped in a cloth, then strode back over to her. He tossed it onto her lap.
“’Tis all we have,” Rhys grouched.
Nearly an hour later they were finally mounted and riding toward home. They were already on O’Donnell land which had Rhys relaxing a little.
“Do ye have a betrothed, lass?” William asked. He rode on one side of Rhys and Amara while Myles rode on the other.
Rhys tried to ignore the way her body felt so snug and perfect against his back. Her arms were wrapped around his middle, her fingers laced together to keep her from falling off. True to his word, he hadn’t bound her, and true to her word, she hadn’t tried to escape.
He felt her stiffen slightly at William’s question before she answered. “Nay, I daenae.”
“Did ye beat them all away, then?” Myles asked, obviously referring to how Amara had whacked him over the head with a tree branch.
“Do ye have wives or are ye betrothed?” Amara asked instead of responding to Myles.
“Nay,” William answered. “Why settle down and deny all the other ladies the pleasure of our company?”
Amara laughed and Rhys stiffened. The sound was soft and feminine and shot straight to his loins. This was the first time he’d heard her laugh and he vowed he’d find more opportunities to hear her laughter again.
“Likely the women are smarter than that and willnae tie themselves to two rogues like ye,” she responded.
Rhys relaxed even more as Amara and his kinsmen kept up a lighthearted conversation. Even Myles was being less grumpy with Amara, although he knew it probably wouldn’t last.
