Page 29 of Highlander of Steel
She began to pace in her room. She hoped it would soothe her overwrought mind. Instead, it had the opposite effect. The more she paced, the more laps she made of the room, the more her stress soared, reaching heights that stifled her and squeezed her heart.
I have to leave. I cannae stay here. There might still be time to smooth this over.
Her pacing lengthened into a run, straight across her bedchamber and out the door. She didn’t know how she plannedto escape the castle, but if she didn’t keep running, she felt she might crumble under the pressure of her own thoughts.
The hallways were barely lit by torchlight, the sconces spaced too far apart, so she found herself racing through darkness. She couldn’t see anything ahead and had to trust her feet, praying she wouldn’t trip over a random rug or uneven flagstone.
Veering around a corner, she let out a pained yelp as she slammed straight into a wall. Abreathingwall that moved as she staggered backward, hands curling around her upper arms to steady her.
“Me bride is already runnin’ away from me?” Killian’s deep, resonant voice drawled. “Och, I cannae have that.”
She shoved him in the chest… and succeeded in doing nothing but hurting her wrists a little. He was too solid, his chest as hard as granite, his feet planted like a majestic oak amidst a storm. Immoveable.
Shaking out her sore wrists, she glared up at him, unable to make out much of his face in the gloom of the hallway. But the gleam in his eyes let her know where to direct her glare.
“I was… runnin’ to tire meself,” she lied, badly. “And I’m nae yer bride.”
“Somethin’ on yer mind?” he asked silkily, ignoring the latter part.
She gulped. “Aye, actually. Me niece.”
Certainly nae ye holding me against ye, crushin’ yer lips against mine, makin’ me feel…
She couldn’t begin to describe what his kiss had made her feel. It had been like… freedom, like gamboling giddily through the Ainsley labyrinth where she knew no one could harm her, like the first warm day after a long and brutal winter.
“What are ye doin’ here anyway?” she huffed. “Should ye nae be in yer chambers, or… doin’ whatever it is that lairds do in the evening?”
“I havenae been sleepin’ much lately,” he said, his wide coming forward.
She backed away until a torch cast its molten glow on his handsome face. Looking upon him was always a surprise; he was so beautiful that he could have been a sculptor’s masterpiece.
“Ye’re nae helpin’,” he said.
For a moment, she wasn’t sure what he was referring to. “I’mnae helpin’ ye sleep? I didnae realize I was meant to. Ye’re a mighty laird; can ye nae fall asleep by yerself?”
He laughed gruffly. Perhaps she still hadn’t understood what he meant.
I’m nae keepin’ him awake. I’m nae noisy. I daenae even think his bedchamber is near mine.
Surely, he didn’t mean that thoughtsof her were keeping him awake?
His cool blue eyes slid over her appreciatively, then dipped downward. She was wearing the same ill-fitting dress she had been wearing at luncheon, but the way he looked at her… it was as if she were dressed in the most opulent gown, or nothing at all.
Her throat bobbed at the intensity of his gaze, feeling as if he were peeling away the layers of fabric, and liking the feeling a little more than she cared to admit.
His hands clenched into fists. “If ye werenae runnin’ from me, bride of mine, then return to yer chambers.” He stepped closer. “Let’s test yer obedience.”
Ailis narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. “I’ll say it again—I’mnaeyer bride. And I’m nae tired yet.”
“Then go to yer chambers,” he repeated, stepping ever closer.
She didn’t budge. “Why would I, when I’ve already tried and failed to fall asleep there? I need to wander. And if I’m yer guest, as ye keep claimin’, then ye’ll let me.”
“Nae when ye’re lyin’ about the reason,” he replied. “I’ll tell ye one last time—go to yer chambers.”
“And if I daenae?” she challenged.
He was right where he had been just before he had kissed her earlier, so close to her that she couldn’t catch her breath, as if his mere presence was sucking the air from the hallway. That hunger flashed in his eyes again, igniting her own.
