Page 16 of Highlander’s Haunted Past

Kenna sat still in the silence for a spell before she started to shift here and there, casting wary glances up at him now and then. Rob was about to open his mouth to demand a reason from her, to coax her into admitting some hidden truth, when he thought better of it. Instead, he took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry fer earlier. ‘Twas hardly a gentlemanly thing to say, especially to my wife.”

Rob cheated a sidelong glance. She was smiling again. It wasn’t ear to ear, and barely even visible in the growing darkness, but it was there nonetheless.

“Ye needn’t pretend not to look at me, Rob. I forgive ye fer what ye said, at least this time.”

“Thank ye.”

“Ye’re welcome. I suppose I am sorry fer stomping on yer foot. Ye may have deserved it, but ‘twas hardly ladylike.”

“No, ‘twas not ladylike, but impressive. It had such a weight to it.”

They both laughed.

“Ach.” She grimaced, tenderly shifting her position. “I don’t ken how ye ride up and down those hills day in and out. My legs are about rubbed raw.”

“Ah, so ye notice how often I ride out?”

She blushed. “Of course I notice.”

Rob smiled despite himself.

“What do ye do about it?” she asked. “To soothe the pain from a day in the saddle, that is.”

“Well, I can think of one thing.”

She elbowed him sharply.

“‘Tis true!” Rob said with a laugh. “Ye’ll learn one day that it can soothe all ills.”

“Will I?”

“Oh, aye. One wee little beg and I can show ye the truth of it.”

Kenna rolled her eyes and shifted again, and this time, he noticed that she had gotten a bit closer to him, their hips now touching ever so slightly. When she looked up at him, he saw her eyes catch on his lips.

“‘Tis all you think about.”

“Aye. But only because I find myself with such a bonny wife.”

“So I should start taking meals with Sutherland, grow big and portly and covered with grease, then ye’d leave me be?”

“Don’t count on it, lass.”

“Think I am incapable?” Kenna challenged him with a smirk that dulled his better senses.

“No, lass, yer stubbornness prevents ye from being incapable of anything.”

“Then what do I have to do?” she whined. “And if ye say ‘beg’, I’ll push ye into the fire.”

“A true threat.” Rob laughed. “Well, I hate to disappoint ye, but I don’t think there is anything ye could do. Simply being yerself is enough to keep me close.”

She turned to him, their gazes colliding like flint hitting steel, creating a spark that was now engulfing them both. There was a softness in those blue eyes, a welcoming that Rob had never seen there. As the space between them started to close, Rob felt his better judgment tugging at him, telling him to stop until he could at least determine which of them was leaning in, but all reason was gone. It no longer had a place here, where their breaths intermingled, twisting their two existences together until it was hard to distinguish where one of them ended, and the other began.

“Laird Fraser! Sir!”

Kenna gasped in shock and pulled away, the illusion that they were alone in the world suddenly shattered by bitter reality. And that was reason enough for Rob to commit a murder.