The Hunter (Highland Guard #7)(42)

She gazed up at him, tears dampening her lashes. Her eyes shimmered like a sunlit sea. His chest squeezed so tightly he had to look away.

There was long stretch of silence, but finally she said, “Thank you for coming to find me. I’m sorry to have caused so much trouble, but as you can see, I’m perfectly safe.”

Safe? The lass wouldn’t be safe until she was locked up high in some bloody tower in … Bute. The only tower she’d be going to would belong to Walter Stewart.

Not your problem. But the knowledge didn’t seem to calm him down any. He held his temper in check—barely. “I think you and I have a very different definition of ‘safe.’ I heard you were nearly discovered in Roxburgh by one of Edward’s priests.”

“I wasn’t nearly discovered at all. He asked me a few questions, that’s all.” While he clenched his fists so he wouldn’t grab her again, she frowned. “How did you find me, anyway? We were very careful.”

He sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her how difficult it had been. “There was one thing you told me that wasn’t a lie.”

She paled and eyed him warily, as if this were the moment she’d been expecting and was bracing herself for it. And God’s blood, he wanted to give it to her. He wanted to show her exactly how angry he was.

But he wasn’t going to. It was better to pretend it had never happened and never mattered. It was better to pretend he didn’t care. Because something told him that if he touched her again, if he vented the dangerous maelstrom of emotions twisting inside him, she would end up in his arms once more with that too soft, too sensual, too tempting pink mouth melting under his.

He shouldn’t be thinking of how good she’d tasted. He shouldn’t remember it at all after this long, blast it. She wasn’t going to affect him; he wouldn’t let her.

“The nuts,” he said, taking a step back to clear his head. “They are your favorite.”

She blinked at him, obviously surprised that was all he had to say. Did she expect him to rail at her for lying to him about her identity and letting him believe that he’d committed a grievous sin? Did she expect him to be angry that she hadn’t kept her promise to stay out of danger? She bloody well should.

She had a puzzled look on her face, as if she was trying to figure him out. “You found me through the merchant?”

He’d found her; now he just wanted to be rid of her. The sooner the better, if the heat pounding in his body was any indication. He shrugged with an indifference he didn’t feel. “We should go.”

“Go where?”

“I’m taking you back to the Highlands.”

She shook her head as if she had a say in the matter. “I’m not done yet. There is something important—”

“I didn’t ask, my lady.” She stiffened again, and that wary look returned. He supposed he did get some satisfaction in that. Keeping her on her toes, waiting for the axe to fall, gave him an advantage.

“You can’t order me—”

“I’m not the one doing the ordering, it’s the king.”

“Why is he calling me back?”

“I’m just following orders. You’ll have to ask him.” He sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her. The last thing he wanted to do was get involved in that battle.

She bit her lip.

Bloody hell, stop that!

Only when she frowned did he realize he’d spoken aloud. “Stop what?”

A few minutes in her presence and he was already losing his mind—and other parts of him were having a little trouble, too, with her nearness. “We need to leave.”

She shook her head. “Tell Robert that I’ll return as soon as I can, but there is something important I have to do first.”

“You can tell him yourself.”

“You don’t understand, this is very important. I have to be here when—” She stopped, as if uncertain how much to say. She lifted her chin defiantly. “Robert will understand.”

He could have guessed she was going to be difficult about this. “If you are so certain of that, tell him yourself. I thought you were good at explaining things.”

He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist that.

Her eyes narrowed, and he suspected she’d guessed his intent. “I am. But it will take too long. I told you there is something I must do.” She put her hand on his arm, and he froze. She stood so close he could practically feel the press of her body against his. Heat washed through him in a hot, pulsing wave. “I don’t see why a week or two will make a difference. Please, can’t you just tell him I’ll be back as soon as I am able?”

Staring down into her eyes, Ewen felt something inside him tug. The soft imploring look pounded against the wall he’d erected in his mind like a battering ram. He leaned down for a minute, inhaling her sweetness, wanting to give in—

He came back to reality with a jerk. “No.” He didn’t know whether he was talking to her or to himself. “We leave now.”

He could see her try to control her temper. Her lips were pursed tight. “I know you are only trying to do your duty, but I’m sure if you come back—”

“Don’t bother with one of your roundabout attempts to change my mind. It won’t work.”