The Viper (Highland Guard #4)(85)

She gasped, and then gave him a fierce scowl. “Why didn’t you say something? It looks as if you’ve broken some ribs. I could have wrapped them for you.”

He shrugged, trying not to wince. They were broken, all right. “There wasn’t time.”

She reached out, gently skimming her fingers over the tender flesh. He flinched when her hand dipped low on his stomach.

Her voice softened. “I’m sorry, did that hurt?”

Aye, but not in the way she meant. His c**k was pressing against the ties of his braies, doing its damnedest to inch closer and closer to her hand. “A little,” he said gruffly.

She gave him a puzzled look. “I didn’t think I touched you that hard.” Hard. He groaned. Don’t say hard. The throbbing increased. “I’ll try to be more careful.” She paused, hesitating. “If you take off your shirt, I can see to the cut on your arm and bind your ribs.”

Lachlan swore he could hear Boyd smirking. “Are you going to sharpen that blade all night?” he bit out angrily. “Aren’t you supposed to be finding us a boat?”

Boyd didn’t bother hiding his amusement. He got to his feet slowly, sliding his sword back in the baldric at his back. “Aye, I’m going. It might take me a while,” he pointed out unnecessarily.

Lachlan was already painfully aware that he’d made a mistake. Boyd’s amusement was a hell of a lot safer than being alone with her. Before he could think of a way to call him back, the other man was gone.

Steeling himself for what was to come, Lachlan pulled his tunic over his head. The quicker this was over, the better.

She didn’t make a sound but went perfectly still. Jaw clenched, he kept his eyes straight ahead. Horror. Disgust. Pity. He didn’t want to see any of them. If she thought this was bad, she should see his back. But as it was, she stood in front of him and could see only the smattering of battle scars that crossed his chest and arms.

Growing impatient and wanting this torture to be over, he ventured a glance in her direction. It was a mistake. It wasn’t the scars, the cuts, or the bruises that had made her hesitate.

She was …

Hell, she was staring at his chest as if she were starving, and he was a platter of marzipan.

He swelled harder. He couldn’t take this. “Is something wrong?” he snapped.

She blushed and quickly averted her gaze. Picking up the salve, she began to tend the cut on his arm. It was a deep sword slice across his forearm from the Battle at Brander a couple of months ago, which had reopened at the hands, fists, and feet of Comyn’s men.

Having her hands on him was no easier the second time around. His nerve endings snapped and fired with every touch. He felt as if he were jumping out of his damned skin. Especially when her finger started a slow trace of the mark on his arm.

A few days ago he would have taken care to hide it. The lion rampant, the symbol of Scotland’s crown, set in a shield and encircled with the torquelike band of a spiderweb. It was the mark borne by all members of the Highland Guard. As many of the Guard had done, he’d personalized his, with two swords crossed behind the shield and a viper coiled in the web. She might not know it was the mark of the Guard, but the symbolism was clear.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

He met her accusing stare. “I took an oath. Besides, it was—is—too dangerous.”

“You pretended to be nothing more than a hired sword, and instead I find out you are part of the most revered fighting force in Scotland? A member of the king’s closest retinue. I thought you had no loyalty. I thought you’d betrayed me. And now I find out this? If you’d told me—”

“It wouldn’t have changed anything.”

“It would have for me. I might not have spent two years hating you for something you did not do.” Suddenly, her eyes widened with realization. “Robert and Sir Alex? William and Magnus? The two men at the convent?”

“Stop!” he said, grabbing her wrist to pull her hand away from his arm. Fear made his heart pound. She knew too much. “Don’t ask, don’t even think about any of it. Don’t you understand how dangerous knowledge is? Do you know what those men would have done to you if they thought you could tell them anything?” She paled. “Forget you heard anything they said.”

He should have known better than to try to scare her. “Haven’t I earned the right to know the truth?”

He clenched his jaw. “Not if it puts you in danger. Damn it, Bella, don’t you understand? My former brother-in-law found out that I was a part of the guard, and now I have a price on my head to rival Bruce’s. They will do anything to find out the names of the other men. Anything. It isn’t just the other men at risk—their families will be in danger.”

She lifted her chin, not backing down one inch. “I wouldn’t say anything.”

He nearly laughed. “Spoken like someone who has never been tortured.”

“And you have?”

“Aye,” he said bluntly. He hadn’t broken, because at the time he hadn’t cared about anything. He didn’t have a weak spot. Then. “Care to see a sampling?”

He turned his back.

This time she gasped. Her eyes widened. He saw the horror that he feared, but also something else. Something unexpected. Something like admiration.