Chapter 22 #2
Leana took him in. He was beautiful and imposing, with his naked torso and dark hair falling over his shoulders.
She watched the sunset rise over them both and felt the lullaby of the sea in the distance.
And she realized that this was exactly what she wanted at that moment—to be able to give herself completely to Kenneth, body and soul, in the middle of that peaceful clearing, where only the two of them seemed to exist.
Still, something in Kenneth’s expression made her feel that he would not give in easily, so she slowly trailed her hand down his face as she looked at him longingly.
“Can I ask ye something?”
“Whatever ye want,” he replied, his eye flickering with an emotion she could not place.
“Can I… Can I take off yer eyepatch?” she asked shyly.
At first, Kenneth seemed hesitant, but after a moment, he nodded. “Aye. Ye can do with me as ye wish, lass.”
She smiled.
Carefully, slowly, her fingers pushed the eyepatch off his face, and the strip of leather fell to the grass. She watched him for a long moment, the question hanging on the tip of her tongue. But she didn’t want to ask it, afraid of the answer.
“Do ye miss yer old life?” Leana began slowly, nuzzling him.
“Ye mean me life as a pirate?” Kenneth asked.
She nodded.
Kenneth took a moment to consider his answer. “Nay. I love the sea, but I have a duty to me people and family,” he confessed.
Leana studied his face. “But if ye could, would ye want to return to the sea and the life of a pirate?”
“Nay. I can still come to the beach and relax when I need to, but that part of me life is over.”
“Well, as over as it can be, since everyone kens ye as the Pirate Laird,” Leana teased, coaxing a smile from his lips.
“Aye…” Kenneth murmured, looking at her with something close to affection.
One of his fingers slowly traced the line of her jaw. He looked pensive, and she soon discovered the reason.
“And ye? Do ye miss yer village? Yer family?”
“I miss me faither and me sisters,” Leana admitted.
Her fingers drew circles over his chest. She was afraid to admit that she would miss him when she left.
“Ye’ll be able to return to them soon.” Kenneth’s lips curled into a bitter grimace that he seemed unaware of. “Ye’ll be back with yer family… and in the care of yer Laird.”
“Nay.” Leana shook her head. “I will return to me family, but nae to the care of that man. He has never… He has never cared for me,” she muttered bitterly.
Perhaps she was touching on a subject Kenneth was curious about, for he didn’t seem to hesitate as he said, “I heard some stories from one of me councilmen. He said that ye’d had problems with yer Laird in the past.”
This time, it was Leana’s lips that twisted into a grimace. “The rumors arenae far off,” she admitted.
“What happened between ye two?” Kenneth asked, stroking her hair tenderly.
Leana watched him, noting that he didn’t seem upset, just curious.
And perhaps it was because of this new intimacy between them that she allowed herself to be vulnerable.
“That man… He tried to hurt me,” she mumbled as memories flashed through her mind.
A lump formed in her throat, and something similar seemed to happen to Kenneth, for his body stiffened immediately. His breathing grew ragged, and the hand that had been stroking her hair paused.
“Tell me what he did to ye,” he ordered in an icy tone.
Leana noticed that although he remained composed, he had that thunderous look in his eye, the one that warned of danger and doom. She had seen it on other occasions. Only now, she knew that his anger was not directed at her.
With a bitter smile, she said, “He hasnae done anythin’ to me. He couldnae… because I fought back.”
“Be that as it may, I want to ken what happened,” Kenneth demanded crisply.
Leana bit her lower lip. “He wanted one of me sisters, nae me,” she began slowly.
“Joanna was just a child when she started drawin’ men’s attention…
Although she kens how to protect herself, it has always been me duty as the eldest sister to look out for her,” she declared in a slightly proud tone.
“That’s why I was the first one who noticed the Laird’s interest in her.
I… I tried to get him away from me sisters, but then he threatened me. He said it was either me or them.”
The memory dredged up all the hate and disgust she had buried deep inside. Her body tensed, and Kenneth seemed to sense it, for he pulled her closer to him.
“Go on,” he urged, slowly stroking her back.
Leana sighed. “When the Laird… When he threatened me, I made sure to return the favor,” she admitted.
“I told him that if he laid a single finger on me or me sisters, I would murder him. As a healer, I have a dangerous advantage over the others—I ken nae only the plants that heal, but also those that can make a person suffer to the point of wantin’ to die… ”
It was a dangerous statement. One that she hated to make. Never in all her years as a healer had she ever thought of using her knowledge to hurt anyone, but the Laird of her clan made her sin that one time.
“And what ye said was enough to make him leave ye alone?” Kenneth asked slowly. He seemed to be chewing on the words.
“Nay.” Leana chuckled bitterly. “He accused me of witchcraft soon after and locked me in one of his dungeons. He said I bewitched him and tried to burn me alive…”
At her back, Kenneth’s hand paused in the middle of a caress. Everything about him seemed tense, like a bowstring pulled taut.
“But he couldnae prove what he said, and in the end, he had to let me go. Everyone in the village kenned me and loved me, so they soon realized that he was lyin’.”
“Well, he didnae lie about everythin’,” Kenneth murmured.
Leana glared at him. “What do ye mean?” she asked, pushing herself up on one elbow to get a better look at him.
Kenneth gave her a small smile and raised his hand to caress her face. “I mean, I feel like ye’ve cast a spell on me too…” he admitted.
His confession unsettled Leana, who let her guard down as he planted a slow, deep kiss on her lips.
His tongue slowly traced her lower lip before he bit it, igniting a new fire in her belly.
Eventually, Leana pulled away with a sigh.
“Would ye consider stayin’ here a little longer… with me?” Kenneth asked.
“Ye mean…?” Leana swallowed nervously. “Until the one-month period we agreed upon expires?”
Or maybe… maybe ye want me to stay longer, to stay with ye permanently…?
Kenneth’s gaze lingered on her, intense and searching, sending a ripple of heat through her veins.
Her breath faltered, caught in the quiet tension crackling between them.
It wasn’t just the way he looked at her—it was the weight of something unspoken, something that made her pulse hammer and her thoughts blur.
She felt light and at the same time drawn to him by an inexplicable pull. She sensed that his question contained many truths that were difficult for both of them to accept, much less admit.
Her lips parted in doubt. She did not know what she was going to say, but she did not have the chance either, for before she could utter a word, Kenneth looked up and scrambled to his feet.
“Fire!” he shouted.
Leana twisted around in a dizzying rush, realizing what he meant. For she had just caught sight of the columns of smoke in the distance.