Chapter 12
Keir and Elin avoided each other’s gazes as they walked together back to the others.
Neither had spoken after the kiss was done, and Keir did not know what he would have said even if he had. Why had he done that? He had wanted to kiss her for so long, but he had resisted temptation before. Why was it that the slightest pressure of her lips against his skin had crumbled his resolve?
In that moment, he’d felt like he wouldn’t be able to breathe if he did not kiss her, and when she’d melted against him, he’d felt alive in a way that he’d never known possible.
But now, as they walked together in silence, regret pounded at his heart.
Had he ruined the tentative friendship that had built between them?
Had he placed himself in her eyes as just another man waiting for his moment to take advantage of her beauty?
He cursed himself, and the only thing stronger than his embarrassment over what had happened was his desperate longing to hold her close and kiss her again and again.
They reached the campfire and Elin took her seat again next to Briana, not looking in Keir’s direction at all.
The two women spoke in low voices, and Keir’s eyes lingered on Briana for a long moment, the familiar guilt threatening to wash away even the complication of the feelings the moment had just caused.
But then Theon spoke and, thank God, he was brought back to reality once more.
Keir looked away from both women, ostensibly to pay full attention to his brother, wondering how he had lost himself in such a complicated torture in his mind.
“If Grant is tae marry, then we must see how it will affect things for us. Dependin’ on the bride, it could change the entire landscape we face ahead,” Theon said. He gave Elin an apologetic look. “Forgive me for bein’ insensitive, but—”
“Speak as ye will. I am more than fine with whatever Eamon Grant chooses tae do with his heart,” Elin said lightly.
“Though in truth I doubt his heart has anythin’ tae do with the poor lass who is about tae become his wife.
He would never marry if it was nae tae gain somethin’ from it.
Ye are right tae believe that it might be important tae ken who his bride is. ”
Briana placed a hand on Elin’s arm, and the women exchanged a look of affection that pierced something in Keir’s heart. He yearned to move closer to her, but he stayed where he was, polishing his dagger that had already been clean hours before.
“Well, there’s good news in all of this. If Eamon Grant isnae comin’ for ye after all, then I suppose we’ll get tae keep ye around tae ourselves, Elin,” Graeme teased. “I swear we’ll be gracious hosts. I can be especially gracious if ye need comfort over Eamon’s betrothal,” he winked.
“Haud yer wheesht, ye big oaf,” Briana warned affectionately, flapping a hand in Graeme’s direction.
“Though I willnae deny that, if ye wish tae stay with us, I’d be pleased tae have another woman around this place.
Aye, I love me husband, and the others are as much me own brothers now as they are his, but Lord, I dinnae ken how they survived so long until I came along.
For such strong, powerful men, they arenae half useless. ”
Everyone else laughed, but Keir kept his head down, and Elin simply smiled slightly.
Keir didn’t want to see her smile. He didn’t want to focus on those lips which he had craved for so long.
Now that he had tasted them at last, he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to stop if he started once more.
He had tried to resist, but when she had kissed his cheek, his desire had consumed him.
Had it been too much? Should he have held back?
He knew of her history, at least some of it.
Did she see him now as just another of those men, the ones who wanted her for nothing more than her beauty?
Is that why she would not meet his eyes?
He should never have kissed her, and yet he could not bring himself to regret it.
He needed to talk to her. He needed her to know that her looks were the least of her draw to him—that her spirit, her dedication, and her determination to survive had pulled him in before he knew it was happening.
But would she ever allow them to be alone together again? Did he deserve it if so?
“I will stay,” Elin said quietly. “I have nowhere else tae go, and ye have been… kind tae me. All of ye.”
There was a pause, then Noah said, “We’re pleased tae have ye.”
Theon nodded in agreement. “Honored,” he agreed.
Dinner was served, and while the others chatted and joked and laughed, Keir remained silent.
He tried to look everywhere except at Elin, and yet his eyes strayed to her no matter where he tried to set his gaze.
Her lips, naturally red as the sweetest berries.
Her eyes, brighter than any shining star in the sky.
Her hair, her curves, her smile—all of it, all of that loveliness, and it all paled in comparison to the woman she was beneath.
He knew then, at that very moment, that he would never not seek her out again, no matter how crowded the world may get.
He ate his food without tasting it, wondering how he could get her alone and explain.
“Keir,” Theon’s voice interrupted his musing.
He roused from his thoughts and noticed that everyone, including him, had finished eating. The clouds had opened again, though it was only a drizzle, and nobody minded enough to run for cover yet. “Aye?” he asked, trying to act as though he had been paying attention the whole time.
By the look in Theon’s eyes, he wasn’t fooled, but Keir was grateful that his brother didn’t say anything about it.
All he said was, “The storm tonight is supposed tae be even worse than the one from the other night. I ken ye braved the last amongst the horses, but perhaps ye should find a bed tae sleep in tonight.”
Elin’s head snapped up and her eyes found Keir. “What do ye mean?” she asked. “Have ye been sleepin’ outside? Have… have I taken yer cabin and yer bed entirely?”
“Nay,” Keir said too quickly.
Graeme snorted.
Keir cleared his throat. “I mean… aye, but it’s nae problem. I wanted tae leave the whole cabin tae ye so that ye might feel comfortable. I can sleep on the floor of one of me brother’s rooms if the storm is tae be that bad. Dinnae fear. I’ll be fine.”
Elin shook her head. “Nay. I willnae accept that. Ye’ll share the cabin with me tonight, aye?”
“I cannae—”
“I insist,” Elin said. The rain grew heavier, and the others started gathering their things. “There’s room enough for us both.”
Keir opened his mouth to argue, then huffed out a laugh at the look of absolute determination on Elin’s face. “All right, all right,” he said. “You go on ahead and get yerself dried off and dressed for sleep, and I’ll follow after I’ve helped clean up all this mess, aye?”
“Good idea,” Graeme said. He winked. “Nae funny business, now, the pair of ye. This is an honorable camp of brigands, ye ken.”
Irritation scratched at Keir’s skin. “Ye neednae fear it. I’m nae like ye,” he snapped.
“Well-loved by women everywhere? Aye, that much is clear,” Graeme replied and pulled such a silly face that Keir’s irritation had to give way to reluctant amusement.
Everyone laughed, then, after a soft word from Theon, Briana and Elin left for the cabins while the men set about tidying up and securing the camp against the coming storm.
Elin fussed over the space in the cabin, rushing to and fro to tidy up her meager things.
She wished she’d had time to go and collect flowers or sew something nice to welcome Keir in.
She couldn’t believe she hadn’t worked out that he’d been sleeping on the ground all these nights, and embarrassment and shame only managed not to overwhelm her because she was too busy fretting about making the place properly presentable.
Her eyes fell on the bed, where Keir’s jacket lay on top of the pillow.
She’d taken to wearing it every single night since he’d given it to her officially.
She moved to hide it, then hesitated, instead hanging it neatly over the end of the bed.
She was done hiding things that made her happy, and she knew that Keir would smile to see it.
Truthfully, there wasn’t much she wouldn’t do to see him smile.
Her heart sped up slightly as she thought of how it had been to be kissed by him.
She knew better than to read too much into it or to expect anything from him.
It had been the heat of the moment, and she was nothing compared to the likes of Briana, not really.
Her body had felt alive for the first time in longer than she could remember, but though her skin hummed with the memory of him, Elin told herself sternly not to expect more than she had already been given.
Keir would be her friend, and she must be satisfied with that.
After all, where had the act of following her heart ever gotten her before, anyway?
The door creaked open, and Elin’s heart caught in her throat as she slowly turned to see Keir enter.
His hair was wet, his shirt soaked through, the water almost sparkling in the candlelight.
He closed the door behind him and shook his head, sending a spray around the room in a way that reminded her of a wolf pup so much that she wanted to laugh.
Her laughter died abruptly, though, as he peeled the shirt from his skin and tossed it aside.
He was beautiful.
Elin had seen men before, even handsome men, but none had struck her the way Keir did now.
She had known he was tall and lithe and toned, not brawny like many others, but she had not realized just how sculpted the body was beneath his clothes.
Light tufts of hair grew atop a muscled chest that reminded Elin of the statues she had seen in books of ancient gods.
The hair trailed down his toned stomach, highlighting the divots and shadows between the hard-earned musculature there, and down past his belly button, trailing down, down, until it disappeared below his waistline.
She pulled her eyes away, blushing as she realized she had been staring, but she could not get the image of that trail out of her mind.
The heat remained and in fact only grew stronger as Keir caught her eye and smiled.
“See?” he said. “I did as ye asked. Nae need tae nag me.”
Elin’s throat was dry, but she managed to force out the kind of playful barb she knew he was expecting. “Ye’re the type of lad who needs tae be nagged, Keir MacKenzie.”
He grinned, and the way the shadows moved with his face highlighted impossibly sharp cheekbones and a jawline with bristles she longed to touch.
There was a space between his jaw and his neck that looked so tempting in the candlelight, and Elin wondered what it would be to press her lips there and bury herself in his scent and skin.
Outside, thunder crashed.
“I used tae be afraid of the storms as a wee laddie,” he mused. “Terrified, really. Theon would tease me sometimes, and me father would tell me there was nothin’ tae be afraid of, but it was only me mam who could coax me out from hidin’.”
“How did she do that?” Elin asked. She moved closer to him, away from the bed and toward his reach, telling herself it was only so she could hear him better.
“She sang,” he told her. His eyes softened at the memory. “She’d hold me close and sing our song, and just for that wee moment, I’d ken the world couldnae touch us. I loved me father and Theon, but when it was just me and me mam, we were somethin’ special.”
Elin’s heart tugged at the image. She wanted to touch his cheek and reassure him, but though she now stood close enough, she held herself back.
“I sometimes comforted the wee ones at the orphanage who took fright with the storms,” she said.
“I’d tell them silly stories or mime puppets with the shadows.
Whatever it took tae distract them and remind them that they were safe. ”
Keir smiled. “But ye didnae sing? However will ye get me through the night, then?”
She snorted. “I can sing if ye like, but I doubt it’ll soothe anyone. Ye may regret askin’ when yer ears are bleedin’ from the horror of me singin’ voice.”
He blinked at her, then burst into laughter, and she soon joined him.
Suddenly, the room was illuminated as lightning flashed through the cracks in the wooden walls, so bright that for a second it felt like the world was aflame.
Elin jumped in surprise, and as she did, she stumbled forward into him.
His hands went out to catch her, and hers landed on his chest. He held her there, and his laughter faded as they met each other’s eyes.
She could feel his heartbeat through the slightly damp skin of his chest, strong but no longer steady, and she could feel the intensity burning into her as he stared.
“Keir—” she whispered.
Her words were lost as his kiss claimed her, and she gasped into his mouth, pressing herself hard against him as she surrendered to her own desire.
One of her hands slid up the skin of his chest and moved behind his head, tangling in his hair to keep him close. He groaned, and the sound pulsed through her as he grabbed her around the waist. They stumbled, sinking together to the floor, their kiss all that remained of the world.
Thunder rumbled, but nobody noticed anymore.