Highlander The Cursed Lord (Highland Intrigue Trilogy 3)

“I am not well enough to travel,” she said, which was the truth, at least for a few days, but she needed more than a few days reprieve.

“I do not want you here,” he said with a snarl, and he meant it. His foolish thoughts of last night were just that—foolish thoughts. Never would he know bliss, the feeling of joy, or Bliss the woman in front of him. And he certainly would not be the evil that destroyed Bliss.

She remembered him to be much kinder last night, but then he had had little choice. Though, he could have just let her die and be done with it, but he hadn’t. That had her believing he was not the evil man so many claimed him to be.

“I am sorry to impose on you,” she said apologetically and winced as she shifted in bed.

“A day or two, no more,” he snapped, seeing the truth of her words. She was not fit to travel yet. “Then you go to the village.”

She silently thanked the heavens when a thought came to her. “I do not think it would be wise of me to go to the village.”

“You will go. I command it,” he ordered, jabbing a finger her way.

The way his face twisted with anger sparked fear in her, but she stayed strong as best she could. “I will do as you say, my lord, but I fear if you send me to the village, it will be known that I spent time here and—”

A string of oaths flew from his mouth before she could finish. Once his father found out, he would get what he wanted—a wife for his son. He would force another marriage on him.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You know who I am yet last night you asked my name.”

“To be sure it was you,” she said quickly. “I made my way through your village yesterday and was warned about you.” There was truth to her words since Lawler had warned her what to expect. She winced when she moved to turn.

“Stay as you are,” he ordered sharply. “You need rest. You were warned away and yet you came here anyway?”

She spoke another truth. “I did not want to.”

“Stumbled across me by accident?” he asked once again suspicious.

“Aye, I certainly did that,” she said, thinking it had been stumble after stumble that left her no choice but to come here.

“Where have you come from and where do you go that brings you this way?”

She saw the suspicion in his brown eyes, the green specks sparking, though the scowl that had deepened his brow lines between them had eased.

“I lost what home I had and traveled in hope of finding a new one.” Another truth, since she hoped that somehow all would go well, and she would at least find a modicum of peace here.

“A new home where?”

A partial truth was the best she could do. “Wherever I landed.”

“It is not here,” he snapped in warning.

She went to turn again, and the blanket slipped off her breasts.

“Cover yourself, woman!” he yelled.

Bliss quickly pulled the blanket up to her neck. How had she forgotten she was naked?

“You have no qualm of being naked around a man. Are you overly familiar with men? Is that what you search for a man to shelter with for the winter and see to your needs?”

His insult so infuriated her that her anger gave her the strength to push herself up in bed while keeping the blanket tight against her chest. However, her wound was quick to remind her that she was far from healed. The pain hit hard and fast.

She had just enough time before the faint devoured her to call and reach out. “Rannick.”

CHAPTER 4

Oath after oath flew from Rannick’s lips after reaching Bliss in enough time to stop her from tumbling out of bed in an effort to reach out to him. He wanted to berate her for foolishly trusting him and berate himself for letting himself care. It did no good to care about or for a woman. In the end, the woman suffered for it, and he did as well, for the pain could be unimaginable and the results for the woman… deadly. Never again would he allow himself to care for a woman.

He brushed the wisps of hair that had fallen free from her disheveled braid off her face. They were soft to the touch, plain brown in color, a deeper brown than he had first thought, and held a slight curl. Her face was more oval than round and creamy in color and free of any blemishes. Her features were pleasant enough, though she did not possess the beauty that captured a man’s eye and held it. And yet for some reason, her features captured his eyes and held them.