And landed on her knees beside the bench.
“Oh, Kenneth!” she wailed, throwing her arms across his lap and resting her cheek against his kilt. “Oh Kenneth, can ye ever forgive me?”
Considering she’d landed against the arrow wound, which she’d caused, Kenneth had to take a moment before assuring her. “Of course, lass,” he managed, teeth gritted against the pain.
“I swear I’ll never touch a bow again. I swear it!” This time her chin bumped against the bandage. “I swear I’ll be quiet and demure and stop looking for adventure and—”
“Lass,” he cut her off, switching his hold on the cane to one hand and reaching for her with the other. “I dinnae want those vows,” he assured her, as he half-lifted her off him and his wound.
Blessedly, she settled beside him on the bench, her gaze on the cane. “Of course ye do. Look at the trouble my unruly nature has gotten ye into. Ye cannae even walk without a walking stick, ye puir man! And now my sister tells me ye still think to put yerself in danger by marrying me—”
He kissed her.
He kissed her to show her he wasn’t a “puir man” and that he could walk just fine without the damned walking stick.
And he kissed her because he wanted to.
She whimpered, a little sound of acceptance and need, which made him feel powerful, but he knew he couldn’t push her as far as he’d like. Instead, he wrapped one arm around her waist and broke the kiss, brushing his lips against hers a third and fourth time, before trailing kisses along her jaw, until she sighed and tilted her head to one side.
“I’m no’ wounded, lass,” he murmured.
She blinked, then straightened. “Nonsense. I saw the arrow myself. ‘Twas sticking out of yer leg!”
“But I’ve had much worse. It barely nicked the skin, and yer sister didnae even bother stitching it.”
“I saw it,” she repeated with a frown. “I shot ye.”
“Aye,” he drawled with a grin. “But—dinnae take this harshly, love—ye arenae the best archer in the Oliphant clan. Yer shot lacked strength.” He tossed the walking stick to the ground and reached for her hand with his, pulling it toward the bandage under his kilt. “Would ye like to examine it?”
Mayhap he shouldn’t have teased her, because the gold in her warm eyes flashed briefly at the thought of such daring, and she boldly threw back his kilt. He flinched at the feel of the fresh air on his nethers, wondering if the lass was going to reach for his bollocks, but she just ran her fingers over the white linen wrapped around his thigh.
“Och, Kenneth,” she murmured again, her voice dripping with pity. “I am so, so sorry.”
He caught her fingers in his and brought them up to his lips, holding her gaze. “I’m no’. Leanna, ‘tis a paltry wound, yet worth it to have ye fuss over me.”
Her eyes lit again. “Ye like fussing? I can fuss! I’ve decided ‘tis the responsibility of a wife, ye ken—bairns, menus, sewing”—her shudder was likely unconscious—“and fussing over her husband.”
Well, hell.
Sighing, Kenneth pulled his arm from around her waist and took her hand in both of his, trying to make her see how serious he was. “Leanna, I said I dinnae want yer unreasonable vows.”
“Fussing over ye isnae—”
“Nay, I do like that one,” he admitted with a smile. “And I am looking forward to the opportunity to teach ye how to better handle a bow.”
“I’ll never touch one again,” she vowed fervently.
But he shook his head, knowing what this all stemmed from. “Leanna, I love ye just the way ye are. I love yer enthusiasm and yer sense of adventure, and how ye’re always teasing and making me smile.”
Her lovely eyes widened at his words.
“Ye…do?” she whispered.
“Aye, of course. Those things are what drew me to ye in the first place, if ye’ll recall. I kenned I was looking for a wife who would make my life joyful. When I saw ye under the waterfall, I was certain the fairies had sent ye.”
“I thought…” She shook her head and finished with a whisper, “I thought the same about ye.”
“And I kenned Love at First Sight was supposed to be something which only happened in folk songs, Leanna, but I swear I was struck from the moment I met ye. And each passing hour has been…” How to make her understand. “I have fun with ye, lass. And fun has been sorely lacking in my life.”