“You’re not only beautiful. You’re a fine healer.”
“That tongue of yours lies easily,” she accused.
“My tongue is talented and does a lot of things with ease, but it doesn’t lie… this time.”
“It doesn’t?” she asked with a tilt of her head. “Then why did you say that I wasn’t as beautiful as the women who watched you and called out greetings when you exited the hole this morning?”
“You’re too intelligent not to know that I was telling the women what they wanted to hear, since they no doubt don’t hear it from their husbands. Besides, being nice to them has earned me extra food. They drop it down to me every now and then. And all women are beautiful in their own way.”
“I can’t be sure if you’re being sincere or not.”
“I suppose you’ll have to get to know me better to find out,” he said, and raised his hand to gently probe the area around the reddened scratch.
She winced and he cringed, which made her smile. “You suffer along with me?”
“Of course, you belong to me now. It’s my duty to see you safe and cared for.”
“I don’t truly belong to you,” she disagreed, though part of her thought it would be nice to finally belong to a man and he belong to her. But this was nothing like that. “I don’t belong to anyone.”
“Until you wed, then you belong to your husband.”
“And he belongs to me,” she said.
“And, of course, you’ll make sure there’ll be rules to follow,” he teased with a smile.
“There will be love to be shared,” she corrected.
His dark eyes took on a soft sadness. “Love isn’t easy to find.”
“It’s worth the search.” She smiled gently. “And I’m patient.”
“Won’t a marriage be arranged for you?”
“Luckily, no. James has pledged fealty to Ruddock and he sees that the Clan Macardle is protected and has no fear of starving, leaving no reason for an arranged marriage. Ruddock has claimed that Snow and I are free to wed of our own choosing.”
“And you?” she asked out of curiosity, not that it mattered to her.
“Marriage is not for me,” he said and turned a wickedly disarming smile on her. “Though I do have a lot to offer a woman. I’m charming, I have far better features than most men, a fine body, and once I poke a woman, no other man satisfies her.”
Willow had to laugh. “I’m sure there are many women who would find what you have to offer them, irresistible.”
“And you? Do you find me irresistible?”
He sounded like he half-joked and was half-serious and that gave Willow pause to answer.
“You hesitate,” he said with a look of surprise.
She spoke bluntly. “I’m not sure what to make of you, Slatter.”
“I’m a mystery. Does that at least not intrigue you?”
“What intrigues me is how you will evade capture once the Lord of Fire finds that you’re not where he sent you.”
The Lord of Fire could be a relentless man when he wanted something. She had seen how he had been with James when he had insisted that Sorrell agree to an arranged marriage with a man from a nearby clan to help unite the clans in the area and have them pledge their fealty to him. If it hadn’t been for Ruddock, the Clan Macardle would be beholding to the Lord of Fire.
“I won’t be caught again,” Slatter said with confidence.
It struck Willow then. “You will be caught if you see me safely home.”
Would he deserve that after helping her? But then would he truly see her safely home?
“Worry not, you’ll get home and I won’t get caught.”
She quickly asked, “Will you trust me to another to take me home?”
“I would have to have great trust in him to do that and there are few people who I trust that much. Besides, what belongs to me I take great care of and protect.”
She was getting used to seeing that wickedly teasing smile of his and smiling along with him. “And you take great care in reminding me that I belong to you.”
“Let me enjoy having a beautiful woman belong to me, if only for a while.” He didn’t like that her smile faltered. “It saddens you that you belong to me, since it certainly can’t be that you doubt your beauty.”
“You don’t have to lie to me. I am well aware that I have plain features.”
“Who told you such nonsense?” he demanded as if her words offended him.
“No one told me. I have eyes to see for myself. My two sisters got the beauty in the family, especially Snow,” Willow said with a soft smile.
Slatter rested his brow to hers. “You are beautiful whether you believe it or not. You have the most gorgeous green eyes I have ever seen. The color reminds me of the spring when the dormant grass bursts into a luscious green color. And your cheeks blush a rosy pink more often than not, highlighting your pale skin. Then there are your lips, rosy and plump and begging to be kissed.