Page 21 of Hunted By the Hard Highlander

He is so close. I…

She could feel each deep, steady breath he took as if it were her own. There was a fuzziness in her head, something that she could only blame on his proximity. Her heartbeat sped up, pounding against her ribcage so hard she was worried it may burst free. Hendry must be able to feel it.

She knew that she should push him away. Logically, she did not wish for him to be so close, especially not in such a scandalous position. Yet it felt undeniably good to be beneath his weight.

“Hendry,” she warned. It lacked all of the heat she had intended. She could not fake it. His eyes left hers for a beat, darting down to her lips that were parted ever so slightly. She closed her mouth, swallowing as she worked herself up to telling him to get off of her.

She did not get the chance to say anything else, though. When she started to speak again, Hendry’s lips found hers. A squeak escaped between them, surprise with a trickle of longing making itself heard. She could not stop it if she tried. She had no desire to stop this.

The action was impulsive, she could by the unrestrained way he moved that it was driven by feeling more than thought. And, as her own lips began to return the pressure, it felt as if she lost the ability for all critical thought. This was the only thing that mattered to her.

This might have been what she had been waiting for all along.

Aurora’s fingers found his hair, twisting in the surprisingly soft tresses. If she were pressed later, she would say that it was from shock or that she intended to push him away and needed more leverage. In no world did she want to be kissing him. There was no situation where she would admit that she was breathing him in like he was air. Not even now would she admit it to herself.

It ended devastatingly quickly. Hendry wrenched himself back, standing before she could even register that the kiss hand ended. She pushed herself up on her elbows, watching him as he disappeared through the cabin door, slamming it behind him.

“What…”

For a long moment, she could not do anything but lie there. It was as if her entire body had been frozen, held in place as her mind tried to make sense of the last several minutes. One moment, he had been chastising her, the next, he had been hovering above her, kissing her as though his life depended on it. She had not even registered the moment when things had abruptly changed.

Maybe I imagined it.

Finally gathering herself from the floor, she pressed her fingers to her lips. The swollen, tingling sensation was the only proof she had that she had not imagined what had just happened. After a beat, she ran to the window, watching Hendry’s retreat back to the castle.

His shoulders were held tight. Each one of his footfalls was heavier than necessary, like he was trying to banish the interaction from her mind. It made her stomach turn.

Does he regret it? Do I regret it?

Chapter Eleven

“Where are ye runnin’ off to so quickly?”

Aurora stopped abruptly, turning toward Mrs. Duncan. She had waited until the very last minute to break her fast, afraid of seeing Hendry again after the kiss. Now, her only goal was to occupy herself somewhere that Hendry was not.

“I thought I might go for a walk,” Aurora said after a beat. “Or perhaps I will visit the library. I havenae yet had the chance to see it.”

“If ye are lookin’ for somethin’ to do, ye can assist us in preparin’ the next meal,” Mrs. Duncan said, the suggestion sounding much more like a command. “We could use an extra set of hands.”

“I would like that,” Aurora told her, grateful to have found something that would not only occupy her time but keep her squarely away from the Laird.

Even after spending the entire night picking apart the smallest details of the interaction, she could not make sense of it. She was haunted by his lips, the firm press that was both respectful and possessive, the stark contradiction pulling her mind in two different directions. The part of her that was inexplicably drawn to him had rejoiced before being promptly crushed by his flight.

“I’ve nae visited the kitchens yet, either,” Aurora said, knowing better than to dwell on the issue.

“What better way to learn the layout than to assist us, then?” Mrs. Duncan said, motioning for Aurora to follow her. “I’m quite glad that ye are amenable to helpin’. It is lovely havin’ another set of willin’ hands.”

“I am grateful for Clan Anderson,” Aurora replied as they slipped down a servants’ passageway. “Helpin’ around the castle is the least that I can do.”

“Yer presence here isnae predicated on how useful ye can be to us,” Mrs. Duncan said, her tone making it clear she would hear no arguments otherwise.

Aurora held her tongue, though she did not agree. Perhaps she was not required to help Mrs. Duncan, but Aurora was only here because Hendry needed a bride. If he had not needed to be wed so quickly, she and Adair would have either been turned away or thrown into the dungeons.

And Adair likely would not have made it more than another week.

She was glad to be pulled into work as soon as she and Mrs. Duncan stepped into the kitchens. Her heart could not take imagining alternate scenarios.

“Ye’ve peeled potatoes, aye?” Mrs. Duncan asked as they joined a small circle of servants already focused on the task at hand.