He followed, and it wasn’t long before he heard the sound of water rushing over stones. He arrived in the clearing just as Emily was dismounting from her horse and wrapping the reins around a knot in the closest tree to her.
“Get down,” she snapped, motioning for him to join her by the water’s edge. No doubt so that she could have him clean his arms or tend to his wounds.
How was he supposed to tell her that it was so minor that he honestly couldn’t feel it? But he indulged her anyway.
He dismounted and tethered his horse. “Now, what?”
Emily gestured to the small pond and waterfall. “Well, this was supposed to be the finish line… I guess we both lose.” She sounded like she waspretendingto be saddened by the news, but didn’t seem actually bothered by it in the slightest.
She took a seat on a large rock by the water’s surface and pointed at the one beside him. He heaved a sigh and moved over to join her.
“Perhaps ye should look for a better bride,” she concluded with a shrug.
She snapped her fingers for him to offer his arm. She dipped her free hand into the water and then tapped it to her chest and sides of her neck to cool herself off, letting those stray hairs cling to her dampened skin.
“Nay, lass, I think we both win,” Kaden countered, watching her carefully as she rested his forearm across her knees. Never mind how much he had to bend over to let his arm rest there.
Wordlessly, she lifted the upper layer of her skirt to expose the soft white layer underneath and tore off a strip of linen with some difficulty. Then, she tore off the bit that had mud on it and dipped the clean part into the water. She twisted it around herindex and middle finger and began to dab at the torn skin on the top of his forearm.
He said nothing as she worked, liking the attention but wishing she wasn’t putting herself through the effort of any of it in the first place.
She worked quietly, but he could see her gaze shifting to the other scars on his arm and hand. She could see the deep indentations around his wrists that would never heal from all his years in chains.
Her breath caught. She hadn’t noticed them before because she hadn’t had any reason to shift the strips of leather that he chose to wear on each wrist. Kaden called them part of his attire, even if he hated wearing them. But he hated the stares, the pity and fear in the eyes of those who looked at him, but that wasn’t pity on her face.
Without asking permission, she untied the leather laces holding the bracer in place, loosening it just enough to fully see the scars and mangled skin. She hissed in a breath that stayed lodged in her chest as she shifted his arm, pushing up his already rolled up sleeve to see the tails of deeper scars.
That was when he pulled away from her grip. He pulled his sleeve back down and tightened the bracer back into place. He wasn’t going to explain himself to her or anyone else.
“H-how do ye mean?” Emily asked, picking up the conversation where they had left off. Her voice was thick and strained. It almost sounded like she was pained.
Kaden didn’t allow himself to ponder that.
“Can one truly be the winner when she cannae even participate in making the decisions that affect her own life?” Her gaze traced his bracers as he pulled his arms back toward himself.
She swallowed hard, as if realizing that perhaps he might know a thing or two about not being able to make choices regarding his own life.
“If—if ye force me to marry ye, then people are right, and ye are cold, and cruel, and—” Emily bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head.
A single tear rolled down her cheek that she quickly dashed away. The next moment, she had pushed herself up from the stone she had been sitting on and was stomping back toward her horse.
Whatever conclusions she had just come to, Kaden wanted to know.
What had just happened?
He rose and followed her, his longer legs making it far easier to close the distance between them and step around in front of her to stop her from reaching her horse.
“I told ye.” He swallowed thickly. The tension in his throat made it hard for him to speak clearly. “I understand ye just fine.”
It was the closest thing to an admission that he was going to make. He wasn’t going to stand here and pretend that he had a life that was as restrictive as hers likely was, but he wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t know restrictions of a whole other kind. Apples and oranges, and he was not going to compete with her on that.
“I think we both ken of rumors, and we both ken that they are formed somewhere, but that doesnae make them true.”
Emily lifted those beautiful eyes to his, leaning in to close the distance between them. Once more, her hands landed on his broad chest, her touch impossibly soft. As if he pushed too hard, she might disappear. His hands found her waist, pulling her closer and wishing that he could feel the heat of her skin through the fabric rather than the ribbing of her corset.
Kaden’s hand then lifted and moved to trace the underside of her jaw, the pad of his thumb resting on the point of her chin to tilt her face up further and better see every one of her breathtakingly perfect features. He could get lost in those emerald-green eyes for hours.
It should worry him how quickly that could become a problem for him.
