Page 40 of Leila’s Legacy

Leila nodded.

“I dinna think yer da will take kindly to that.” He lowered his head once more.

“You also abducted and imprisoned me. I do not think you will ever be redeemed in his eyes.”

Niall sat up. Her point was an excellent one, though he found it odd that the truth of it should gnaw at his mind so much to hear it. He had never cared for Lord Werrick’s approval prior to having met Leila.

Niall got to his feet and made his way to the bed. His pulse doubled its beat as he neared her. Aye, Leila still wore the red wool dress, and he was fully clothed, but lying beside her as they both slept, sharing heat and air, would be almost impossibly intimate.

Her demeanor was reticent as she shifted over on the mattress to make space for him. He took a long, deep breath in an attempt to settle his racing heart and slipped under the blanket beside her. The sheets there were warm from the heat of her body and everything smelled like clean, dried herbs. Like her.

He extended his arm toward her, offering his chest to lay upon. She readily accepted and snuggled close to him with her head nestled against his shoulder. The delicate scent of rosemary wafted from her hair.

He liked having her laying against him, not just for the slight weight of her lithe body nestled to him, but also the feeling that he could protect her from anything.

He preferred her being with him like this rather than regarding him with raw fear as she had when he first entered the room. The chill he’d felt then resurfaced in the form of goosebumps over his flesh.

You’ve come for me already.

What had she meant by that? He remembered the first time he’d seen her. She had spoken to him cryptically then as well. It was as though she thought he intended her harm.

“I would never hurt ye,” he said softly into the darkness.

She offered no reply, save for the smooth, even breathing of her apparent slumber. Sleep claimed him not long after. But before it did, he could have sworn somewhere between wakefulness and slumber, he heard the quiet sound of a sob.