Page 45 of Highland Ruse

Someone who mattered.

She turned from the clothing, which Leasa packed back into the trunks with great care. A futile effort.

Delilah would never see those gowns again.

She took her two meager bags and dropped them at the men’s feet. “I refuse to take less than these.”

Kaid met her stare head-on. “Ye know why we’re doing this.”

Donnan hefted the bags with a grunt and gave her a carefree smile despite the weight. “I see ye made good use of the space ye had.”

All too soon, the bags were strapped to the horses and Leasa and Delilah sat in front of Donnan and Kaid.

Delilah made a point to not look at the coach where it lay nestled against a cluster of trees. This became harder as they rode away, and all her worldly dreams that had finally been hers disappeared from view.

Likewise, she tried not to notice how Kaid’s body swayed against hers, how his legs cradled her own over the horse’s large body, how his arm encircled her waist.

Try though she might, the awareness of it left a splash of heat spreading over her cheeks and down her chest. She tried to shift forward, but it only resulted in her wriggling her bottom against him and his arm squeezing her tighter.

They rode thus in silence every day with only Leasa and Donnan’s quiet conversation humming in the background along with the thud of the horses’ hooves on the ground. Of course they traveled much faster—too fast.

Eventually, the thick forest gave way to rolling green hills dotted with large boulders and small patches of brush. It was beautiful, and it meant they were further north than she had anticipated.

They’d been on the road with Kaid for approximately two weeks, including the time they’d been sick, which put their entire journey at a total time of two months.

Delilah would have to stall for another two weeks to allow Elizabeth time to arrive safely before she could expose Kaid and Donnan.

Her burden had grown heavier with each passing day. It nipped at her patience until her nerves were frayed, and she was so lost in the chasm of her thoughts, she no longer heard Donnan and Leasa’s chatter.

Kaid was doing what he had to do.

And she would do likewise.

• • •

One more day of travel and they would arrive at Ardvreck Castle.

Kaid nodded toward the cluster of trees in the valley of several large mountains. It would be decent cover for the night.

“Here,” he said to Donnan.

He slid from the horse and tried once more to help Elizabeth from its back. As always, she refused.

They’d all fallen into a routine these last few days. Elizabeth set up camp with him, or rather watched while he did, while Leasa and Donnan gathered the firewood.

The weather was colder—an embrace of home. Kaid’s mind was sharp, his heart thumping with all the familiarity of being where he truly belonged. Sleeplessness did not hold as tight a grip on him as it once had. The images still surfaced in his mind, the horror, but there were moments he was able to sleep more than before the valerian root. Apparently his nightmares had ceased, as the women had issued no complaints of them.

All since he’d stopped taking the valerian.

The very thought of the small vial left his jaw clenching with want of it. Even still after he knew the benefits of stopping it. Even now when he was so much more clearheaded. He pushed it from his thoughts and untied the sleeping blankets from the back of the horse.

Elizabeth stood beside the horse, her gaze fixed on the magnificence of the mountain beneath a clear sky.

“Do ye like it?” he asked.

She didn’t turn to him. He hadn’t expected her to. She’d been cold to him ever since they’d abandoned her items, but he sensed her silence was something far more than anger at her lost items.

“This is my home,” he offered.