Forbidden Heart (Hearts of the Highlands #6) - Paula Quinn Page 0,14

nun! A nun!”

His shouting made her seep deeper into the captain’s warmth and safety.

“Mac,” she heard him say quietly. “Think of her right now, aye? The men are all dead. She needs help.”

“Aye,” Mac agreed, seeming to calm himself. “There is a small clearin’ on the other side of those bushes.”

“Lead us to it.”

Mac showed them the way. The captain came to the other side and knelt on the ground. He set her on the grass and took a look at her. It was the kind of look that left Silene worried she was going to begin caring for him.

“I will mend ye, lass,” he said so that only she could hear.

She wept softly at his tenderness, at all she had been through and seen in one day. He wiped a tear from her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Ye are safe now,” he whispered. “I willna let ye oot of my sight again.”

She smiled and nodded.

He began to remove her headdress. She was afraid of what he would find. How serious was her head wound?

When he finally freed her from the covering, his gaze fell over her, perusing her in the way a man might if he had never seen a woman before. But this man had seen many, she was certain. She felt naked before him. She looked away at first, but his gaze went softer when their eyes met again.

He examined her, with Mac and the others watching and looking at her wound. Finally, the captain declared it not serious.

“Ye are cut but ye will live.” He smiled at her and winked when he declared that bit of news. “I want to clean the area, and then we will do somethin’ aboot yer habit.”

“I have hose and a tunic and belt in my bag,” she advised him. “Mother wanted me to wear my habit on this trip, but I had thought something a bit more rugged was better suited. If I had a chance or a reason to change, I would. Now, I have both.”

Morgann was quick to give up his water so the captain could clean her wound. Will offered his as well, as did Padrig and Mac. The captain smiled at all of them and shook his head. “I will clean her with some whisky.”

Their expressions dropped.

“Our whisky?”

“D’ye have someone else’s whisky we could use, Will?” the captain asked dryly.

“This will burn,” he told her a short while later, holding a cup of whisky over her. She nodded and closed her eyes then cried out at the stinging pain. His touch was light and careful. He finished by wrapping her head in the thin coif of her headdress. He and the others then left her alone, guarding her perimeter with their backs to her while she changed her clothes.

Riding her horse should be easier now, she thought, slipping her legs into a fresh pair of thicker hose. She had already been wearing boots, so she pulled them back on. She looked around and trusted that neither the captain nor his men would spy on her.

She changed quickly into her woolen tunic, leaving her torn chemise on underneath. The tear wasn’t too bad, and there was a chill in the air.

She clasped her belt and pulled her hair from beneath her bandage, pushing the longer front strands free off the cloth. Her wimple and veil were stained with blood. She wouldn’t put them back on until they were clean. How would she ever clean them? A river?

When she was done, she called out to Galeren. “You and your men may return.”

He’d saved her. She would never forget it. How could she? Aye, what he’d done was brutal, but brutality was sometimes granted. The man had meant to rape her. She was thankful for Captain Galeren and his men. She smiled at him when he appeared from the other side of the trees. She liked the way he walked with purpose toward her.

She felt a pang deep in her heart. Something pulled it toward him. No! She would give her heart to no one. It wasn’t hers to give.

“Ye look nice.” His voice was temptation itself.

He’d saved her. She looked up and smiled then she lowered her gaze. “Thank you, Captain.” She handed him his plaid, remembering how he had covered her with it.

“How do ye feel?” he asked. His potent green gaze was filled with concern for her. “Does yer head pain ye?”

She lifted her fingers to the bandage. “Nay, there is no pain.