They were ill-matched...
He's charming and deadly.
She's intoxicating and skeptical.
What happens when an English lady with a secret meets a Scottish Highlander with a history?
Lady Elizabeth Kendall is on the run...
There is no one she can trust.
...
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The kiss shook Elizabeth to her very core. She felt as if she had become untethered from the world, and all of her troubles had been left behind her. All that mattered in that moment was hanging on to this man who had protected her, fed her, teased her, and now was staring at her with a gaze that was more than slightly haunted, more than slightly hungry.
Elizabeth had to lick her lips before she could speak again. She saw his eyes dart to the pink tip of her tongue, and she swallowed.
"Well?"
He looked surprised.
"Well, what?"
"Do you consider that enough of a promissory note?"
"You can't be serious..."
"Because that's what it was, correct? You wanted to... to test the goods so to speak before you agreed to guide me north."
"By all of heaven, you have a crude way about you."
"I'm afraid, Reade, that I haven't the luxury to mince my words or mind my proper etiquette. Honestly, for all that blank-shield soldiers have a certain reputation, you are the one who seems overly delicate—"
She yelped as Reade caught her up with his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you crazed? I'm trying to warn you, lass. This is no empty promise on my part. If I come to Dun Warring, and I receive no money from your people, I am not waiting around for your wages."
"I know that. You have been perfectly clear on the matter. If you don't receive your fee, you will... take it out of my body."
"That's a prim way of saying it and no mistake. Do you even know what that means?"
Elizabeth lifted her chin proudly, because not even housemaids liked to be thought of as innocent babes.
"Of course, I do. I'm not a child. And I know what I am promising."
Reade drew back. For a moment, she wondered if he was loath to touch her, wary of her in a way that she didn't understand.
"All right. On your own head be it then."
"You mean it? You'll take me to my cousin?"
"Aye, for all that I think this is a wretched idea and no mistake. Aye."
Elizabeth intended to nod coolly upon getting her way, but the relief that coursed through her was so great that she threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you, thank you. I promise, you won't regret it."
For just a moment, he held her, but then he pushed her away again. Despite the fact that it was only right and proper, she felt a strange pang of disappointment as he did so.
"Don't make me regret it, or I'll make you sorry. First, we need to do something about your clothes."
Elizabeth glanced at the dress still hanging up to dry. How on earth had she managed to forget that she was only wearing her shift throughout this conversation? She supposed that she should be writing from shame, but the truth was that she was simply too busy to worry about that.
