Jack watched Isla as she dozed while resting against the tree. He felt terrible that she had nothing to eat that night as she wouldn’t taste the roasted meat he made even though she was starving, and he wished there was a place he could get something better like haggis or soup for her to eat.
They were in the wild for now. By dawn he hoped they would have entered the outskirts of Onich, the village where his castle was so he could make it to the Castle before midday. Jack could not wait until he could rest in his own bed.
Isla murmured something in her sleep, then her head tilted to one side. He caught her before she dozed and fell to the ground, then he gently lifted her head and rested it on his shoulder.
She smelled like roses… he loved the scent, and he couldn’t stop admiring her smooth skin and craving to stroke it with his hands. From how she spoke and acted, he suspected she was a passionate woman, one that would respond to him if he touched her.
They had only just met, and he was thinking of touching her already.
Get a hold of yourself, Jack,he warned himself.
She sighed then and his gaze dropped to her lips. Jack couldn’t tear his eyes away from her after that. Her lips were full, a rosy shade of pink and they looked tender. He wondered what it would feel like to kiss her, and thread his fingers through her hair.
While Isla was outspoken and said a lot of strange things, she was still a very beautiful woman. Jack had noticed that from the moment he set eyes on her with those brigands.
A tiny clench of anger appeared in his heart as he remembered the blade pressed against her neck. Before he could stop himself, he lifted his right hand and trailed a finger over her neck.Why do I feel the urge to protect her?
Her skin felt soft and warm.Would the rest of her feel that way?
She is bonnie.
He cleared his throat when heat pricked at the back of his neck and burned his cheeks. Jack lay on the ground next to her, then shut his eyes and willed himself to sleep. They had to be up early to continue their journey.
He didn’t sleep for long, and the entire time his eyes were shut, he kept thinking of her smile.
A slight groan left his lips when he woke up and saw her leg draped over his body. It was unexpected, but it happened because his muscles quivered and all he could suddenly think of was her. Jack put his hand on her wrist and gently pried it off his chest.
He released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding when she sighed and turned away from him. This time with her back pressed into his body. His arousal hardened further and froze him to one spot.
What are ye thinking?Before he could stop himself; a hand came over her waist. Jack had the intentions of moving away from her, but the gentle breeze that blew then made him catch a deeper whiff of her scent.
It filled his lungs and lingered until he swooned with the heady desire rushing through him.
Enough.
Startled with the intensity of what he was feeling, he jerked to his feet and hurried away to put some distance between them before he did something as stupid as turn her around and kiss her.
Jack combed his fingers through his hair and rubbed a hand over his face. The sooner he got her to his Castle, the better for them both.
* * *
Isla did not see Jack when she woke up. The first thing she did after sitting up was to look around her. The leaves on the trees danced slightly to the wind in the air, and she could hear the distant chirps of the birds in the sky.
The rising sun shone beneath the deep departing cloud of night, and as she got on her feet and lifted her arms up over her head, she felt the knots in her muscles ease up a bit.
Isla remembered she hadn’t eaten a thing since she arrived in this past land when her stomach grumbled loud and threatened noisily. She clutched it, looked to the burned-out campfire from last night, and remembered the rabbit Jack had skinned alive. The memory instantly made her flush and her nausea returned.
“Don’t worry, I won’t feed ye rabbit this mornin’,” Jack said as he appeared from a distance in front of her. He held a sack in his right hand and his sword drawn out in the other.
“Then what?” she asked.
“Berries,” he answered then came to her and handed her the bunch he brought with him.
“When we return to the Castle, there will be plenty of food for ye. Haggis, soup, or bare broth, whatever it is that ye may like to eat,” he said as he closed the distance between them in quick, long strides.
His steps thudded on the ground as he walked away. Isla lifted a hand to push her hair off the sides of her face, then she pursed her lips. She began eating the berries and following his strides.
“How about baked stew, or maybe a sandwich?” Isla asked, instantly listing her favorites, and completely forgetting that she was not in a place to have any of that. “Tea? Maybe a muffin or some pie?