tween them? Nothing had changed. He stil meant to marry Moira. The sheets pooled at her waist as she wiped the moisture from her cheeks with the backs of her hands. 198
He smoothed the hair from her face with his fingers, then trailed them down her arms. Her nipples tightened, and she groaned inwardly when they puckered against the thin fabric of her shift. How was she supposed to think clearly with him so close? With him touching her?
“How . . . how could I be happy here? They al think I’m a thief, and if that’s not bad enough, a witch.”
He continued to stroke her arms, as though he knew what he did to her. Goose bumps formed beneath her heated skin. Her nipples ached, and her breasts grew heavy and ful . His eyes softened. “Doona’ worry. I wil find a way to make them believe in yer innocence without tel in’
the truth.”
Her heart raced, and she shook her head. She couldn’t do it, not with how things stood between them. He felt nothing for her, and her feelings for him were too strong.
“No, I can’t stay. I want to go home.”
He gave her a pained smile. “Aileanna, if I use the last wish to return you to yer home, I leave the clan vulnera ble. We are in difficult times. I may have need of the fairies’ magic. Can you no’ understand?”
“Oh, I understand al right. You expect me to sacrifice my happiness for the good of your clan.” She flung the words at him.
“There was a time when I thought you could be happy here, Aileanna,” he said quietly. “Wil you no’ try?”
She flopped back onto the mound of pil ows. “It doesn’t look like I have much of a choice, now do I?”
“Do you have kin you leave behind?”
“No, there’s no one,” Ali admitted unhappily. “My mother died when I was seven, and none of the foster homes I was sent to ever worked out.” She wouldn’t tel him Dunvegan had become more of a home to her than any she had ever known growing up.
He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm,
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murmuring, “I’m sorry you suffered, and I doona’ mean to make you suffer further, but I canna’ send you back.”
“You can . . . but you won’t.”
He stood at the side of the bed and looked down at her.
“Mayhap you’l feel better once you have something to eat. I’l have Mrs. Mac fix you a plate.”
She was starved. But she wasn’t a man, and if he thought he’d soften her up by feeding her, he was sadly mistaken.
“Aileanna.” He gave her a pointed look, his hand on the handle of the door. “The flag is no longer in my room, but even if it was, lass, it would do you no good. The magic only works if a MacLeod waves the flag.”
“You’d think someone could’ve told me that before,” she muttered.
She heard his husky laughter as he left the room and threw a pil ow, hitting the back of the door instead of him. Ali swung her legs over the edge of the bed and cursed. Her foot—she’d forgotten. She brought the candle from the bedside table and held it so she could examine her leg, noticing her bloodied fingers as she did. Her ankle was swol en to twice its size. She blew out a frustrated breath. It was obvious she wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. At the end of Rory’s bed she noted the linens piled on the battered wooden trunk. Unable to reach them, she grabbed ahold of the carved wooden post and groaned; every muscle ached, protesting the movement. Gritting her teeth, she hopped on one foot, then bent down to pick up the piece of cloth. Back in the comfort of Rory’s big bed, Ali dipped the fabric in the pitcher of water. Wringing it out, she wrapped it around her ankle and propped her foot on a pil ow. Anx
ious to inspect her injuries, she hiked the chemise to her thighs to check on her knees. Obviously Mrs. Mac had cleaned her up as wel as changed her. Only a smal amount of dried blood was visible on her skinned knees. 200
Her stomach grumbled as she dabbed at the scrapes with the other cloth. Maybe she would feel better if she had something to eat, especial y if it was Mrs. Mac or Mari who kept her company instead of Rory. Looking up at the sound of metal clanging against metal, she saw Rory, framed in the door. The flickering light from the torches in the hal cast him in shadows—
a hardened warrior, the man she’d fal en hopelessly in love with, a man who tore her heart from her chest and flung it aside. She was too tired, too vulnerable to deal with him.
“Thank you, you can leave it over there.” She pointed to the table that stood by the fireplace. Rory hesitated before coming into the room, and she quickly realized what held his attention. Hastily, she pushed the shift over her knees.
He cleared his throat. “I doona’ think ’tis a good idea fer you to be walkin’ aboot,” he said, jerking his head in the direction of her foot.
“No, it’l be fine. I’l —” She sent her eyes heavenward when he ignored her and strode to the bed. “Do you ever listen to what anyone says?”
“Nay.” He smiled. “You ken I’m right, Aileanna. Yer in no condition to be leavin’ the bed.”
“I did just fine, thank you very much.” She gestured to her foot. “I real y do appreciate you bringing me some
