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Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

" A what?" Elara spluttered.

Kaden was still swimming with dizziness, struggling to focus. He'd acted fast, pushing Elara on top of him as they'd fallen through the false layer of earth that had been placed above the hole. Unfortunately, he'd hit his head in the very same spot where Elara had struck him across the back of the head.

"Kaden!" she hissed.

"I'm wounded here, give me a minute."

"Wounded?" She leaned down over him, her voice changing immediately.

This isnae helping.

She was straddling him, her hips pressed down on his, the curve of her waist in his grasp, as she leaned down over him to check him.

"I cannae see ye. I cannae see anything."

"I ken." Kaden lifted one of his hands from her hip and felt the back of his head. It wasn't wet with blood, just bruised. "It's all right. I'm nae bleeding."

"What the hell were ye thinking?" The words erupted from her.

"Ah, Fire. I'm right beneath ye, ye dinnae need tae shout in me face."

"Why did ye nae move back when ye realized it was a trap? Why did ye nae pull back?"

He was dimly aware of her moving upward again. He could just about see the outline of her head as she gazed up at the mouth of the hole above them.

"It probably had something tae dae with the fact I was trying tae stop ye from getting hurt. Ye're welcome, by the way."

"Well, this is perfect, absolutely perfect," she cried irritably, turning on his hips in such a way that he was about to have a very serious problem.

"Ye're going tae have tae stop turning like that," he muttered darkly.

She abruptly jumped off him. In her eagerness to no longer be touching him, she managed to stomp on his stomach.

"Oomph!" he cried out. "Well, I wonder if I deserve that." Winded, he bent double against the soil, trying to catch his breath.

"It's a wolf trap?" her voice came from nearby.

"I've seen them when hunting. They're supposed tae be long out of use now, ye only get the odd wolf roaming. Most are dead. These traps, they can be years old. The ground is supposed tae give way beneath them, then leave the wolf tae starve in the hole."

"Wonderful, wonderful," Elara cried thickly.

Kaden grew aware of her heavy breathing, but he was too busy rubbing his now sore stomach and sore head to think much about it. She moved past him, her skirts whipping his face so fast that he nearly fell face first in the dirt.

"Would ye calm yerself?" he called to her. "What are ye doing?"

There was barely any light at all filtering into the hole. It made it nigh on impossible to see what she was doing.

Is she scrambling at the wall? Trying tae claw her way out?

"Elara?" he called to her.

She started hyperventilating. She turned around, her back falling against the dirt wall. Bending forward, she planted her hands on her knees, shaking.

Kaden moved to his knees in front of her, reaching out and placing his hand as gently as he could to her cheek, trying to feel her through the darkness. He thought she would pull away, but to his surprise, she did not. Her quickened breathing just grew worse and in the palm of his hand, he could feel she had a cold sweat.

"Ye fear being closed in," he whispered. It wasn't a question. It was easy enough to discern from her sudden panicked reaction.

She nodded, her shaking growing all the worse.

"And I have locked ye in two chambers already. That's a good start."

"They were large. This!?" she spluttered. She must have waved one of her arms around in the darkness for it thudded when it hit the wall. "This is tiny."

"Listen tae me." He raised himself higher on his knees just as he grew aware of her slumping down the dirt wall. Their positions change, him just a little bit higher than she was. With his hand still on her cheek, he placed his forehead against hers. "Breathe slowly."

"How can I breathe slowly now?"

"Try," he pleaded. "In through yer nose, and out through yer mouth." He breathed louder, trying to show her what to do, but she was still breathing too fast. This quick, she would end up passing out in seconds.

He tried something else, shifting his hand from her cheek to the top of her chest. He didn't lower it anywhere near her breasts, for this was not about excitement – it was about tranquility. He placed his palm flat over her sternum.

"Breathe, Fire," the nickname escaped him without thinking of it. Her sternum rose up in time with his own, then fell back again, softly. "Good." His fingers were loose on her skin, not grabbing, just touching her softly.

Then her breath hitched. All too late, he realized why. He leaned back an inch, straining his eyes through the darkness to see that she was crying.

"Dinne look at me now." She angled her head away, but it was too late. He had seen it. He hated the fact she was ashamed to show something anything so natural as tears.

His hands snaked up from her chest to her neck, soft, as he placed his thumb on her chin and turned her head back to face him. The wind must have brushed the tree branches above the hole, for slowly, more silverish light from the moon fell on her face. He could see her eyes, straining to hold back tears, her lips parted in fear.

"Please," she begged. "Dinnae look –"

"It's a hard thing fer a man nae tae look at ye when ye are this beautiful," he whispered. He bent toward her, desperate to taste a kiss. This time, it would be different to their last. It wouldn't be about quick satisfaction, one night's pleasure – it would be about trust instead.

I cannae dae it. Nae when she is this terrified.

He shifted his lips at the last second, kissing her cheek instead of her lips. He brushed away the tears that had escaped down her cheek.

Her hands appeared as if from nowhere. Perhaps she had been clinging onto the wall behind her until now, for she reached up and hooked them around the edge of his waistcoat, anchoring the pair of them together.

"Trust me," he whispered, moving his lips near her ear. "The ground willnae fall on us, and we will get out of here."

"Ye dinnae ken that," she said, her breath shuddering.

"I dae." He moved his head back in front of hers. Her eyes glanced down. She was looking at his lips.

"Trust me," he pleaded. Moving his hands to hers, he drew her off the dirt wall, dragging her back into the middle of the hole.

"What are we doing?" she asked, her tears had stopped, though she still trembled.

He looked up, peering to the top of the hole. With a little more moonlight now showing, he could see the mouth of the hole wasn't completely out of reach.

"Ye are going tae climb up."

"Me?" she spluttered. "Well, ye did ask me tae trust a mad man."

"Nae mad, Elara, but aye, trust me," he said again, moving his lips near hers.

He could have taken it then. She was looking at him with expectation, perhaps, even hope, but he couldn't stand the thought of their second kiss being in a hole in the ground.

"I'm going tae lift ye up," he said, as softly as he could, then ye're going tae climb on me shoulders. Her eyebrows raised. "Ye will then be high enough tae grab ontae that tree up there and pull yerself out. Aye?"

She looked up, seeming to debate the plan for a minute.

"Aye."

"Good, are ye ready?" he asked. Her hands loosened their grip on him. It was an intense moment as she stared at him, without touching him. He would have done anything to have her back in his grasp again.

"I'm ready." She nodded.

He linked his hands together and held them down near her feet.

"Step intae me hands, I will then lift ye up. Steady yerself against the dirt wall, and then step up ontae me shoulder."

"Aye, aye, let's dae it." She waved her hands, clearly eager to be out of this hole as fast as possible. She stepped into his linked hands and placed her palms on his shoulder. He nodded at her once, then lifted her into the air.

She was light, easy to lift, but in her panic, she didn't grab hold of the wall properly. He had to veer to the side, in danger of falling flat to the bottom of the hole again.

"There, now climb ontae me shoulders," he called as they managed to steady themselves.

One of her feet stepped onto his shoulder, then practically onto his head.

"Argh," he grunted in pain, then the ache was over. She had lifted herself into the air and out of the hole.

Spinning on the spot, he looked above him, turning his head back and forth as he searched for any sign of where Elara may have gone.

"Elara?" he called, but there was no answer. "Elara!"

A wild idea entered his head.

Has she gone? Has she seen her chance tae be rid of me and run?

Then a branch appeared above the hole. Elara was holding it, dropping it down into the earth so he could grab onto it.

"Grab on quick," she called. "Ye're a heavy load, so I willnae be able tae hold ye fer long."

"So endearing." He grabbed onto the branch, then dug his boots into the wall and started to climb up. When he got near enough to the mouth of the hole, the branch began to give way, splitting into two.

"Nay!" she shouted, releasing the splintering wood and reaching out for his hand instead.

Kaden caught Elara's arm. She grunted at the pain, then veered her weight back, throwing her whole body against the earth in the effort to pull him out of the hole.

As he knelt on the level earth, she released him. He fell down to his knees beside her as she collapsed on her back, breathing heavily, both hands on her chest as it moved up and down with her fast breaths.

Kaden stared at her in amazement. She was staring at him too.

Such tension filled the air, he could only think of diffusing it.

"Well, that's the second time I have seen beneath that skirt now."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Ye bast –"

"What?" he said innocently as she sat up right in the dirt.

"Ye looked too. When I was bathing, ye looked."

"Ye were naked in me chamber," he reminded her with a chuckle. "And ye also looked, so ye can hardly reprimand me fer it, can ye?"

"Aye, I can." She reached out and slapped him across the arm. He stood up, chuckling loudly at her reaction and holding out his hand to her.

"Ye ken, fer a minute there, I thought ye were going tae leave me in the hole."

"What?" she asked, not quite taking his hand yet, but staring up at him.

"It would have been yer chance, wouldnae it? Tae flee from me. Never have tae deal with me again." He wiggled his hand, showing he was still there, waiting for her to take it to pull her to her feet.

She took hold of his palm, and he lifted her to her feet. He didn't release her straight away though, and neither did she pull back. When a laugh fell from her lips, he felt something jerk just behind his navel.

That had tae be the first time I have heard her genuinely laugh.

"In case it has passed ye by, Kaden, we are a team now. Even if ye cannae stand me company."

"Ha, I dinnae remember saying that." He bent his head toward her, remembering what had happened deep within that hole.

Surely, she knew by now, that he couldn't ever dislike her, not when there was this thing between them, something so strong he could no longer really put a name to it.

"Thank ye," she said suddenly, her fingers moving within his own. It was a softer grasp. "Fer what ye did down there. Fer calming me down." She tried to stand taller, lifting her chin a little higher. "I dinnae like anyone tae see me in that state."

"Fear is nothing tae be ashamed of," he whispered. "It means ye're sensible tae danger. Sounds wise tae me."

"Ye earnestly believe that?"

"I dae." He knew he had to let go of her now. If he kept holding onto her in that way, he would give into that temptation, so slowly, he released his hand from hers. "So never apologize fer being afraid of enclosed spaces, nor fer crying in front of me, Fire."

"Ye're going tae keep calling me that, arenae ye?" she asked, lowering her hand to her side.

"It suits ye," he whispered. "It suits ye all too well." He walked away from the hole in the ground, moving back through the trees to where the horse waited for them, looking at them with a curious expression in his eyes. "Now, if ye'd excuse me, I'm going tae clean meself up after that bath in the dirt."

He faced the loch and unbuttoned his shirt.

"Aye, I need tae get clean too… oh." Whatever the rest of her reply was going to be, it did not come.

Kaden dropped his waistcoat over a nearby rock and went for his shirt next. He peeled it over his head and laid that down on the rock too. He supposed there was no point in bothering to hide the tattoo across his abdomen, scorched there by gunpowder, years ago. She had seen it.

Kaden glanced back at her, only to see Elara had halted a couple of feet or so behind him. She closed her mouth, as if she had been watching him, slack jawed.

"Are ye saying ye'd like tae join me, Elara?" he asked, watching as her eyes narrowed to slits.

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