Неизвестный

by Kinley MacGregor

  She helped him to his feet.

  Ewan made sure he didn't put too much weight on her as he limped along beside her.

  He'd never had anyone care for him like this. His brothers would have laughed, then kicked him up and told him not to cry like a lass. His mother had at times tried to pamper him, but with three other sons, she'd been ever occupied by their needs, and so he'd gone forgotten while she rushed to tend Braden, Kieran or Lochlan.

  He had to admit he liked the way Nora cared for him. Liked the idea of having her complete and undivided attention.

  Most of all he liked where his hand rested.

  "Ewan? Could you please lower your hand a bit?"

  He reluctantly moved it from her breast, and did exactly as she said and placed it just below her bosom so that he could still feel the curve of her.

  Aye, a man could get used to this. But in truth, he'd rather still be cupping the soft mound. Feeling the hard nipple of her tease his palm.

  Nora had nice breasts. Not too large and not too small.

  A perfect handful.

  And that thought made him even harder. He looked back at the trees and whimpered in need.

  "Did I hurt you?" she asked.

  "Nay, love," he said gruffly, wishing they didn't travel with the gypsies after all.

  They approached the others.

  "What has happened?" Catarina asked as soon as she saw them.

  "Ewan fell from a tree while retrieving my brat," Nora explained. "I think he's injured his leg and his back."

  Ewan saw the suspicious looks from the men and a knowing, taunting grin from Pagan.

  "Fell from a tree, eh?" Pagan asked in a whispered tone just for Ewan.

  Ewan gave him a wicked glare. When he spoke, he made sure to keep his words low enough so that Nora couldn't overhear them. "Och now, you're just jealous you don't have a beautiful lass to dote upon you."

  Pagan surprised him with a laugh. "True enough. For a taste of those lips, I'd gladly throw myself down a mountainside."

  Ewan watched him suspiciously, but Pagan merely walked off and left them.

  "Did you now?" Viktor asked Ewan once Pagan had departed. He slid his gaze to Nora. "And just how far did he fall?"

  "Quite a ways," Nora hastened to assure him.

  Lysander snorted. "Too bad he didn't land on his head."

  Bavel shoved at him.

  Disregarding them, Nora helped Ewan into the back of the wagon. "You rest here, and I'll be right back with something for you to drink."

  As Nora left him, Catarina approached her and whispered so that Ewan wouldn't overhear her.

  "I don't think he's as injured as he appears, my lady. I think he's playing upon your sympathies so that he can stay close to you."

  Nora flashed an evil smile. "And well I know it. 'Twould take much more than such a slight fall to hurt him, but I rather like having him close."

  She winked at Catarina, who laughed.

  She didn't think Ewan would have allowed her such freedom with his body if he wasn't "injured." And he seemed to enjoy her caresses too much for her to stop them.

  If he wanted to be babied a bit, then she would certainly oblige him.

  As she returned to the wagon, she caught sight of him with her brat. He had it pressed to his lower face as if inhaling it.

  Seeing her, he quickly put it aside and straightened up.

  Nora stared at him there. His long legs were stretched out in front of him, and he looked a bit guilty. Those piercingly blue eyes of his made her tremble.

  He was so fierce and powerful, and at the same time there was something playful about him. But what warmed her most was the knowledge that he wasn't playful with the others.

  Only she was allowed to glimpse the more tender side of him.

  She liked that a great deal.

  Nora climbed in to sit down beside him and handed him the wineskin.

  He took a drink, then glanced at her in surprise. "You brought me ale?"

  "I thought it would help with the pain."

  Viktor looked in on them. "How you doing, lad?"

  Ewan looked at her uncomfortably.

  "He'll be fine," Nora answered. "He just needs a bit of a rest. Would it be all right if we rode back here for a while?"

  Viktor nodded. "We'll be on our way then."

  Nora listened as the others returned to their horses and Viktor tied both Ewan's horse and hers to the back of the wagon. After several minutes, they were on their way.

  Again he had a guilty look about him that told her he wasn't as injured as he would have her believe.

  So be it. She was more than content to ride back there alone with him.

  "Who do you think this man is who paid them to abduct you?" Nora asked after a short span of silence. "Have you many enemies?"

  "Nay. My only enemy was Robby MacDouglas, but since the feud ended between our clans, he's forgiven me and we've been friendly enough."

  " 'Tis peculiar, isn't it? I wonder if it could be some woman who caught fancy to you and paid someone to bring you to her."

  Ewan scowled at her. "What a strange thing for you to think."

  "Nay, not really. You're rather fetching when you're not making that face."

  "I'm not making a face."

  She touched his forehead and smoothed his features. "You scowl overmuch."

  "And you talk overmuch."

  She smiled a smile that warmed him. "Aye, 'tis what makes Ryan so angry at me. He says I am ever a whirlwind of nonsense."

  Ewan touched her cheek with his fingertips. Then he leaned forward and kissed her lightly. "I rather like your nonsense."

  Nora sighed as she cupped his head to hers. She could drink from his lips for eternity.

  Ewan nibbled on her lips for quite some time, stroking and teasing them.

  It was the first time ever she had sat with a man like this and let him have free rein with her lips and body. She enjoyed it immensely.

  Finally he pulled back, and Nora settled down by his side, safe in the shelter of his arms while the wagon rocked beneath them. Neither of them had slept much the night before.

  So she let the soothing sound of his heart lull her to blissful slumber.

  Ewan toyed with her hair as her gentle breath fell against his neck. How he loved the way this woman felt in his arms. She was so soft against his hardness.

  He tried to remember Isobail. He couldn't even recall her face, only the pain she had left in her wake.

  It was Kieran he remembered. He had tried to tell him that Isobail didn't love him.

  Kieran had attacked him viciously, calling him a liar.

  "Damn you, Ewan. You know nothing of what you speak. She was meant for me and no other. She has said it to me a thousand times."

  "Listen to me, damn you. She told me herself that she has no feelings for you."

  "Liar!" Kieran had backhanded him for those words.

  Ewan had reached to attack, and Lochlan and Braden had come between them, forcing them apart.

  "Why are you upsetting him, Ewan?" Lochlan had demanded as he shook him forcefully.

  "She loves me." The words had leaped out of his mouth before he could stop them.

  All three of his brothers had laughed. The sound had echoed painfully in his heart.

  How dare they scorn him for it. Was it so impossible to believe a woman could desire him?

  "You?" Kieran had shaken his head as he continued to laugh. "Now I know you jest."

  Ewan had never wanted to hurt his brothers before, but he wanted to then. He was tired of being pushed aside by all of them. Discounted. Mocked. "Why is that so hard for you to believe?"

  It had been Kieran's final words to him that had set everything into motion.

  "Look at yourself, Ewan. You're gangly and sullen. What few women you've had, I had to pay them to take you, and all you did then was talk to them instead of make use of their charms. The day will never come when a woman would have you over me. What could you
ever offer a woman?"

  "I know the answer to this one," Braden had chimed in. "A lifetime of brooding silence and evil glares."

  Then Braden had clapped Kieran on the back and the two of them had left the hall, all the while laughing at him.

  Ewan had stood frozen, unable to breathe from the cruelty of their words.

  "I know not what to do with that lad, Aisleen. He will never be what his brothers are…"

  "They didn't mean that as it sounded," Lochlan had said after Kieran and Braden had left. "I'm sure Isobail is fond of you. In your own way, you are—"

  "Silence, Lochlan," he'd snarled. "Bother me no more with your socalled comfort. I'm tired of all of you recounting my faults to me. I'm not as handsome as Braden, or as charming as Kieran, and I lack your intelligence. Believe me, I know well my shortcomings. Every last one of them."

  Those comparisons had been branded into his heart from the hour of his birth.

  Though he loved his brothers, he was well aware of where he fell in everyone's esteem.

  Even Sin had mocked him when he offered to help him and Braden rescue Lochlan from the clan.

  There was nothing he could do that his brothers couldn't do better.

  Only Nora had never compared him to them.

  Of course, she had yet to meet his brothers…

  Would she care for him if they were around? Or would she be like Isobail and abandon him the first chance she got?

  He didn't know for sure. But in the back of his mind was the thought that if she did, it would be the blow that destroyed him. He could take anything except her ridicule.

  Viktor stopped the wagon on the outskirts of a small town. Catarina reined her horse to a stop as Lysander, Pagan and Bavel dismounted.

  Catarina joined Lysander as he pulled open the door to the wagon, and they found Ewan and Nora sound asleep in the back.

  Nora was lying against his chest, and he had one brawny arm slung protectively over her.

  "Ahhh," Catarina said, happy to see them so entwined.

  "Am I supposed to allow them to lie like that?" Lysander asked. "I'm thinking I might get a sword to my middle for it should her father ever learn of this."

  "I'll take one to your backside if you don't leave them be," Cat said. "I think they make a beautiful couple."

  "I knew she was too quiet," Viktor said. "I should have known she'd be fast asleep."

  "Well, rouse them," Bavel added. "I'm hungry enough to eat my boots."

  "I'm awake," Ewan said gruffly. "Who could sleep with the four of you yapping like herd of puppies?"

  Ewan gently shook Nora awake.

  She blinked open her eyes, then smiled at him.

  In spite of his best intentions, he smiled back.

  "Where are we?" she asked as she realized the wagon was no longer moving.

  "I'm not sure," Viktor said. "We've come up to a small village. I thought we might buy ourselves a nice supper and mayhap find a comfortable bed for the night."

  Nora stifled a yawn as she scooted out of the wagon.

  Ewan came out behind her and forgot that he was supposed to be injured. The minute he took a step, Nora clucked her tongue teasingly at him.

  "For shame, my lord, feigning injuries and playing on my poor good nature. And to think I was worried over you."

  Ewan scratched his chin and sheepishly averted his gaze.

  Pagan laughed at them as he walked past.

  Nora playfully patted Ewan's arm, then stood up on her tiptoes to give him a sisterly kiss on his cheek. "Not that you asked it, but I forgive you."

  They took a few minutes to freshen their appearances. Ewan took Nora's hand and led them into the town.

  He paused long enough to ask if there was a pub, and they were directed to the largest cottage in the village.

  The gypsies were eerily quiet as they walked along behind them.

  The pub's door was open and several men were seated at tables, drinking from goblets.

  "Can I help you good people?" an older woman asked as she came forward to greet them. She had dark auburn hair that was liberally laced with gray and a large, full figure.

  Ewan inclined his head. "We'd like some food and beds for the night if you have them."

  The woman led them to a table near the hearth.

  "They're not very friendly here, are they?" Nora asked as she sat down by the wall.

  "'Tis a small village, my lady, and most are rather suspicious of strangers. They fear we'll either steal their children or curse them to a pox." Catarina winked at her.

  Nora frowned at that. "Well, I can't imagine why."

  "Neither can I," Ewan said. "Especially since they drugged and then abducted us."

  Nora elbowed him.

  Viktor's cheeks darkened.

  Catarina and Nora laughed.

  "But admit it," Catarina said. "Your being abducted is the best thing to happen to you."

  Ewan looked at Nora. There might be some truth to that. But he didn't want to admit it, especially not out loud.

  After they were served their food, the door opened again.

  Ewan saw a man a couple of years older than he enter. He knew there was something familiar about him, but it wasn't until the man drifted past the table that he realized what.

  'Twas Isobail's older brother.

  His heart stopped. He hadn't seen Graham MacKaid since the day before Kieran had stolen Isobail away from her father's house.

  The man looked older than his years. His face was bearded and haggard. His brown hair hung lankly around his shoulders, and he was thin and gangly.

  It was obvious the MacKaids had fallen on hard times.

  "Graham," the maid said in greeting. "Been a while since you passed this way. Are you heading home?"

  "Aye, though I don't know why I bother. If I had any sense at all, I'd be heading myself for France and forgetting that I ever saw Scotland." He paused as if realizing he'd said too much, then added hastily, "You have a room for the night?"

  "Sorry, love, I just rented my last one out a few minutes ago."

  He cursed and turned to his right, which faced him toward where they were eating.

  The man didn't move as his eyes narrowed and recognition hit him as well.

  Ewan's hand tightened on his goblet as he saw rage descend on Graham's face.

  "You," he snarled. "Fi, I would have expected better of you than to let filth into your establishment."

  The woman stiffened and cast a suspicious eye toward them.

  Ewan rose to his feet. He'd never been the kind of man to let an insult pass unanswered and he wasn't about to start now. "You'd best be calming yourself, Graham MacKaid. I'm in no mood for you."

  Graham cast a disdainful look over Nora. "Which of your brothers did you steal her from, hmmm? Everyone knows Ewan MacAllister can't ever have a woman unless he takes her from someone else."

  He heard Nora's sharp intake of breath.

  Ewan roared in anger as he came around the table to attack.

  Nora was dumbfounded as she watched the two men fight.

  "You bastard!" Graham snarled as they punched at each other. "You ruined my life."

  Ewan said nothing as he caught the man a blow that sent him straight to the floor.

  Ewan picked him up by his shirt and shoved him toward the door. "Leave, Graham. Otherwise I might kill you."

  Graham laughed, displaying a set of bloody teeth. "Why don't you then? What's my life to you? I might as well be dead since your family ruined mine."

  "What did we do to you? 'Twas your sister who killed my brother."

  Graham spat blood onto the floor and snarled at Ewan. "Isobail would never have left home had it not been for you and your brother. You're the one who killed Kieran. Don't try and blame an innocent lass for your deeds. She was a good lass until you ruined her."

  Ewan bent down and caught the man about his waist. He ran at the wall, pinning Graham to it.

  Nora was on her feet and across the room
before she even realized she'd moved.

  "Ewan!" she snapped at him. "Put him down."

  "Nay, not until I kill him."

  Lysander and Pagan appeared at her side to help her separate them. Nora forced Ewan back while Pagan and Lysander escorted the other man toward the door.

  "Calm down," she said as she met his blazing eyes.

  Graham turned at the door and called out one last parting word. "You never answered my question, MacAllister. Who did you steal her from?"

  Ewan took a step, but Nora stopped him. "What are you doing?"

  She saw the pain on his face, the torment. She reached up to touch the cut on his lip, but he dodged her hand.

  "Don't touch me."

  He turned about and left her there to stare after him.

  Nora followed after him.

  He was already to the wagon.

  "Ewan MacAllister," she said sharply, "stop right where you are."

  "Go away, Nora. I'm in no mood for you."

  "Why? Because of what that fool said?"

  He clenched his teeth and looked away.

  She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, then forced him to look at her. "You didn't steal me from anyone."

  "Think you Ryan will feel that way? You don't belong to me, Nora. I have no right to you."

  "You're right. I don't belong to you. I belong to no man on this earth. I am my own person and not the property of my father, Ryan or anyone else. Whom I give myself to is my concern, not theirs."

  He tried to pull away, but she held him.

  "Look at me."

  He did.

  "You're a good man, Ewan. One with a good heart. If Isobail couldn't see that, then she was an even bigger fool than her brother. But I see you. I know you."

  His eyes were filled with agony as he stared at her. He took her hand into his and pressed it against his lips.

  Ewan inhaled the sweet scent of her. He wanted this woman with every piece of his heart. But at the end of the day, he knew Graham was right.

  He had stolen her from another.

  For all he knew Ryan would be like Robby MacDouglas, pining away for her. Willing to risk life and limb to regain her.

  And who would blame him?

  Nora was wonderful.

  He didn't deserve someone like her. He deserved nothing at all.