"Aye, it is. All of this is my fault. I never meant for Ryan to die. He was an annoying pest, but still…"
"He loved you."
"Nay," she said, holding on to his waist as she buried her head against his chest, "not really. We were childhood enemies in that our parents were always putting us together. We never got along."
Ewan glanced to Graham and Sean, who were arguing over what the letter to her father should say and over how much money they should ask for.
He had to find some way to get them out of this.
He wrenched at the ring that held him to the wall. It wiggled only enough to make him think that maybe he could work it free. Provided the MacKaids didn't turn around and see what he was up to.
Nora saw him twisting at his ropes. She pulled back from him. "You'll hurt yourself."
"I'll heal."
She shook her head, then glanced around the overgrown floor where weeds and rocks were scattered. She looked back at the MacKaids, who were still arguing, and motioned for Ewan to be silent.
He watched her go to a small pile of stones. After a few minutes, she returned with one.
But before she could hand it to him, Sean saw her.
"Give me that," he snapped, rushing over to them and pulling it from her hand.
"What is it?" Graham asked as he joined them.
"The little tart was trying to help him escape."
Rufus came forward with a snarl. "I say we tie her up with him while we write the note."
"Aye," Graham agreed. He pulled his belt off and handed it to Sean. "Then after we finish with the note, what say we have a bit of fun with her?"
Ewan went cold. "Don't even think it."
Graham smiled evilly. "Why not? She's going to die as soon as we get the money. The only one who'll ever know we tasted her is you, MacAllister. And you won't be able to tell anyone after we cut your throat."
His smile widened as he eyed Ewan with malice. "That bothers you, doesn't it? The thought of us using her? Aye. You used our sister and cast her off. The least we could do is return the favor."
"Your sister left him."
Ewan flinched at Nora's words.
Graham drew back to hit her.
Ewan slung his leg out, knocking Graham away from her. "You touch her, and by all the powers of hell, I'll see you pay for it."
Graham walked over to Ewan. He raked a cold glare over his body, then kicked him hard in the ribs.
"Ewan!" Nora screamed.
Sean held her back.
Ewan grunted at the pain as he tried to shrug it off.
Graham would pay for that. When he got free, he was going to make sure this was the last mistake Graham ever made.
"You're worthless, MacAllister," Graham sneered. "There's nothing you can do to me now."
Ewan laughed at that, and the sound of it made all three MacKaids back away.
"You've no idea what I'm capable of, Graham MacKaid, because if you were, you'd be on your knees praying right now for the Lord to send His angels to protect you from me. I will see you dead." He looked to each of them. "All of you."
Sean actually crossed himself at those fiercely uttered words.
Graham spat on the ground and shoved Nora toward Rufus. "Secure the wench and let us finish our business."
Ewan pulled at the ropes that held him. Somehow he was going to find a way to escape this. God help the MacKaids when he did. They were all going to learn firsthand why no one crossed a MacAllister.
Only death awaited such fools.
Once Rufus had Nora tied up with Graham's belt, he sat her roughly next to Ewan, then returned to his brothers to help write their note.
Nora licked her lips, but held herself together with a strength of will that amazed him. She was truly spectacular given what she'd been through this day. Brave.
Even so, he could tell just how shaken she was from all this, and he ached to soothe her nerves. But he doubted if anything short of their escape could do that.
"It's hopeless, isn't it?" she asked.
"Nothing's ever hopeless," he said with conviction. He would get her out of this no matter what it took.
She sighed and shifted her bound hands in her lap. "I don't know, Ewan. I'm thinking this is as hopeless as it gets."
"Look at me, Nora."
She did.
"If this is as hopeless as it gets, you and I are in good standing. I promise you. This, in the grand scheme of life, isn't so bad."
She shook her head at him. "You're a strange man, Ewan MacAllister. But I love you anyway."
His heart caught at her words. "What?"
"I love you," she repeated. Then she leaned forward and laid her head on his chest and snuggled up to him. "I'm so sorry I got you into this."
Happiness, disbelief and anger tore through him.
How could a woman like her have a single care for him?
And yet he knew she spoke the truth. She wasn't Isobail to spread her lies and walk away. Nora would never be so cruel.
She loved him.
And he loved her even more now than he had before.
"I will not let them hurt you, Nora. Do you understand?"
Nora offered him a small smile that she didn't really feel. She appreciated what he was trying to do, but she didn't hold out any false hopes.
How she loved her big bear. She could almost believe him when he said that. "Aye."
Ewan nuzzled his face against hers. She could hear his intake of breath as if he were inhaling her. He pulled back ever so slightly and kissed her cheek.
She watched in awe as he moved away from her. He stood up slowly, turned to face the wall, and braced one leg against the old stones next to where the ring was embedded.
He took the ropes into his hands and used his leg to pull against the iron ring.
Every muscle in his body tightened as he tried to pull it free.
Nora was aghast at his actions as much for the fact that he might succeed as for the fact that what he was doing had to be excruciating for him.
"Hey!" Rufus shouted as he looked up to see Ewan on his feet.
Ewan didn't stop.
The wall shook as Ewan panted and strained even more.
Nora pushed herself to her feet and moved away from the wall before her strong bear pulled it down on top of her.
She'd never seen anything like it.
An instant before the brothers reached him, Ewan pulled the ring free.
He turned on them with a vicious snarl.
Nora wanted to help him fight as the brothers attacked Ewan, but as long as she was there tied up, she was a liability to him and she knew it. If one of the brothers caught her, they would again threaten her life to control Ewan.
So she did the only thing she could.
She ran for the horses as the MacKaids ran for Ewan.
Her gamble worked. They were so intent on subduing Ewan that she was on Ewan's horse before Graham realized she'd left the area.
Nora wasn't used to riding bareback, but it didn't matter. It was up to her to see them safely away from this, and she wouldn't fail Ewan.
After pulling herself up on the horse's back, she clamped her legs tight around the horse's ribs and ran Ewan's horse straight at the men.
The brothers scrambled away.
With a grunt, Ewan swung himself up behind her.
He brought his bound arms down over her head, placed them around her, and took the reins, then turned the horse about.
He ran it toward the other horses, scattering their mounts before he headed them into the dense forest.
She could hear the brothers cursing angrily as she and Ewan rode away from them while they tried to recapture their own horses.
Nora wanted to turn around and see if they were behind them, but couldn't. Ewan's hold on her was far too tight.
So instead she focused on remaining as still as possible so that Ewan could maneuver them.
Her entire body was tense and ready as they sped throug
h the forest. His spirited horse flew through the trees easily, but she was terrified the MacKaid brothers would catch them.
After a time, Ewan reined to a stop and turned to look behind them.
"Did we escape?" she asked, her voice high-pitched from fear and trepidation.
"I think so." He hugged her close to him. "You were brilliant, Nora."
She laughed triumphantly. "The horse was the easy part. You did the hardest part, what with pulling the ring from the wall. Are you all right?"
"A bit sore, but damned glad you kept your wits about you." He kissed her quickly and soundly on the lips.
She smiled at his praise. "Were you expecting me to lose my wits, my lord?"
"Nay. I know you better than that."
She was warmed by his words and wanted desperately to kiss him for it. And that she would as soon as they stopped.
She would kiss the poor man blind for everything.
Ewan led them through the woods, farther away from the MacKaids.
"Shouldn't we head back toward town?" she asked.
He shook his head. "They'll be expecting us to do that. No doubt it's where they pulled back, too, and they're waiting for us. I say we go farther north, then west before he head back toward Lochlan's."
It amazed her how much she trusted him.
How much she loved him.
He slowed the horse so that he could untie the belt from her hands and free her. Nora tried to return the favor, but his ropes were so tight that she couldn't.
She gingerly touched the red welts on his wrists, some of which had already started bleeding. "It must hurt dreadfully."
"I'll live until we find some way to cut it off."
"Do you not have the dagger in your boot?"
"Nay, I loaned it to Lysander earlier this morning and forget to get it back."
She sighed. " 'Tis a pity," but even as she spoke those words, she frowned.
Ewan looked somewhat pale and he was perspiring quite a bit as if he'd been running for a while.
Attributing it to his exertion at the wall and their close escape, she leaned back against him and let him lead them to safety.
They didn't stop until nightfall.
Ewan removed his arms from around her and helped her down as best he could.
It wasn't until he slid from the back of the horse that she saw the bright red stain on his clothes. It looked like blood. A lot of blood.
Nora's heart stopped at the sight. Surely he wasn't injured. If he were, he would have mentioned it.
Wouldn't he?
And yet there was a pinched paleness to his handsome features. He was still perspiring, and she noticed the uneasy way he moved. There was no sign of the lethal grace she was used to seeing from her giant.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing to the stain.
"Nothing." He pulled the horse to a cleared area and secured it so that it could graze.
Nora frowned at his actions, and when she looked down to see that the side and the back of her own dress was also coated in red, her heart pounded even more.
"You're hurt?" She rushed to him.
He wiped the sweat from his face with his arm and shook his head as if to clear it. "Graham stabbed me while we were fighting. The blade glanced off my rib."
She blinked in disbelief of his blase tone. How could he be so nonchalant about a stab wound?
"Ewan MacAllister, sit!"
He arched a brow at her as if he couldn't believe her commanding tone.
"I can't believe you," she muttered. "You play helpless when you have a minor fall out of a tree, but let you have a serious wound and you get all noble on me. 'Oh, it doesn't hurt. I'll be all right.' How dare you! Now you sit down and let me take a look at you."
He growled at her, then did as she said. "I'm not an infant, Nora, and I've no need to be coddled like one. I've suffered much worse wounds than this and I'm still here."
She didn't even deign to respond to that, because if she did, his ears would be ringing with her insults until the world ended.
Nora took a deep breath and fought the urge to loose her tongue on him.
How could he do this?
The wound had to be excruciating.
She forced him to lie down so that she could lift his shirt up to see the injury. She felt the color drain from her cheeks as she saw it.
Graham had laid open a long gash. The evil-looking wound was still oozing blood.
"Oh, Ewan," she breathed. "I can't believe you didn't bleed to death. Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"
He reached up with his bound hands to touch her cheek with his fingers. The intensity of his crystal blue gaze made her hot and shivery all at once.
"We couldn't stop, Nora. Had I told you I was wounded, you would have made me stop so that you could tend it, and I didn't want to see you retaken."
Her love for him tripled with those words. For her, he had suffered this for untold leagues without a single comment or complaint.
She took his hands into hers and kissed his fingers. "Thank you. Now lie still and let me see to you."
He nodded and pulled his hands away.
Ewan steadied his breathing as he lay there, staring at the woman who had come to mean so much to him.
For her, he would walk through the very fires of hell.
She laid her hand against his cheek and chastised him with her worried gaze. "You've a fever started."
"I know." He could feel it. He was already shivery, but then he was often shivery whenever Nora touched him.
She tore her chemise and used it to make a bandage. "Hold this while I fetch some water."
He did as she bade him.
She rushed over to the stream near the horse and after a few minutes, returned with another part of her chemise that she had torn off.
She pressed the cool fabric to his wound.
Ewan breathed deeply as the cold water stung and the material scraped against the ragged edges of his injury. Aye, but it hurt. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep for a bit, but he didn't dare.
The MacKaids might be headed back to the village or they might be trailing them still.
It was a gamble he didn't mention to Nora. He wanted her to have the illusion they were safe. The truth would only worry her unnecessarily when there was nothing she could really do.
He did need a little time to rest before they went any farther.
"I wish I had something to stitch this with," she mumbled. "But we'll have to make do with just bandaging it."
"Bandaging it with what?"
She lifted her skirt high, gifting him with a luscious view of her legs, and ripped more of her chemise. A large portion of it.
"You keep doing that, lass, and you'll be naked by the time we get back to the others." He smiled wolfishly at the thought. "Not that I'd mind that, of course, but I'm thinking you might be embarrassed."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Just like a man. You're lying there half dead and all you can think of is me taking off my clothes."
"Half dead, not all dead."
She shook her head at him as she bandaged his ribs. "You're incorrigible."
"Nay, my lady, I am encourageable."
Her cheeks pinkened. "That's not a word, my lord."
Ewan had to admit he loved teasing this woman. "Sure it is. It's a perfectly good word."
She leaned over him and kissed him lightly on the lips.
Ewan closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her as he savored the softness of her mouth on his.
Aye, the lady was the world to him.
He drew a ragged breath as she pulled back from him. "You rest here while I—"
"Nay!" he roared, sitting up in spite of the pain that lacerated him. "It's not safe."
She gave him a peeved glare. "I have needs to tend to, Ewan, and if you don't let me do so privately, I'll not be kind to you in the future. I'll only be right through yon trees and I won't be gone long."
Ewan looked at the
trees where she indicated, trying to see if there was anything lurking there to grab her. He didn't want to let her out of his sight, but he could understand her need for privacy. "Very well. But you talk the entire time so that I know you're safe."
She laughed at that. "I think this may very well be the only time in my life anyone has ever invited me to talk."
He kissed her gently. "I cherish your tongue, my lady," he said, then he tasted said tongue with his own. He moaned at the feel of her.
"Aye," he said, pulling back. "I find myself quite taken with it."
She gave him a delighted grin. "So you've changed your mind about having it cut out?"
He laughed at her reminder of what he'd said to her the day they met. "Aye, lass. I've become quite attached to it. Now be off before it gets any darker."
She bit her lip, then did as he said. As she left him, she began chattering about her favorite ballad.
"You know," she said, her voice drifting back from the forest. "I miss my lute. 'Tis a pity I didn't have it when Graham showed up. I could have used it to bash him."
Ewan smiled at her as she continued on.
Heaven above, how he loved to hear her prattle.
"By the way, Ewan, I am very sorry for all this."
Ewan considered everything that had happened to them since he had awakened to find her standing over his bed.
"Don't be," he said loudly as he sat back down to rest. "All in all, it's been rather interesting, hasn't it? Besides, you said you were always up for an adventure."
"True," she said from the other side of the trees. "But I never meant for this to happen."
"I'm sure your father didn't, either."
"My father?"
"Aye, Catarina told me that he paid them to put us together."
Total silence rang for several heartbeats.
"Nora?" he asked worriedly. "Are you still there?"
She ignored his question. "Just what do you mean, my father paid them?"
Ewan explained it to her between his attempts to loosen the ropes on his hands with his teeth.
"So my father wanted me to marry you?" she asked as she rejoined him.
He looked up to see her less-than-pleased visage. "Apparently so."
She appeared flabbergasted as she stood there with her hands on her hips. "Oh, I am a fool."
"Why do you say that?"
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