The sight of him sent her heart to beating so swift and sharp she feared it would beat a hole right through her chest. She’d never expected to see him again. She’d sent him away. But never in her life had she been happier to see someone than the moment she’d recognised him riding out of that cloud of dust. Moira was alive, as was she. She’d feared … She shivered at the broken thought. A lump of mixed emotions swelled in her throat. Her fingers eased their hold and took it back.
Strands of his hair had come loose from the half knot he wore and the evening’s breeze lifted them about his ears. The whiskers covering the lower part of his face and underside of his jaw were a shade darker than the fair hair playing about his broad shoulders and corded neck. His six-day beard also concealed some of the lingering bruises about his mouth.
He turned the final corner of the cart and his eyes held hers with a fierceness glinting in the blue depths. The lump in her throat swelled higher, larger. Her nose stung. He stopped before her and her mouth quivered. She rose on her knees. His hands reached for her, and without thought, hers reached for him.
‘Keila.’
Just her name. Tears welled and threatened. She didn’t want to cry. Not in front of him. Her gaze dropped to his mouth and her hands cupped his face. ‘Mac.’ She pulled his mouth to hers.
Heat surged from his lips into hers and spread down her neck and chest like flames warming chilled flesh. Bands of strength wrapped about her upper body and she sank into the power of him and the kiss she’d yearned for but had been too afraid to take. But she was taking now, as was he. She wanted to give, but she knew not what or how. She pressed closer, but suddenly his mouth was gone from hers.
Keila blinked open eyes free of tears and looked into the blue eyes of the man still holding her in his arms.
‘My name is Adair.’
She drew back slightly and drank him in as if this was the first time she’d laid eyes on him. ‘Adair.’ She liked the sound of it.
‘Aye, I’d prefer you called me by my name if you plan on kissing me again.’
She leaned away further and murmured, ‘Forgive me,’ before tucking her lips in on themselves to hide them. ‘I just wanted … thank you for coming.’
The small smile lifting his delicious mouth slipped. ‘I wanted, too.’ His gaze delved into hers, searching and serious. His chest rose and fell on a breath. ‘I’m just glad you’re safe.’
As was she. Her next breath quivered as she exhaled.
‘I’d appreciate some assistance, if you can spare a moment.’ Moira’s voice was like falling into an icy burn.
Keila stepped back, breaking Mac’s, or rather, Adair’s hold about her, and freeing him to help Moira. Only now was she aware that he’d lifted her from the cart sometime during their kiss. She hurried toward her friend as Adair lifted Moira to the ground. She stepped forward. ‘Are you alright?’ Keila threw her arms about Moira’s neck. ‘You were amazing.’
‘As were you, lass.’ Moira’s arms enfolded her and hugged her tight.’ But you should never have kissed him,’ she whispered.
Keila leaned back and saw the grim expression Moira now wore.
‘It will only lead you to trouble.’ Moira released her and quickly turned away as Adair spoke.
‘Do either of you have any idea who the men chasing you were?’
Keila glanced at Moira who gave a brief shake of her head. She looked at Adair. ‘Nae. Though we couldn’t see their faces.’
Adair nodded. ‘It’s too dangerous to travel throughout the night.’ He turned and searched their surroundings. ‘We’d be wise to find a place to sleep before darkness falls.’
Adair’s suggestion made sense, but Moira’s dire words left her confused. She’d only kissed him to stop herself from crying in front of him, and if she was being truthful, to assuage her curiosity. And may the saints save her, what a kiss it had been! If the trouble Moira spoke of was concerning her wanting to kiss him again, Keila had to admit her friend was right.
***
Adair led the carthorses as he searched for a place to spend the night that provided shelter and a vantage point in case the raiders returned. Both Moira and Keila had preferred to walk beside the cart rather than climb back onto the bench seat. Dair wasn’t surprised. With his sword securely strapped to his side and Demon following close in the cart’s wake, he almost willed the rebels to return. His blood still flowed through his veins at a rapid pace at the memory of the long blade slicing the air so close to Keila’s chest. He unclenched his jaw for the thousandth time and turned his thoughts to the kiss that caused his blood to quicken further.
He’d experienced more than his share of kisses and he’d enjoyed each and every one. But God almighty, never had a woman instigated a kiss with a fierceness to match the wanting that had consumed him as he’d neared her. Never had it been so important for that woman to know his real name and to say it. To test it on her tongue and sound it out loud in her lilting voice.
Adair!
His skin rippled with pleasure at the memory. He longed to hear her say his name again and again. He yearned to feel her lips beneath his once more. He wanted more. But now was not the time. And never would be if Moira’s disapproving stare was anything to go by. Dair’s only consolation was that he wasn’t suffering the piercing glare alone. Whenever it left him, the fire-filled gaze settled on Keila, who frowned her question, but received no answer from her friend. Save a sniff and a small shake of her head, before the dragon’s narrowed gaze found him, once again.
Keila and Moira shared a special bond and Adair didn’t want to put a strain on their close relationship. And again, while he longed to taste her again, they had other concerns at present.
They reached the top of the slight rise they were climbing and Dair studied an outcropping of rocks and a small cluster of alders positioned to one side of a gentle slope. Just below, a small burn meandered its way across the land to the right. He halted the cart and turned to his travelling companions. ‘This is a good place to spend the night.’ They’d have fresh water and he could easily defend them while they slept. And none too soon, for night was nearly upon them.
The women didn’t reply, only nodded and followed his lead as he walked to the slab of stone that looked like someone had placed it on top of the other on purpose. The afternoon’s events were taking their toll now and both Moira and Keila’s steps had slowed as exhaustion set in. A happenstance new to them, but something Dair was used to due to the raids and skirmishes he’d dealt with in the Borders.
He untethered the horses from the cart. ‘I’ll water the horses and be back.’ From where they stood they’d be able to keep him in view, and he them, the whole time.
‘I will see what’s left in the cart to eat,’ Keila said.
‘And I will see to it that we all have somewhere proper to sleep,’ Moira said.
Dair contained half of the smile that formed at the older woman’s obvious slight, but his mouth still kicked up at one corner earning him a glower he admitted was well-deserved.
‘Don’t trouble yourself fixing me a bed, Moira. I’m not planning to sleep at all this night.’ He offered a grin he knew would rub her already prickled skin the wrong way.
‘Aye and don’t trip and fall in the burn and drown, will you nae.’
A laugh escaped him before he could withhold it. He shook his head and led the carthorses down to the burn, knowing Demon would follow.
***
‘That was an unkind thing to say, Moira.’ Keila frowned at her friend and dragged one of the remaining baskets to the side of the cart, feeling a slight twinge in her side. ‘Do you think because I kissed him I now plan to lie with him?’
‘Now you have the taste of him and he of you, lying with him is precisely what will happen.’
Keila gaped at Moira. ‘I never realised you had such little faith in me.’
‘Faith has naught to do with it, Keila.’ Moira paused in clearing branches from under the stone slab that re
sembled a roof and stared directly at her. ‘It has everything to do with your womanly wanting and his masculine needs.’
Womanly wanting? Was that the urgent need that had begun pulsing through her body since she’d kissed Adair? Keila stopped and stared at her friend. ‘Is that what happened to you, Moira?’
Keila watched Moira’s mouth open, but no words sounded. Her friend looked away and then straightened. She suddenly looked older than her forty years.
‘Aye.’ Moira resumed clearing a space for them under the outcropping of rock.
Keila gathered her skirts and hurried to her friend’s side. ‘Moira?’ She stilled and turned. ‘I’m sorry.’ Keila wrapped her friend in her arms and held her. This woman of strength and wit and wisdom. Keila didn’t know what had happened between her and whoever the man had been, but she was sorry that it hadn’t worked out favourably for Moira.
‘I foolishly gave myself to him, lass. Heart and body. But he was married.’
Keila squeezed her eyes shut at Moira’s confession. Moira’s mistrust of men and warning Keila away from any man, for as long as she could remember, all made sense now. She’d been hurt and had been protecting Keila and trying to prevent the same thing happening to her.
‘Please, Moira,’ she said softly. ‘Tell me what happened?’
Moira’s slender, ever-so-rigid shoulders dropped and her greying head bowed forward, before she straightened and released a long sigh. ‘Ah, lass. It’s nae an easy thing for me to speak about. Just the thought of him, even now, still pains deep in my chest.’
Keila’s heart clenched at her friend’s admission. She clasped Moira’s arm. ‘Come and sit.’ She guided her friend to the solid stone protruding from the ground and settled her to rest against it. Keila sat opposite Moira, close enough to see her face and where she could also keep Adair in her view. She gathered Moira’s cold fingers in hers and waited.
‘His name was Simeon.’ Moira’s mouth curved slightly in a wry smile. ‘He was the comeliest lad I had ever seen. Long hair the colour of gold with streaks of fire between. Eyes of blue in the daylight, pools of silver at night.’ Moira’s voice softened with the last. ‘I first saw him at market.’ She looked down shyly and straightened. ‘He was clean and well dressed and … I saw him smiling from across the way. I turned about to see who was fortunate to garner such a smile, but there was nae one behind me. When I turned back he grinned and he … he winked. At me. From that moment I was foolishly smitten.’
Keila gently squeezed Moira’s fingers to encourage her to continue.
‘For the next sennight, I did all I could to meet him every chance I could. From feigning illness to sneaking out of the castle at night. He told me he was on important business for the king, secret business he couldn’t speak about, not even with me.’ She gave another small shake of her head. ‘I believed every word he said. I gave him what coin I had and even stole food from the castle kitchens.’
She drew a deep breath. ‘I first lay with him amongst the dirty straw in the stable stall he claimed was where he had been instructed to stay, perchance anyone trading secrets would know where to find him. He also claimed he loved me.’ A scoffing sound escaped her lips.
Keila squeezed her fingers once more.
‘Twice more I lay with him, surrounded by filth. The third time I told him I loved him too. When I returned the following day, he was gone. I never saw him again. I never told anyone about him, but days later heard the warnings throughout the castle about the married lecher seducing women.’ She looked at Keila and squeezed her fingers back. ‘I gave him my body and my heart. I stole for him and lied, to people who trusted me. I was a fool and ashamed of myself and what I had done. More so when your beautiful mother lost her husband only weeks before you were born and then begged Lady Euphemia to provide and care for you mere moments after giving birth to you.’
Keila fought to stem the tears and swallowed the rising lump in her throat. She’d known the circumstances of her birth, but hearing them again from Moira, though this time with awe and sadness in her voice, made the telling more real and more painful.
‘When Lady Euphemia asked her ladies for a volunteer as your mentor and companion, I pleaded for her to give me the position and saw it as my punishment for my shameful actions and deceit. But never in my life did I imagine it would be the greatest gift I’d ever know.’
Keila climbed to her knees and wrapped her arms about this woman of strength and silent hurt, and welcomed her embrace in return. ‘I am so sorry you suffered so much and suffered it alone,’ she said softly on Moira’s shoulder.
Moira sniffled. ‘I am ever thankful for having you, Keila.’ She pulled back slightly. ‘Have a care, Keila. Men can be dangerous creatures.’ Moira cleared her throat. ‘Now, this isn’t getting anything done.’
They stood and shared another brief hug before Moira continued making a place for them to sleep for the night and Keila returned to the cart. As she gathered the food still left into one wicker basket, she watched Adair leading the horses away from the burn and up the gentle slope. She hadn’t had a lot to do with many men, due to the isolation of where they lived and no doubt due to Moira’s advice, but she had been courted by Leith and while the idea was flattering, he’d never stirred any wantings, womanly or otherwise, in all the years she’d known him.
She’d met the man walking toward her close to a sennight past and had only learned his true name a short time ago, but he awoke something within her she hadn’t even known was there. Something that made her feel nervous and awkward and set her heart to pounding. Something she didn’t understand. Something that just was. His gaze met hers and her heart leapt inside her chest.
But she knew so little about him, and after hearing Moira’s sad story she couldn’t help but wonder if Adair was married. She’d only kissed him, but would he leave too, like Simeon had left Moira?
She lowered her gaze to the loaves, and lifting the basket from the cart, she carried it to where Moira rose from completing her task. ‘We have carrots to feed the horses and several loaves for us to eat,’ Keila said, setting the basket on the ground by the rock formation and releasing a gasp as she did so.
‘What is it, lass?’ Moira rushed to her side. ‘Are you hurt?’
The fear in Moira’s voice matched the concern lining her face. ‘’Tis naught to worry over. Likely just a scratch when I tumbled into the baskets.’
‘Let me see,’ Moira said, unlacing Keila’s gown and pulling it to one side, exposed the dark spots staining her shift. ‘You’re bleeding, lass. Sit.’
‘You’re hurt?’ Adair said, a moment before his large, strong hands scooped her into his arms. ‘Then do as Moira says and sit.’ He sank to the ground and settled her across his thighs. ‘What happened?’
‘’Tis nothing,’ Keila said, enjoying the feel of him holding her, yet loathing being the cause of any unnecessary concern. ‘The cart hit a bump and I fell into the baskets. Some of the twigs pricked my side, but it’s naught to be concerned over.’
‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ Moira said in a no-nonsense tone. ‘My thanks for your help, Adair, but if you would fetch some water, I will see to her wounds.’
‘Aye,’ he gently set her on the ground beside him and stood. ‘I’ll fetch the water.’
Moira knelt beside her. ‘Truly, Moira. This is not necessary.’
‘Hush, lass, and lift your shift on the right side while there is still light to see by.’
Keila pursed her lips and shifted so she could do as Moira asked, all the while her gaze flicked to where Adair had almost run to the burn to fetch some water.
‘He worries for you,’ Moira said softly, but Keila still heard the resignation in her tone.
‘There is nae need for—’
‘Let him. It means he cares.’
Moira draped the fabric of Keila’s unlaced skirts over her so only the flesh of her right side remained exposed. ‘Are there any pots of salve left, or did you throw them all
off the cart?’ Moira asked.
‘There are still two timber boxes full of salve. They must have been the first things Rory and Adair loaded onto the cart.’
‘Good.’
Adair returned with a full skin of water and Moira sent him to fetch a pot of salve. He came back with one whole wooden box.
‘Is there anything else I can do to help?’ he asked, his troubled gaze fixed on Keila over Moira’s shoulder. She gave him a small smile, hoping to lessen his concerns.
‘I’m almost done here,’ Moira said.
‘Thank the saints,’ Keila murmured and watched him nod and disappear.
‘’Tis also good for you to be the one who is injured for a change.’
‘Forgive me, but I can’t agree. I do not like it.’
‘Nae one does, lass. There,’ Moira nodded at her handiwork and pulled Keila’s shift down over her knees. ‘Just a few scratches, nothing to worry over.’
‘Just as I said,’ Keila frowned and rose from her stretched out sitting position to dust off the back of her gown, and then retied the laces.
Adair stopped pulling the cart a little closer to the rock formation, and before he could ask after her health she said, ‘Is there anything more needing to be done for the night?’
‘The horses are settled.’ He indicated where Mist and Nettle were tethered on one side of the alder bushes and his mount grazed on the other. ‘And we have a good clear view of our surroundings.’
Keila searched the land from where she stood on the hill’s small rise. The boulders and clump of foliage would provide a natural form of shelter from the weather.
‘If you and Moira want to make use of the burn, I suggest you do so now before full dark closes in.’
They acted on Adair’s suggestion, and after making use of the sheltered spot behind the rocks, they walked the short distance to the burn to splash their faces and hands. When they returned, they found Adair had pushed the cart even closer to the rocks and had fashioned two makeshift pallets from the cloths in the rear of the cart and the saddle and hide he’d removed from his horse’s back.
The Rogue Page 14