In My Wild Dream

by Sasha Lord

  He had rejected Corine because of this woman, because he had begun to experience the closeness that was possible with a woman he could grow to love and cherish. He rose slowly to his feet, clutching his wound. Oddly enough, he did not feel nearly as weak as he expected, and the bleeding had already slowed. “You sent me spinning with your devious playacting. That day in the market . . . you were taunting me.” He took several slow, deliberate steps until he was standing in front of her.

  She rose, her blue eyes glimmering with wary caution.

  He grasped her arm in a strong grip. “You think you have accomplished the ultimate revenge? You think you have played with me and will skip away the victor? Do you expect to leave me now? Guess what I can do, Lady Tiger? I can keep you. Whether you like it or not you are coming with me all the way to Aberdour Castle.”

  Chapter 19

  “What?” she shrieked, trying to yank out of his hold. “Are you crazed? I saved you because I honor all living creatures, even ones as aggravating as you, but I will not go all the way to your castle! Now that you are awake, I am leaving.”

  “Who attacked me?” he asked as he reached over her head and pulled down one of the ropes that was wrapped around a tree branch.

  “Huh?” Kassandra shook her head in confusion. “You can’t change the subject like that.” She looked up to see what he was doing, then yelped in surprise when he grasped her free hand.

  He laughed as he deftly looped the rope around Kassandra’s wrist and tied it tight. “Don’t act so stupefied. I may not have seen the danger until it was too late, but you seem to know events before they occur. I believe that I was attacked because I decided not to marry Corine. That obviously upset someone enough to attempt murder, and you are my only clue as to whom.”

  “Let me go!” Kassandra shouted, yanking away from him and twisting her hand as she tried to slip free. “This is preposterous! I don’t know who it was; I only know it was the same man who attacked me on the ridge.”

  “You said that we were meant to be together. Why protest now?”

  “I said we should be wed, not that you should kidnap me!” Kassandra snapped.

  He chuckled, pleased to turn the tables on her.

  “Well, it seems that your other dreams have come true. Perhaps I was mistaken in rejecting your proposal. Mayhap, we should wed.”

  “No!”

  “No? Ever since we met, you have done everything possible to convince me that we ought to. Are you now telling me that your dreams are false?”

  She frowned.

  “Decide, yes or no. Should I heed your dreams or not?”

  “Yes . . . but no, not like this.”

  Looking into her wounded eyes, he shrugged, then tied the other end of the rope to the belt around his waist. “Forgive me if I don’t know exactly what to say at this moment.” He swayed in place, his energy fading. The wound had affected him more than he had initially thought. “All I know is that I want you right here where I can see you.” He paused, then stared into the fire. “It was Curtis, wasn’t it?” he asked, deep sorrow clouding his voice. “Our vow of brotherly loyalty was a farce from its inception.”

  Kassandra shook her head. “No. It was not him.”

  Cadedryn grunted. “Stop churning everything into a muddled mess,” he begged. “At our picnic, you accused him. You said that the man who sliced my hand was connected to my father’s murder.”

  Kassandra winced at Cadedryn’s tighter grip as he tried to remain standing. “Curtis was not on the road tonight,” she insisted. “He did not throw the knife.” Reaching across a log, she picked up the dirk and showed it to him.

  He glanced at it, then stared at it in shock. “My father’s dirk!”

  “This is the blade I pulled from your chest, the very blade I cautioned you to keep near. Once again, you ignored my warnings.”

  Cadedryn shook his head. “It cannot be. I placed that knife in my trunk. It couldn’t have been in the hands of my attacker . . .”

  Kassandra yanked on the rope as she placed her hands on her hips. “I gave it to you and told you it held your guardian spirit. Why did you leave it where someone could steal it?” She shook her fist at him. “You are a fool!”

  “That proves it was Curtis. I saw him near my trunks.”

  “It was not Lord Curtis,” Kassandra grumbled as she tapped her foot. “It was someone older, but I suppose that, once again, you won’t listen to me.”

  He stared at her, thoroughly confused. Her warnings had been true. Her belief that someone wanted to kill him was right. Her conviction that the knife was important had proved correct. And she had dreamed they would fall in love with each other.

  A slow grin stole across his face. “I will listen to you,” he said huskily, this time not teasing her, but speaking with conviction. “And because I am beginning to believe you, I am going to keep you nearby. ’Tis not the knife, but you who are my guardian angel.” He touched her face and ran his hand down her cheek. “You knew we were destined to find each other. You saved me.”

  “It was my duty,” she harrumphed.

  He smiled with one corner of his mouth. “Your duty? You have done everything the last several days because of your duty? You lay with me out of duty?”

  She looked away. “Yes,” she forced herself to say. “I am bound by the rules of my society to help others.

  I knew you were in danger and I had to find a way to gain your trust.”

  “You came because you wanted to find your life mate,” he chided her softly. “You wanted me.”

  “Stop!” Kassandra cried as she pulled back against her tether. “That part of my dream was . . . was . . . was misinterpreted! I misunderstood the meaning!”

  “I am going to marry you,” he informed her. “Besides, simply coming to my rescue and being alone with me in the middle of the night places you in a compromising position. We must marry.”

  “But I am telling you that the dream was wrong,” she pleaded. “I don’t want you like this. We will be miserable.”

  “Except in bed. We are quite compatible in that area.”

  She gasped and flushed a deep, becoming red. “How dare you say that to a lady.”

  He chuckled. “You cannot play that card on me. You threw away whatever protection that title afforded when you sought to seduce me.”

  “You beast! You bastard! I will not marry you. I don’t want to marry you now. Let me go!” She began plucking at the knot on her wrist.

  His grin faded and he grew pale. He felt his bandage again, then lifted bloody fingers to the firelight. He fell back against a tree and groaned.

  Kassandra took an involuntary step forward.

  “Help me . . .” he whispered.

  Kassandra gripped his other shoulder and lowered him to the ground. “You should not be arguing with me,” she scolded him.

  His hand shot out and captured hers in a vicelike grip. “You must bring me to my castle or I will surely die. You did something for me earlier . . . something magical. Would you leave me to perish after saving me?”

  She froze, her gaze captured within his.

  Cadedryn touched the line on her temple where her hair started. So soft. “I will untie you if you promise to stay with me. At least until we reach the castle.”

  She shook her head. “I must return to my homeland.”

  He slid down to the ground as he released her, his eyes growing cold and unrelenting. “I just discovered that the woman I thought I cared for was nothing more than a lie. The woman I thought was my friend was secretly plotting against me. And someone is seeking to murder me. I have no more patience. Tomorrow we will go to Aberdour. Together.”

  The next morning dawned wet and dreary. Cadedryn rolled to his side as the last vestiges of his dream rippled through his mind. He smiled, his eyes still closed, as he felt Kassandra’s wet lips caress his own.

  “Ummmm,” he moaned. “I knew you would capitulate.”

  She kissed him again, this time str
oking his lips with her soft tongue.

  He reached for her, intent upon deepening the kiss, when he was startled by a loud shriek. His eyes snapped open and he beheld Triu-cair standing nose to nose with him. The weasel’s small, pointed tongue flicked out and he licked Cadedryn once again.

  “What!” Cadedryn thundered as he struggled to sit up. Triu-cair scurried backward as Cadedryn wiped the back of his hand across his lips in disgust. “You beast,” he grumbled as he glared at the offending creature. “You licked me! I should have sliced you in twain the first time I saw you.”

  Triu-cair sat back on his haunches, his lips spread in what appeared to be a grin. His beady gaze swung upward and he shrieked again.

  Filled with sudden suspicion, Cadedryn followed his gaze and looked up into the tree branches.

  Kassandra. Lounging on the branch like a tiger kitten, dangling a rope betwixt two fingers.

  Cadedryn reached for his belt, already knowing what he would find.

  “Did you really think that you could keep me by using this?” Kassandra purred, indicating the twisted twine. She negligently tossed it aside and propped her chin on her hand.

  “How did you get free?” Cadedryn asked as he rose to his feet. “ ’Twas the method by which we bind prisoners. No one has escaped before.”

  “You don’t know anything about me,” Kassandra answered. “Take care, that pinecone is about to fall—”

  “Ouch!” Cadedryn glared at a pinecone that plunked upon his head, then tumbled to the ground.

  Kassandra giggled. “I guess I should have told you sooner.”

  “You could not have known it would fall. You threw it, you little brat.”

  “Just as I cannot possibly know that you will trip over a root in a few moments when you go to relieve yourself.”

  Cadedryn scanned the ground, taking note of a web of tangled roots to his right. Grinning, he walked to the left and began unlacing his breeches. Glancing over his shoulder, he called out to her, “You cannot intimidate me with your prophecies. I—umph!” He stumbled over a buried root and fell to one knee.

  This time Kassandra wrapped her arms around the tree branch and laughed uproariously.

  Cadedryn rose to his feet, his eyes flashing with ire. “You dare mock me?” He reached for a branch and swung himself up into the tree.

  Kassandra gasped. “Your wound!”

  “Feels fine. But you know that, don’t you?”

  She scuttled backward, her glee tempered by wary nervousness. “I don’t know everything. Just the things that appear in my visions.”

  “Can you read thoughts?” He balanced along the branch, edging closer like a predator about to pounce on its prey.

  She shook her head.

  “Are you sure? Take a guess.”

  “You are angry?”

  “Very good.” He leapt forward, his hand swiping through empty air just as she dropped to the ground.

  She peered up at him, her eyes dancing with merriment.

  He looked down, his gaze intent. “And now?” he asked.

  “Frustrated?”

  He swung down, his feet landing firmly on the ground. “What is about to happen now?”

  She tensed as a shiver tickled the back of her neck. “I’m not sure . . .”

  “Come now,” he responded huskily. “No predictions? Can’t you tell what I am about to say or do?”

  “I told you, it doesn’t work that way.”

  He stalked forward as she nervously backed away. “I am going to make love to you. Soon. And I am going to make you pant for more.”

  Her eyes grew wide. She swallowed as the tickle turned into a full shiver that swept her from head to toe. If he touched her, she would surrender. She would be at his mercy. “I am leaving,” she warned him.

  “No, you are not.” He knelt on the ground and held his fingers out toward Triu-cair. “Come here, little beast. You and your mistress are two of a kind.” He glanced at Kassandra’s guarded expression. “I am coming to realize that there is much more to you than I ever suspected. Much more.” He stroked Triu-cair’s head as the polecat arched his back and flicked his tail in appreciation. “Are you from Scotland?”

  “Yes, of course!”

  He lifted Triu-cair and cuddled him against his chest. “Where does your family live?”

  Kassandra’s gaze dropped as she searched for an answer. “I live with Kalial,” she attempted.

  Cadedryn shook his head. “No, you don’t.”

  “I mean that I live nearby.”

  “Really? Where?”

  Kassandra huffed. “I am not saying anything else.”

  He smiled, his eyes glimmering with mischief. He bent down and picked up the rope Kassandra had tossed aside. “Nothing else? Well, I suppose we have a long time for explanations.”

  Kassandra flicked her hair over her shoulder and cocked her hand on her hip. “May I remind you, I am leaving? I did what I was supposed to do. I found you and saved you. I have no other reason to stay.”

  “Yet here you stand. You could have left in the middle of the night.”

  “I wanted to see your expression when you awoke to find me unbound.”

  “Did you enjoy my moment of discomfort?”

  “Immensely!”

  “I doubt you enjoyed it as much as I am going to enjoy yours.”

  Kassandra glared at him. “What are you blathering about?”

  Cadedryn shrugged and turned his back on her as he walked toward the tethered horses. He tightened his stallion’s girth and checked his saddlebags.

  Kassandra trailed after him. “Aren’t you going to try to detain me?”

  “Nope.”

  Kassandra frowned, then proceeded to bridle her own mare. “I suppose we should say good-bye.”

  “I doubt it,” he replied as he tied the rope to his saddle.

  She drew her brows together in frustration.

  He turned and leaned against his horse, watching her confusion with barely suppressed amusement.

  “Why not?” Kassandra demanded.

  “Because you are going to stay with me and we are going to Aberdour.”

  “Why do you suppose that?” Kassandra questioned sarcastically.

  Cadedryn slapped his stallion’s rump and the horse bounded several feet away before stopping. Triu-cair squealed with delight from his perch atop the saddle.

  “Triu-cair!” Kassandra called. “Come here this instant!”

  Nope.

  Kassandra’s jaw dropped and she glared at her friend in disbelief. “What?” she shouted.

  I can’t. I’m tied to his horse.

  Kassandra spun to face Cadedryn. “You kidnapped him!” she screamed. “You stole my weasel!”

  “You’ll get him back just as soon as we reach Aberdour.”

  Her temper flared. She launched herself at Cadedryn, knocking him to the ground, punching and kicking him with all her strength.

  “My wound!” he shouted.

  “I won’t fall for that again. You—”

  He rolled on top of her. “I am not lying. You opened my injury again. I’m bleeding.”

  She bucked and twisted, trying to get out from under him. Jerking her leg, she kicked the back of his head.

  “Augh! You little fireball!” He shuffled back and sat on her legs, then pinned her arms above her head. “Stop. You’re scaring Triu-cair.”

  Kassandra spit on his face.

  He stared at her in shock. Shifting her wrists to one hand, he wiped away the spittle, then looked at his hand. “That was not a ladylike thing to do.” He looked at her furious face in wonder. “Who are you? Are you the lady or the mistress?”

  Kassandra slid her gaze away, embarrassed.

  He touched her smooth cheek, tracing the fine freckles. “So beautiful . . .” He rubbed her lips with his thumb. “Sensuous . . .” He thrust his hand into her hair and kneaded the back of her head. “I told you I was going to make love to you. You are so wild . . . yet I have se
en you as cool and composed as the queen herself. Who is the real you? Lady Kassandra or Kaitlynn the tigress? Only a woman with honor and courage would have saved me from certain death last night, but how could that same woman attack a wounded man and spit upon him?”

  Her eyes widened as tears welled up. She tried to turn away, but he held her fast.

  “Are you crying? Why? Shame? Anger? What emotions are roiling inside your complex heart?”

  “I don’t want you to marry me if you don’t love me . . .” she whimpered.

  He leaned closer and kissed her tears. “How could I learn to love you when you never let me know your true self?”

  She wrinkled her brow, as close to a shrug as she could manage with him sitting on her.

  He brushed his lips across hers.

  She jerked her head away.

  He nuzzled her neck and inhaled deeply. She smelled of feminine sweat and wood smoke, but underneath the forest scents was something uniquely her own. Rich . . . musky . . . erotic. “I understand your anger. I should have known the truth. I saw your facial similarities but never reconciled the two into one mysterious and enigmatic person. Forgive my blindness.”

  “Stop kissing me,” she demanded, uncomfortably aroused by his breath against her neck.

  “Why did you cover your hair?”

  “I told you before. I don’t like it. It’s red.”

  He rocked back and looked at her angry eyes. “Red? Is that your only reason?”

  She slid her gaze away, suddenly aware of how ridiculous she sounded. How could she explain that she was hiding not only her hair color, but also herself? She was ill-tempered. She was too unrestrained. Ladies like her half sister, Kalial, had mellow hair color and gentle dispositions. “I can’t explain it to you,” she mumbled.

  He buried his nose in her tresses and found the curved shell of her ear. He nibbled it, luxuriating in the trembles in her body he aroused with his subtle ministrations. She might try to be Lady Kassandra, but her body still reacted like his tiger kitten.