by Barbara Bard
* * *
“Aye, those are fine reasons, lassie. I think it's because ye are nae wanting tae leave my side.”
* * *
Sarah looked at him, shocked.
* * *
“That is not it at all!” she exclaimed, but Drew thought she protested too vehemently. He remembered the way she felt upon his lap, and he wanted to feel that again, except this time he didn't want her to pull away in terror.
* * *
“If ye say so, lass, if ye say so,” he said. Sarah narrowed her eyes at him, but she did not argue the point any further.
* * *
“You know, you could very well end up being my prisoner if I wanted to take you back to the English. I think you'd be a lot nicer to me then.”
* * *
“Oh I think I'm being nice tae ye plenty,” Drew said, still smirking.
* * *
Sarah rose and stretched out her limbs. She had a slender body, and Drew enjoyed the view. It took a few moments before Sarah realized that he was looking at her in an amorous manner, and she instantly withdrew, folding her arms across her chest, looking down at the ground again.
* * *
“Help me up, lass, I'd like tae stretch out like ye did,” he said.
* * *
Sarah looked at him suspiciously before she moved.
* * *
“Trust me, lass, I'm nae going tae try anything,” he said, lifting his arms in the air.
* * *
Sarah moved over slowly, tentatively, still not willing to give him all her trust. She wrapped her arms around him though and for a few sweet moments he drowned in her light scent. He groaned as he used Sarah to pull himself up, then steadied himself against the rock.
* * *
As he got to his feet Sarah's arms fell around his neck. He towered above her, and their lips were inches apart. He could feel the soft rush of her breath against his lips. Their bodies were pressed together, and her hands felt pleasing against his taut flesh. She gasped as she realized what was happening, for Drew's arms fell around her thin waist, and this time there was no pulling away, although once again her eyes fell to the floor.
* * *
“Why dae ye always dae that, lass?” he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper as he put his finger underneath her chin and tilted it up so that she had no choice but to look in his eyes. Drew searched her eyes for meaning, and found the entire universe within them. They were as blue as the river and he found himself wanting to leap in and drown himself.
* * *
“Ye are the prettiest lass I've ever seen,” he breathed, and with that one breath he leaned forward and kissed her firmly, lovingly. One hand fell to the small of her back, pushing her hips into him, while the other played with her long, lustrous hair.
* * *
A small moan escaped Sarah's lips as she surrendered to the kiss. It was wrong, so wrong. The two of them were enemies. She hated the Highlanders. He hated the English. But these wrongs had made a very powerful right. The kiss was a fire that sparked an inferno. It surged through them and around them, binding them together.
* * *
Drew had never known anything like it. It was as though his mind, body, heart, and soul were all ablaze. She tasted sweet, and when the two of them came apart the kiss lingered on his lips. He smiled, and continued to hold her in his arms.
* * *
“I...this is all so sudden,” she said haltingly.
* * *
“Aye lass, that it is,” he said, and leaned in for another kiss. Their lips touched again, but then she pulled away, and broke free from Drew's arms.
* * *
“This is...this is wrong. This is madness!” Sarah muttered.
* * *
“Is it madness tae listen tae one's heart?” Drew replied.
* * *
“Our people are at war,” Sarah said. As if to emphasize her point she thrust her arm to the direction of the battle. But Drew had a battle of his own going on in his heart, and at the moment he was listening only to one side.
* * *
“Our people may be, but are we? Are ye at war with me, Sarah?”
* * *
She looked at him desperately, and then eventually admitted that she was not. Drew didn't know what would happen in the future, but in that moment, standing there with her, all he knew is that he wanted to be with her. He wanted to feel her body close to his and enjoy the feeling of ultimate bliss careening through their bodies.
* * *
Drew limped over to her. His leg still ached, but he was more than willing to endure the pain for her.
* * *
“I will nae harm ye, Sarah. I promise ye that,” he said, reaching out a hand. It hovered in the air, and there were a few tense moments before Sarah took it. Their hands entwined and Drew brought Sarah in close to him once again. His long thick locks fell around her head as he wrapped her up in his arms.
* * *
Yet when Drew looked at her he remembered how she had reacted before, and all she had said about the Highlanders. He wanted to prove to her that he was respectful, so he tried to resist. Sarah was trembling in his arms, so nervous, so fearful, yet she was not making an effort to break free from his embrace. The longer Drew looked at her the more he was sure that he would not be able to resist, and despite himself he felt his lips yearning to meet hers.
* * *
The passion between them grew, and their feelings were sealed.
* * *
In the back of his mind Drew had betrayed his people and his feelings, but in that secluded glade, hidden from the world, he didn't much care.
17
When the kiss ended Sarah smiled. It was a strange feeling, to be in his arms, made all the more strange by the sensations that were swimming in her mind. She had never felt this way before. Indeed, she had never imagined herself feeling this way before, especially not about a Highlander. But the way he was with her, so tender and gentle… Sarah had not believed a Highlander was capable of such a thing.
* * *
Drew's kisses were passionate and loving. She felt safe in his strong arms, and the feeling of his tight, sinewy skin underneath her delicate fingers was pleasing to her. He had a masculine scent, smelling of blood and war and a warrior spirit, and this sparked an intense desire within her.
* * *
But it was his eyes that enchanted her.
* * *
They were deep and soulful, and spoke to a kind, compassionate soul. When she saw him she did not see the Highlanders as she had pictured them, brutish and savage. What she saw was a man who looked at her with respect, who looked at her with awe. When she looked into his eyes she saw his feelings for her reflected, and she became quickly aware that she was not just a simple handmaiden to him.
* * *
In his eyes there was no sense of cruelty. He saw her and found her beautiful. She was the woman who saved his life, not one who needed saving. Never had she been looked at in that way before, not as a woman in her own right. For the first time in her life she knew what it was to have someone look at her for just being herself. Lord Flynn had only loved her because he thought she was nobility. Drew looked at her with ardor because he genuinely felt that way about her.
* * *
It was almost too much to believe that a man could feel that way about her, but it was true. She was special to him, and he was special to her, even though it was difficult for her to admit.
* * *
With his tight muscles, tall frame, and broad shoulders, Drew looked every inch the barbarian that Lord Flynn so often described, and the idea of the Highlanders that had been present in Sarah's mind. But the reality was that Drew was thoughtful, with hidden depths to him that Sarah would never have guessed at just by looking at him.
* * *
She could even accept that he had nothing to do with the death of her parents. Sarah was not an unkind person, and the hatred she had held wi
thin her breast for Highlanders all these years had been very uncharacteristic of her. She simply wasn't a person who could hold onto pain or blame someone who was blameless.
* * *
This war had nothing to do with the last, and if Drew was right about the beginnings of the war then there was only one man to blame; Lord Flynn.
* * *
Harold was the bloodthirsty one, the one who was eager for war. Now that she thought about it she realized that war had been on his mind all the time. It hadn't surprised her that he had hanged a man without him committing a crime, and she started to wonder if that was what had happened on the road to his stately home. It would certainly have explained why there were guards around.
* * *
All Sarah had to do was open her heart and let Drew in, and she found it to be the easiest, most natural thing in the world. She placed her hand on the side of his face and smiled at him. It felt good to be in harmony with another person, and she was now doubly glad that she had run away from Lord Flynn.
* * *
It would have been a grim fate indeed for her to have been shackled to that life, to a man who would never truly love her. Even now, after just a brief experience of the power of love she knew that she would not want to experience anything else, and she could not turn her back on it.
* * *
Even more impressive than Drew's physique was the manner in which he held himself, enduring the pain that must have been lancing through his body. Sarah had never experienced anything like a javelin in the thigh, so she could only imagine what he must have been going through, and yet he was still standing tall and strong, enduring the pain so that he could kiss and embrace her.
* * *
Sarah smiled demurely.
* * *
“I apologize if I do anything out of the ordinary. I am...inexperienced in these matters,” she said, blushing again. She had already done much of that in Drew's presence. The Scot made her tingle in ways she had never experienced before. Her stomach swam, and when she was being held in his arms she felt as though she would melt.
* * *
Drew smirked and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. His fingers were rough, but she liked that somehow. It was better than Lord Flynn, who only ever pretended to be a man of action. Drew was a man who had clearly lived in the wild, who knew how to take care of himself and thus knew how to take care of Sarah as well.
* * *
“Ye dinnae hae anything tae worry about on that front, lassie,” he said, and leaned in for another joyful kiss. Sarah turned away though, her cheeks blushing, and she hoped Drew would realize that she must have been troubled by what occurred. He remembered what he knew about English women, and how a kiss signified a great deal. The intimacy of the moment had come as a shock to her, not understanding what the sensations inside her meant.
* * *
“I am sorry, lass. I forget myself. I dinnae know what got intae me. I suppose it must be a sign of the war. When a man's blood starts rushing he is liable tae dae things he would not ordinarily dae.”
* * *
Suddenly Sarah felt Drew's entire weight pressing on her shoulders, and she had to summon all her strength to not collapse to the ground. It lasted only a moment, before Drew fell to the ground, his injured leg causing him great pain again.
* * *
Agony was etched upon Drew's face. He clutched at his leg and howled in pain. Sarah fell to his side.
* * *
“I'm so sorry!” she cried, wishing that she could do something to take away the pain.
* * *
“Is nae your fault,” Drew muttered through the pain, but Sarah couldn't help but feel there was more she should be doing.
* * *
Looking down, she peeled the cloth away to look at the wound and drew back. It was dark and red. The blood had dried into a deep crimson, and the wound looked nasty.
* * *
“I don't think it should be left like this,” Sarah said, pulling the cloth away. It was dried and hard with all the blood it had soaked up and needed to be redressed. Sarah looked around for a clean part of her garment and pulled it away again.
* * *
“If ye keep doing that ye won't hae any clothes left...nae that I'll be complaining,” Drew murmured, his eyes twinkling despite the pain.
* * *
Sarah ignored him and placed another dressing over the wound.
* * *
“I don't think you'll be walking anywhere today. You need to give it rest,” Sarah said.
* * *
Drew leaned his head back against the rock and shook his head with disappointment.
* * *
“I feel so helpless,” he uttered in frustration.
* * *
Sarah didn't know what to say to him. His physical prowess was evident, and it must have been difficult for him to accept that his body wasn't at its usual level.
* * *
“I wish I could do more.”
* * *
“Ye hae done enough. I would nae be sitting here if it weren't for ye. Ye saved my life. I can never repay ye for that.”
* * *
“It was the right thing to do.”
* * *
“Ye are a kind soul, lass, a kind soul indeed. I think ye may be right about me needing some rest. I can feel myself getting tired already. I think I'll just close my eyes for a little while.”
* * *
“You do that, Drew. Just rest, and I'm sure you'll be feeling better when you wake up,” she replied, stroking the top of his head and placing a kiss on his forehead. Drew's head lolled to the side as he quickly fell asleep, and Sarah was amazed at how quickly the gentle giant could be tamed.
* * *
She stood up and walked around. It would be so easy to escape now, to continue her adventure into the heart of the forest to a new life. But what kind of life would it be? The smart thing to do seemed to be to leave Drew here, but then she thought about the future. What if she always regretted leaving this place? What happiness might she miss out on if she walked away?
* * *
There was no telling if she could make it back to England safely. As Drew said, there were plenty of dangers that lurked in the forest. Even then, there was still a chance that Lord Flynn could find her. If she stayed with Drew however, Lord Flynn would never find her. It seemed strange to admit it, but the safest place for her might have been with the Highlander.
* * *
It was an easy choice to make. Sarah was intoxicated with thoughts of being in his arms again, of their feelings defying the boundaries between them.
* * *
She was struck with thoughts that were similar to those she had experienced when seeing the battlefield. As the dead lay strewn upon the ground she noticed how they were all the same. It didn't matter if they were English or Scottish. They were all dead. It was the same in love. Being of two different cultures did not matter to Sarah, for it was their love that was important. It was true and sincere. She could feel it in the very depth of her soul.
* * *
She smiled as she thought of all this, and decided that she was not going to leave.
* * *
Instead, she chose to spend the time bathing. She had intended to bathe in the river the previous day before Drew had presented himself. Now that he was sleeping she could peel off her garments and wash herself in the river.
* * *
Glancing over her shoulder to make sure that Drew wasn't peeking, she began to get undressed, letting her clothes fall to the ground. The only witness was the horse, and he didn't seem to pay much attention to her.
* * *
The warm breeze felt good against her skin, almost as good as Drew's body. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself, imagining being enveloped by his strong arms again. The sensation of his kiss haunted her, and as she stepped towards the riverbank her body glowed with arousal.
* * *