The evening had proved a bit fruitful, she, Slatter, and Devin discussing what might be done to catch the culprit that was causing her husband a multitude of problems. No conclusion had been reached, but ideas were brewing and she believed it wouldn’t be long before they formed a plan.
She straightened her garments, but couldn’t rid herself of all the wrinkles, then freed her hair of the braid and ran her fingers through it repeatedly. The braid had left her hair to wave more than it usually did, and she raked her fingers through it one last time, pulling it away from her face to fall along the sides.
With her cape thrown over her shoulders, she headed out the door to almost collide with Crofton.
“Is Corliss all right?” Willow was quick to ask and his wide smile was answer enough.
“She does well today, less aches, and her walk more confident. I make certain she drinks the brew and I’ll apply another poultice to her knees later today,” he said, proudly and held up a small sack. “Food, not much, but Slatter told me to make sure you got something to eat. He and Devin left early to hunt. Hopefully, we will all feast later. And hopefully, we leave here soon. Slatter promised he would move us from here to a far better place, a permanent home.”
“Where is this place?” Willow asked, wondering over it since her husband had made no mention of it to her.
Crofton shrugged. “I don’t know, but Slatter is a man of his word. He’ll take us there and we’ll be safe.” He handed the sack to Willow. “Visit with my seanmhair today and see how well she does.”
“I will,” Willow assured him, knowing he was seeking reassurance that his grandmother actually did do well.
Not hungry, she left the sack on the table and after turning from closing the door saw her husband and Devin rush out of the woods that surrounded the small area, not a fresh kill in sight. They both stopped and spoke to several people who quickly rushed off, a look of fright on their faces. Something was wrong and when she saw how pale Crofton turned after speaking with Slatter, she knew something was seriously wrong.
Willow hurried to her husband and when he spotted her, he rushed to make his way to her.
“We leave here now. Rhodes and his men head this way.”
“Are they close?” she asked, her heart pounding with fright in her chest.
“A day at least.” He shook his head. “There’s no time for talk, we must go. Gather what blankets and clothing there is in the cottage, and any food.”
“Corliss nor Erna can walk,” she reminded.
“Devin has a cart. They can ride in that. Do what you must to make them comfortable in it, but hurry, there is no time to waste.”
“Tarass’s warriors are well-trained. They will pick up our trail.”
“Aye, they will, and that’s why you and I will be taking a different trail.”
There was no time for questions. They would come later and so Willow hurried and did as her husband asked.
Roanna was upset at the prospect of moving her daughter and Crofton was worried for his grandmother. Willow did her best to reassure both that Erna and Corliss would do fine and the two seemed to settle until they learned she wasn’t going with them.
“What if fever rages in my daughter?”
What if my grandmother’s pain worsens?”
“Enough worry,” Slatter said, approaching the complaining pair. “Willow has instructed you in the care of Erna and Corliss. You both will do well and it won’t be long before we join you again. Be grateful that you finally go to a permanent home.”
Crofton and Roanna were quick to offer their appreciation for his generosity and Willow went with them to see that Erna and Corliss were settled, along with Pell, the man missing part of his one leg, in the cart.
Willow waited by Slatter’s horse when all was done. She watched her husband talk with Walcott. The man paid heed to his every word, gave a nod, and went to the front of the small ragtag group and led them away from the worn and battered shelters that had been their home.
Devin walked beside Slatter, talking as the two men approached her.
“You know what to do. I will see you soon,” Slatter said when he came to a stop near his wife.
Devin reached out and hugged Slatter, giving him a firm slap or two on the back. “Return home safe.”
“I always do,” Slatter said with a confident smile.
“That you do,” Devin said and turned a nod on Willow. “But you’ve got a wife to worry about now, so remember that. And don’t do anything foolish.”
“I won’t let him,” Willow said, the words slipping out and wondering where they came from. She truly had no say over him, just as he had no say over her.
Devin laughed. “I’ve never known a woman who could bend the will of this one.” He turned a nod on Slatter this time. “But you just might be different.”
“It’s women who submit to me, not me to them,” Slatter boasted with a smile. “Now go, we both need to be on our way.”
“I’ll see you soon and I’ll have your word on that,” Devin said.
“You have it. Now go and stay safe.”
As soon as Devin turned and hurried to join the others, Slatter scooped Willow up and deposited her on the horse and was up behind her in an instant. She’d never seen anyone as quick in movement as him or so confident in all he did. He never seemed to falter in decision or action.
They hadn’t gone far when she asked, “Where do we go?”
“Away from the others so we don’t bring them harm,” he said, his arms snug around her as he led the horse through the woods, no obvious path to follow.
“This will delay your search for that man who causes you grief,” she said, his dark eyes more intense than she had ever seen them. They seemed to take in his surrounding without shifting his glance and that he was highly alert she felt in his taut body that he kept her cradled against.
“He’s not going anywhere and I’ve no doubt he’ll make himself known before long. Right now, it is more important to keep you safe as well as those people who have come to depend on me.”
“How did that come about?” she asked, taking advantage of this time alone with him to find out more about him, since he still, in some ways, was a stranger to her.
“They needed help,” he said, his eyes remaining steady on his surroundings. “Like you when you were lowered down into the hole to join me. You were in need of help.”
So he thought of her no differently than all the others in that conclave of needy people? He rescued her like he had the others. Had she been foolish enough to expect something different?
He had no interest in marriage, no interest in having bairns, no interest in love. She had to remember that or she just might find herself suffering the pain of caring for the wrong man.
She stiffened her resolve to keep her thoughts and actions sensible. She needed to think things through, not jump at impulses that would only complicate their situation.
“I hope to repay you for all the help you have given me.”
“That’s not necessary, you’re my wife.”
His annoyed response surprised her as did his reminder that they were wed, as if somehow that changed things.
“Perhaps, but I will not stand by and see you imprisoned again by the Lord of Fire or given to barbarians.”
“Worry not, that won’t happen.”
He sounded far too confident and she had to ask, “How can you be so sure?”
“I told you, leannan,” he said with that cock-sure grin. “There isn’t any place or anyone that can hold me, or any place or one I can’t escape.”
Even marriage to me. Willow was foolish to allow the thought to hurt her, but it did. She would remember that, remember that this marriage of theirs was temporary, that it would eventually end. She would go home and life would return to the way it had been.
A thought struck and she asked, “If you can escape from anywhere, why didn’t you escape the hole in the ground?”
He hesitated and k
ept his eyes on the path ahead.
His silence made her realize something. “You were going to escape, weren’t you? My arrival stopped you.”
His eyes met hers then and he made sure to keep her from seeing his shock. She was far more observant than he had thought. He definitely had to keep that in mind going forward. “I wasn’t quite sure of success, which is what caused me to delay my plans.”
“Now you lie,” she accused. “You don’t strike me as a man who doubts his skills.”
“Believe what you will. I will not debate the matter with you.”
She could tell by his stern tone that she would get nothing more from him on the matter. It made no difference to her, since she had gotten what she wanted. He had remained in the godawful hole with her purposely and his gallantry touched her heart.
“Where are we going?” she asked, seeking a more neutral discussion.
That she didn’t pursue the matter gave him pause and made him wonder why, since she could be tenacious when she wanted to be. But he let it go and answered, “We’re taking a bit longer way home.”
“Don’t you worry that Rhodes will pick up our trail?”
“I’ll make certain he doesn’t.”
His confidence far surpassed hers and so she reminded, “But he picked up your trail from the last time.”
“He never found my trail. He heads in the direction of where we just left, but that doesn’t mean he will reach the now deserted place. If he does, he will follow the obvious trail, the one the group left, and when or if he comes across the group, they will give no indication I was ever part of them.”
“What if his tracker picks up our trail?”
“Not possible. Devin will see that our tracks are covered.”
“But you said we would travel a different trail so as not to bring harm to anyone, as if we were leading them away from the others,” she said, feeling he talked in circles.
“Aye, I did. If we remained with the group and were caught, what might the consequences be?”
“I’m sure Rhodes wouldn’t harm them. They are a harmless lot,” Willow said.
“So it would appear under the circumstances, but change those circumstances and what happens?” He continued, not expecting a response. “When forced into certain situations, we do what we must to survive and to protect those we love.”
Willow thought of her and her sisters’ situation when their da had taken ill and their mum had died. Life had changed rapidly and they had had to adapt. Sorrell had to do the same when she had discovered her husband was a far different man than she had believed.
Slatter kept his focus on the road as he spoke. “Corliss is old and her bones protest more often than not, but nothing stopped her from protecting her grandson when a lone man tried to do him harm. She smashed his head with a rock and continued to do so until there was no breath left in him. She knew if she didn’t, they both would die. Corliss did what she had to do to keep them both safe.”
“I would have never thought she had the strength.”
“Strength often comes when needed. Roanna found her strength when her brother-in-law told her either she or her daughter would warm his bed or he would put them out of their own home. She knew even if she submitted to him that he would eventually have her daughter as well. She chose to leave and face the unknown. It took courage to do that.”
“She told me differently,” Willow said, imagining how horrible the situation must have been for the woman.
“She thought it better to keep the truth to herself. Her brother-in-law is a respected man and she doubted anyone would have believed her. Then there’s you,” he said, a teasing smile surfacing. “You were the most challenging to rescue.”
“Was it me who was a challenge or the situation?” Willow asked with a lift of her chin.
“A bit of both, I believe, but I’m not one to give up easily.”
“And obviously you’re a man with a kind heart.”
His smile vanished in a flash. “Remember as with Corliss and Roanna, things are rarely what they appear to be.” A teasing sparkle in her green eyes and a slight smile pushing at the corners of her mouth, returned his smile. “Do you have a sensible response to that?”
Her smile broke free. “Only that while Corliss and Roanna have secrets, you’re charming, though often less-than-honest tongue is not a well-kept secret.”
“Perhaps it’s a ruse for a much darker secret,” he whispered as if hinting otherwise.
She turned a puzzling look on him. “That would make sense of why there are two sides to you; a man with a kind heart and a man with a misleading tongue. Now I’m intrigued to solve this mystery.”
Slatter laughed. “I’m no mystery. Who you see is who I am.”
What Willow saw, though mostly heard, was that his usual lightheartedness was missing from his laughter. It gave her pause to think a moment. Could it be possible? Did Slatter keep a secret? And if so, what was that secret he guarded with laughter so that people would not give thought to it, brush it away, ignore it.
“Then I will have to look closer at you,” Willow teased with a smile that dripped with sweetness.
“I’m right here for you to see, wife, look as closely as you like,” he said and wished he could retrieve his words. Her smile and tone might appear sweet, but there was a determination to them that warned this was no teasing matter. She had set her mind to it, a pragmatic mind at that, and she would now look more closely at him. But she would see only what he let her see. Or would she see what others didn’t?
Silence followed after that, Willow’s thoughts weighing heavily upon her until she found her head bobbing with the weight of them. Having grown accustomed to resting her head on Slatter’s shoulder or chest when she slept, instinct had her lowering her head to his chest.
Slatter adjusted his wife in his arms as her body grew limp with sleep. It was strange how easily he had grown accustomed to sharing a bed with her to the point where he looked forward to it. Of course, sleep wasn’t the only thing on his mind when he’d join her in bed. That he wanted to make love to her had his loins aching more than they ever had. But he could be wise when wisdom was called for, though it was getting more difficult to remain wise when his wife snuggled so close that she roused his manhood throughout the night. And forget the morning when he woke with an aching need for her that had him rushing out of bed to avoid surrendering to it.
She was his wife and he had a right to couple with her, but that would make an already difficult situation worse. As much as he enjoyed her company, sleeping with her, holding her, sneaking a kiss now and then, sharing his life with her was out of the question. He had to return her home to her family.
His chin shot up and his thoughts vanished in an instant upon hearing a sound. He listened again and was relieved to realize it was an animal in the forest. He had learned at a young age to distinguish sounds. Lander had taught him well. He had taught him most everything he knew.
He had always thought of Lander as his father, called him da for as long as he could remember, not that he and his mum ever wed, though they had been like a married couple and more loving than any married couple Lander had known. Lander had been at a loss when Blair, Slatter’s mum, died three years ago and it wasn’t but a year later that he died as well. He had claimed his heart had been too broken to live without her. His mum had told him that she knew when she had first laid eyes on Lander that she loved him and Lander had said the same about Blair. They had been inseparable. Slatter missed them both and he better understood how they felt about each other since meeting Willow.
He couldn’t say he had loved her at first sight, though it might be that he didn’t want to admit it to himself since he had to let her go. She had told him that he couldn’t give her what she wanted most… love.
He couldn’t help think that that might be the easiest thing he could give her.
They stopped to rest and eat a short time after mid-day. The skies were overcast and the air more
than chilled. Willow wished she had a hot brew to warm her insides, but was grateful for the food they did have.
“The scratches on your face heal well,” Slatter said, handing Willow another piece of bread.
“As do the others since I’ve been applying what bit of honey I have left.”
“I’m glad they heal well for you, not that even the slightest scar can distract from your beauty.”
She smiled, shaking her head at him. “Compliments roll off your tongue so easily.”
“The truth rolls off my tongue easily,” he said with a smile of his own and a slight tilt of his head.
“I would think lies roll off with greater ease.”
Slatter’s grin grew. “Lies take greater care to tell. They must convince and be kept to memory so that one does not get caught in it at another time. To be a successful liar takes skill that few if any master.”
“And are you a master liar?”
“I am a master at everything, leannan,” he said and leaned in and kissed her quick on the lips.
“You respond without responding,” she said, his light kiss sending flutters through her stomach. “I would say you are skillful at manipulating as well.”
“You are getting to know me well,” Slatter said, trying not to let his smile falter with the lie he had just told.
This time Willow leaned in close and brushed her lips softly against his before saying, “I’m getting to know you far better than you realize.”
Her words disturbed him while her not-so-innocent kiss aroused him. He got the overwhelming feeling that she had seen past his lie.
“We need to get going,” he said, stuffing the remaining food in the cloth sack and rushing to his feet. He hooked the sack to the saddle and turned to Willow.
Her eyes lit with concern when she saw how his brow had narrowed and his dark eyes turned on her with an intensity that sent a shiver through her.
She was getting to her feet when he reached her and yanked her up by the arm the rest of the way.
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