Bound by Wish and Mistletoe (Highland Legends #1.5)(7)

Yet, in a rare moment of serenity during a fierce winter storm in the middle of the forest, one woman who’d nearly run him down now lay peacefully in his arms. Every word she’d spoken, and each action she’d taken, indicated that within his embrace was no place she wanted to be. In the sticky web of sleep, however, her instincts had sought him out, telling him otherwise.

Susanna had no idea, but she’d already become his.

In a twist of fate, a woman who wanted nothing to do with him had suddenly become the only woman in the world who would ever do.

A clear, blue sky opened through the treetops overhead, and birds sang in the new day with joy. He heard his men rustle behind him. A freshened fire crackled, signaling they’d been up a while.

Susanna stirred quietly in his arms. Her eyelids fluttered open.

He gazed down into her widening eyes and slowly grinned.

To his shock, she screamed, nearly piercing his eardrums, and shoved away. Her sudden momentum rolled her several times until she scrambled to her feet, the hem of her dress catching beneath her boots.

The direction of her unexpected flight slammed his heart into his throat as he helplessly watched her stumble toward the ravine. He lunged forward trying to grab her, but she stepped back from him in fear. Loose rocks clattered down into the ravine, punctuating the grave danger.

“Susanna! Stop!”

His panicked shout did enough to broadcast the impending danger to her, and she froze. Her eyes went wide with panic, and her entire body shook on the unstable edge. She turned her head slightly to the side and darted a glance down, her chest heaving.

“Susanna. Doona turn your head. Look at me.”

She slowly turned her head toward him, exactly as he’d instructed.

It took a staggering amount of willpower to remain where he stood, projecting a feeling of calmness that he in no way had. “Good, lass. On your right leg, move all your weight forward. Aye. Lean a little more...”

He stepped forward when her gaze grew unfocused while she concentrated. If that edge gave way, he would die before he let her go down with it.

With his gaze locked onto those bright blue eyes, he lifted his hands, and she instantly glanced down and grasped them. The moment they touched, he yanked her into his arms at the same time she jumped into them. As she clung to him, more decomposing granite fell loose behind her, clattering against the rock face as the shards bounced into the chasm below.

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms as she trembled. “Shhh...’tis all right, lass. You’re safe now.”

Suddenly, she gave a hard pound to his chest with her bound fists and jerked backward. “You dinna tell me such a deadly threat was right next to us.” She wrenched out of his embrace and stomped back toward their camp.

“I dinna think you’d run in the opposite direction of our horses!”

Susanna spun around and squared off with him, her entire body rigid. The scowl on her face deepened, her brows drawing lower over her eyes. “Doona think about what I will and will not do. I alone decide my actions.”

Robert laughed and shook his head. She growled and resumed her course—away from him.

He refused to tear his gaze from the intriguing woman; he didn’t want to miss a thing.

Duncan and Seamus watched the exchange with silent interest. She strode between the two men seated on the ground, as if the formidable warriors didn’t exist.

Robert strolled back as Susanna marched straight for the horses. She went right past her mare, and with clumsy determination despite her bound hands, rifled through the satchel on the next horse, which happened to belong to Seamus.

The animal nickered, swinging his head around. Robert stopped his advance and crossed his arms, a slight smile twitching at the corners of his mouth while he witnessed an inevitable scene unfold.

Seamus shot up from the ground and stalked toward her. “Och! Unhand my horse!”

Susanna ignored the warning as if she’d gone deaf in both ears.

Seamus laid a hand on hers to stop her.

Robert flinched. He used every tightened muscle in his body to remain where he stood as another man touched her. The sudden possessiveness surprised him.

She turned on Seamus, teeth bared. “Unhand. Me. You arrogant men helped yourselves to my food last night. I’m repayin’ the favor.”

From the ground where he still reclined, Duncan roared in laughter. Robert’s smile grew wider as Seamus’s jaw dropped. Despite the fact that the angered warrior towered over the petite lass, Seamus pulled back and remained a few inches from her, his fists opening and closing in clear frustration while she ransacked his belongings.

Finding no food, Susanna moved on to the next horse, Duncan’s. Duncan remained on his plaid, an arm over a bent knee, an amused expression on his face. Seamus calmed, his belongings no longer being violated. Robert snorted. The first woman he’d ever had the pleasure to irritate entertained him with each successive move she made.

He crossed his arms and leaned against a tree as she continued on to his horse. He knew what she would find there. After rummaging through his scant belongings, she pulled out an unremarkable, short length of shaved pine and dropped it back in.

“None of you have food?” she whined, turning back toward them.

Duncan replied, “Aye, lass. ’Tis over here. We broke fast while you slept like a newborn bairn.”

She glared at Duncan and stormed toward him. He shifted, looking even more relaxed, his arms held together loosely over his bent knees. Large pieces of dried meat and bread lay on the corner of the plaid.