Bound by Wish and Mistletoe (Highland Legends #1.5)(9)
How could a man be the cause of it?
Robert stood easily as tall and broad as any warrior in her clan, if not more so. His dark, silken hair cascaded over his shoulders, a braid hanging from each temple. Eyes so dark they appeared smoke black had gazed down at her when he embraced her with gentle care. Harsh angles in his cheek bones and jaw that had once seemed sinister had changed into something...not at all offensive.
Her gaze fell to his mouth—an amazing mouth that had seconds ago done wondrous things to her with the merest of touches. She pulled her fingers away from her still-tingling lips and looked down at his chest, shaking her head. The fresh perspective on what a man could be—what no man she’d encountered had ever been—confused her.
Men were selfish bastards who took what they wanted, leaving destruction and despair in their wake. She took a deep, clearing breath, vowing to remember the true nature of men.
A puzzling flash of compassion lit Robert’s eyes as he pulled away, rubbing her upper arms. “Come, lass. We’ve to catch up with the men.”
As soon as he broke contact, she instantly missed his strength and warmth. Dismayed by her out-of-control feelings, she pulled her cloak tighter around her and looked beyond him to register again that only Robert’s horse remained.
“You let them take my mare.” She spun around, remembering he’d said so. But the reality of how they’d now travel escaped her, since Robert had thoroughly muddled her thoughts with the first kiss to ever grace her lips.
“She’s with my men,” he replied, his tone patient as he mounted his horse.
While she still worked to process what had happened between them, Robert extended a hand down to her. She stared at it. A surprising new part of her wanted to accept his offer, yet she hesitated with everything she’d been trained to believe. Ignoring the ingrained alarm bells in her mind, she closed her eyes and slid her arm into his grip, leaping into unknown territory.
Robert closed a strong hand around her forearm and hoisted her up, seating her in front of him on the enormous stallion. She shifted in the cage of his arms, trying to distance herself from intimate contact without toppling to the ground. Although Robert had freed her hands, her legs had become tangled in her dress, curled to one side.
Despite her struggles, he tucked her tight against him, rendering her immobile. Exhausted from the effort, not to mention her lack of sound sleep over the last several nights, she slumped back into his chest.
His weight shifted forward, and his hot breath tracked across her ear, sending chills down her entire right side. “Aye, just relax, lass. Save your fight for later.”
The tone in his voice rippled a cascade of heated goose bumps over her skin and spread warmth inward, deep inside her body. She swallowed hard, concerned about his meaning. “I thought you meant to protect me. Whatever would I need to fight for?” she asked, needing to allay her fear of the unknown.
A low chuckle rumbled out as he sat more upright, sparing her from the heart-pounding threat of overheating. “You’ll see soon enough that sometimes fightin’ happens with protectin’. Were it not so, somethin’ would be verra wrong in the world.”
She shook her head, thoroughly confused.
Robert tightened his hold on the reins, and the horse opened into a gallop, quickly covering the distance over the snow-covered ground of a great meadow. Susanna closed her eyes against the cold wind in her face, inhaling the fresh mineral scent in the air. She licked her lips, almost tasting her freedom, relieved they finally headed away from the threat which most assuredly chased her.
His stallion brought them into another section of sparsely treed land, and within minutes, they encountered Duncan and Seamus on their horses. They led her mare and the horse that towed their pine tree in a pole-and-canvas litter they’d harnessed behind the animal. His men guided them wide around more densely treed areas, keeping their cargo free from snagging on the surrounding brush.
Her gaze remained fixed upon the bound tree, and her brow furrowed as she wondered why they’d do such a thing. Unused to voicing spontaneous questions, she held her tongue about the oddity.
However, the stark silence amid a company of men unsettled her. Being in the company of men—and in such close contact with one particular man—made her increasingly nervous.
Images of how it felt to be held by Robert, to be affected so intimately everywhere when only his lips had touched her ear, and her mouth, replayed in her mind. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath as she scanned the forest, looking for something to distract her mind, but not finding it in the monotonous scenery.
Somewhere within her, a brave thread snapped taut, and she forewent her curiosity about the tree, delving straight into her strongest interest. “Tell me of your clan, Robert.”
His body shifted, but he didn’t reply. She looked up, and he glanced down at her before looking ahead again. “I doona understand the question. ’Tis a family like any other. Children laugh and play, women tempt men with their charms, and our warriors protect them all, keepin’ them safe from harm.”
“Oh,” she said. It sounded like a dream. The picture he painted was nothing like the brutal, frightening world of tyranny she’d fled. She gripped her arms around her midsection, painfully aware that she’d been born into the wrong clan. But then, she wouldn’t have been with Mama...or been born into a Scottish clan at all. Unfortunately, her very existence was due to the one man who’d tormented them both.