The Hawk (Highland Guard #2)(58)

“The fishing boat originated from the village near Dunaverty Castle. When I questioned the commander of the garrison, he mentioned something interesting. He said there had been nothing more unusual than the typical ghost sightings.”

“What does that have to do with Ellie?” Lady Mathilda asked.

He could no longer avoid looking at her. He braced himself, but it didn’t prevent the jolt when their eyes met. She’d attempted to tame the riotous mass of golden curls into a pile on her head, but errant tendrils hung around her face and long ivory neck. Her big, baby-blue eyes were still red with strain but no longer swollen with tears. She was simply one of the most gorgeous creatures he’d ever seen. He tamped down his reaction beneath the heavy weight of guilt—where it belonged.

When he answered, his expression betrayed nothing but brotherly concern. “At first I wasn’t sure it had anything to do with Lady Elyne. Highlanders are a superstitious lot; they see ghosts and fairies everywhere. But then I remembered some of the tales swirling around about a band of phantom marauders who’ve been sighted off-and-on around Turnberry and Ayr the past few months.”

“You think these phantoms are connected to Bruce and his men,” Ulster said.

“Aye, I think they might be.” He relayed his questioning of the young servant boy who’d claimed to come face-to-face with the purported ghost. “If this ghost is the source of our message, then I think he must be close to the castle. It’s a place to start at least.”

“Do you think he will lead you to Bruce?” John asked.

“The king thinks he will,” Ralph said. The king’s orders had been clear: track the hawk ship and you will find Bruce.

“I don’t care about any of that,” Lady Mathilda said, “as long as you find Ellie.”

He heard the soft plea in her voice and knew he would not—could not—fail her. She was counting on him. He would find Lady Elyne and bring her home safely, no matter what it took.

And in doing so, he would close a door that had never really been open.

Chapter Thirteen

“Where are we going today? Am I finally going to see the cave you told me about?”

Ellie was careful to keep any excitement or curiosity from her voice, but after two days together Hawk wasn’t so easily fooled. She could feign nonchalance all she wanted, but he knew she’d been having fun.

Too much fun. His adventurous spirit and bold nature were contagious. He made her laugh, prodding and teasing her until she had no choice but to join him. His easygoing nature made him so easy to be around.

How long had it been since she’d felt so carefree? Since she’d been so happy?

Matty had been right. After her mother’s and brother’s deaths, she’d forgotten how to have fun. How to smile. How to relax. How to run through the sand barefoot with the wind streaming through her hair. And now that she’d remembered, how was she going to go back to the confined existence that was waiting for her?

To a marriage I don’t want.

There it was. For the first time she’d given voice to what her body had been trying to tell her for a long time. She didn’t want to marry Ralph de Monthermer. She supposed she had the captain’s question to thank for the unwelcome self-realization.

Hawk was wrong. She didn’t have a choice. She was the Earl of Ulster’s daughter.

When the time came, she would walk away and not look back. She would do her duty, but until then, she would eke out every moment of happiness that she could. On those long, lonely days in the future, when she was sitting in a tower room with nothing but embroidery to keep her occupied, she would have something to remember.

She felt a sharp pang in her chest and feared that too many memories would be focused on the man by her side.

I want you. Hearing him say it out loud had made it that much harder to ignore her own desire. The past few days had been a delicate dance of avoidance, but his words still hung between them like a giant albatross.

She couldn’t understand how she could be attracted to someone who was so utterly wrong for her. If living through her mother’s unrequited love and heartbreak wasn’t lesson enough, he was also an outlaw. A man who lived on the run, under a cloud of danger, with only the end of a rope or an axe in his future.

Her body didn’t seem to be listening to reason, but as long as her heart did, that was all that mattered.

“Nay, not the cave today,” he said.

Ellie pursed her mouth, trying not to show her disappointment. “I’m beginning to wonder whether this underwater cave really exists.”

He smiled. “It exists, but today I have a different surprise,” he said, unfurling his arm and tossing a rock far out into the sea beyond.

“You shouldn’t do that,” she chided him automatically. “You’ll open your wound.”

“My wound is fine, and I thought you were going to stop acting like my nursemaid.”

“When you stop acting like a recalcitrant child, I’ll stop acting like your nursemaid,” she replied tartly. “Just because I’m apparently the only woman on this island who doesn’t think you can do no wrong—”

“Not just this island.”

She rolled her eyes. “You are impossible. Fine, go ahead. Rip it open. You’ll have ten women standing in line to wait on you hand and foot.”