The Raider (Highland Guard #8)(41)

Her brother’s opinion obviously meant a lot to her. Apparently Clifford’s well-known affection for his only sibling wasn’t one-sided.

“He will never hear of it from me.” He supposed it was the least he could do. But if Clifford’s opinion mattered so much, why would she have risked so much to help him? She’d admired him, he knew. But was there something else? “Why did you do it?”

“It was wrong,” she said simply. “And I couldn’t stand by and watch my brother put men to death for something that wasn’t right.”

He laughed; he couldn’t help it. “Clifford has never let something like right and wrong get in his way of killing Scots.”

It was her turn to stiffen, that patrician English beauty turning sharp and icy. “Are you accusing my brother of being a murderer?”

His gaze turned just as hard. “I suppose it depends on your definition. He operates under the color of law—English law, which I assure you has very little justice for Scots.” Before she could attempt to defend her brother again, he said, “Come, they will be waiting for us.”

She was quiet for a moment as they walked through the trees. When she finally spoke, he wished that she hadn’t. “Did you ever think of me?”

Her voice sounded small and uncertain. He should have said no, but he found himself answering honestly. “I wondered who you were.” He thought about the kiss and found himself adding with a wry grimace, “And I wondered how old you really were.”

He glanced over in time to see a soft flush spread over her cheeks. But then she bit her lip, and he felt a surge of heat to his groin and had to look away. “Why did you kiss me?”

Robbie stopped in his tracks, but he recovered quickly and increased their pace. Christ, of all the questions to ask. She hurried alongside him, casting him expectant glances.

He sighed and answered slightly exasperatedly, “I have no bloody idea.”

The answer seemed to please her. A small smile turned her mouth and he realized he could stare at that smile for hours. A smile like that could be distracting.

But it disappeared quickly as they walked through the village to where the men were waiting, and he returned the wave of one of the women.

“Are you married?”

The question took him aback. “Hell—” He stopped. “Nay,” he said more calmly.

“Why not?” Her mouth pursed. “If those women are any indication, it certainly can’t be from lack of opportunity.” She sounded oddly annoyed by the observation. “And you must be over thirty.”

“By two saint’s days,” he provided. “I am not married because I do not wish to be. There is no place in my life for a wife or children.”

He hadn’t meant it as a warning, but it had come out as one.

They were nearly within hearing distance of the men waiting for them, but she asked, “You don’t want a family?”

Truthfully, he didn’t think much about it. That part of his life had never been important to him. He was too focused on the task at hand. Besides, look what had happened to his sister. A wife of his would be in danger. Aside from the threat were it ever to be known of his place in the Highland Guard, he was too well known.

“Maybe when the war is over. But until then, nothing else matters.” He paused and held her gaze so there would be no mistake. He wasn’t going to be distracted by anyone. “Nothing.”

Time was running out. Rosalin’s heart pounded anxiously, knowing that every mile they rode was bringing them closer to the forest that she’d come to think of as the place of no return. Though no one had as yet confirmed their destination, their southwesterly direction left her no doubt. She and Roger had to try to escape before they were swallowed up in the impenetrable Ettrick Forest, the dark and terrifying lair of thieves and phantoms.

After emerging from yet another hilly forest onto a track that might almost pass for a road by Scotland standards, she let another pale blue bow of ribbon slip from her fingers and had to resist the urge to glance over her shoulder. Was Cliff tracking them? Was that why Boyd was pressing them so hard? It seemed his urgency to reach their destination matched hers not to reach it.

She stared at the powerfully wrought back of the man who alternated between scouting and riding at the head of the band of warriors. Had he been as unsettled as she by what had nearly happened at the river? His desire for her had been so well hidden, she’d never imagined that kind of intensity. It seemed to have surprised even him. Clearly he wanted her, but it was equally clear that attraction wasn’t going to change anything. She was his hostage—a means to an end—that was all.

Her own attraction to him was just as confusing. The glimpse of the noble warrior that she’d seen today, and the insight into what drove him in what he’d revealed about his sister, didn’t change anything. He might not be the coldhearted devil she’d first thought, but he was focused and determined to win the war to the exclusion of everything else. He’d devoted his life to the fight for freedom. Dear Lord, he was the same age as her brother, who’d been married since he was eighteen and had six children.

“Nothing else matters,” Boyd had said. She believed him.

But it wasn’t just her unease about what had happened earlier and the realization that she was still ridiculously attracted to him that fueled her urgency to escape. Although she did not believe he would needlessly hurt her or Roger, she knew he would not hesitate to use them as a weapon against Cliff, and that she would not allow.