Page 5 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
They had stopped running, and she dropped her hands on her knees so she could suck in a deep breath to steady her pounding heart. She swallowed as she tried to control her breathing and raised her head to look at the mysterious man.
He bent down to look at her, and placed his hand on her back. “Are ye all right?”
“I just… I need a minute to catch my breath,” she replied, panting, and when she could finally breathe normally, she straightened her posture, and let out a deep breath. He didn’t seem shaken at all as he stared at her, rather he looked composed, like they hadn’t just run a long distance to get away from the surroundings of her father’s Castle.
“We have to keep movin’,” he said and looked behind him. “If we want to escape yer faither’s guards then we need to be far away from Drummond by dawn. I ken Lairds and how ruthless they can be when it involves their daughters.”
“My faither will surely go mad,” she replied him and then they started to walk. “Where are we runnin’ to? Do ye have a plan? Are we goin’ to walk or there is a horse somewhere in this cold outdoors waitin’ for its master?”
She saw him smile, but it was very brief. Instantly he replaced the smile with a serious expression. “Tell me ye have a plan, one that doesnae involve us freezin’ to death out in the snow.”
“We wouldnae freeze to death, My Lady,” he replied, shaking his head and took her hand. He dragged her with force and she yelped as he threw her on top of him on the ground and covered her mouth with his palm, his eyes wide on hers.
Hope swallowed and sucked in a deep breath. She wondered if he could hear or feel the rhythm of her heartbeat. She wondered if he felt the same heat she felt whenever their bodies touched, or if he felt the spark, she felt when he looked at her.
Her gaze dropped to his lips and the thought of kissing him crossed her mind. She flushed and looked away. She had never kissed any man before, and now here she was on top of a stranger imagining what it would feel like to kiss him.
His chest beneath her was hard, and if she leaned in any further, she could feel his breath on her skin. His nearness intoxicated her, and she had to look away from him.
It was then she realized there were Castle guards riding in their direction, flashing their torches so they could find them. She had left the Castle hours ago, just when she had been walking back in to meet her father and new husband to be in the Grand Hall, this mysterious man had grabbed her arm and hauled her away from the corridor to a dark corner.
She had been startled at first, until she recognized him. “Do ye want to get away from here?” he asked. “If that is what ye want, then I can help ye.”
“How…” she had asked him, “how would ye help me? Nay one can save me from this fate.”
He had smiled, then in one swift movement, lifted her effortlessly, and tossed her on his shoulder, then hauled her out of the corridor, following a tunnel path she hadn’t even known existed until they got to the outside of the gates.
Hope blinked back to reality when he removed his hand from her mouth, and whispered, “They are gone now.”
“All right,” she whispered back, but made no attempt to move. She looked into his eyes, his mesmerizing fierce brown ones locked on hers, and because of her position on top of him, she could catch his scent. An earthly musky, woody mixture that instantly intoxicated her, stirring feelings she had never in her life experienced.
Her heartbeat kicked up in tempo as her breasts pressed into his chest, and the rest of her body remained flattened on him, and she could feel the heat of his body seep through the silk of her dress and touch her skin, instantly heating her up. Hope blinked twice and cleared her throat, breaking the spell his eyes cast on her, and she pushed herself back and stood up.
He stood up after her, and dusted the back of his kilt, then adjusted the sword sheath by his side. Hope swallowed, realizing this man might be dangerous. She didn’t even know who he was, but she had agreed to go with him.
This is the most foolish thing I have ever done.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said and took her hand in his. Heat shot up her body again, as he dragged her away and led her through the path carved out between the plantation, they had hid in. They walked for a while, and Hope’s foot started to hurt. She looked down then and realized she wore only one shoe. His gaze dropped to her leg after hers, and he stopped her with his hand.
“Does yer foot hurt?”
“Only a little,” she replied and without saying anything else, he picked her off the ground and placed her on his shoulder again. He walked for a few more minutes and then they came out at a clearing.
“We are here,” he announced and placed her back on her feet. She saw a wooden fence and horses grazing in the small field inside it.
“Do ye ken the owner?” she asked and he shook his head as he used one foot to push down a section of the wooden fence in one push, then he walked in, took out a carrot from his animal-skin pouch attached to his waist and used it to lure a black stallion out.
“Ye ever ridden a horse?” he asked her. She shook her head hard, and he smiled. “Never?”
“Never,” she replied as he stroked the hair of the horse eating the carrot from his hand.
“Well today is yer lucky day, My Lady,” he replied and smiled at her. She smiled back, excitement tickling up her nerves and filling her with an elevated sense of adventure.
I am about to ride a horse out in the wild, not on my father’s moors. This is amazing, this is unbelievable.
* * *
Ian placed her on the horse first, then mounted behind her and got the animal moving in one stride. The horse galloped away at full speed and he used the sides of his hands to shield Hope from moving from side to side with each sway of the horse as they rode.
