Page 63 of Tempting the Highland Devil
“Ye wench!” the other growled before he lurched towards her with his sword. Yvaine aimed a kick for his groin as he lifted his sword over his head to attack her.
She hit him right where it hurt, and the sword fell from his hand. In one swift move, she picked it up and stabbed his guts hard, making sure to twist till the sharp end was buried deep inside him.
Blood roared through her veins and made her feel lightheaded as she stared at both men on the ground.
“You amaze me, my lady,” Isabella praised, awe struck by the scene, and Yvaine smiled before she drew the sword out of the man and left him to bleed on the ground. “Let us get out of here before someone finds their bodies.”
She sheathed the sword, carried it with her, and headed out the door with Isabella behind her.
They made it out of the inn and headed into the wild without direction. Isabella reached for a compass hidden in her skirts, and her hands shook as she took it out and showed it to Yvaine.
“Do you know how to use this, my lady?” she asked.
“I am nay so good at it. What about ye?”
Isabella flipped open the compass and turned around while she waited to pick the direction. “Clan MacGregor is east, and so we should head this way,” she pointed, and Yvaine followed her lead without thinking.
“How far did we journey?” she asked as they marched through the fields and followed the compass’s lead.
“It will take hours, my lady, but we will arrive at MacGregor by early dawn tomorrow if we are. Hopefully, nothing stops us on this path.”
Yvaine nodded and allowed the rush of energy surfing through her to push through. She did not care about anything. All she knew was she had to get back to MacGregor.And the man I want.
* * *
The night skies had thickened as they found a spot to hide for the night. Yvaine shivered in the cold, and her teeth chattered as she tried to hold herself together.
I will see Arran soon,she thought as she closed her eyes and whimpered.
“My lady?” Isabella whispered as she drew closer to Yvaine under the oak tree where they rested for the night. “I read in some books that if two people stayed close enough, they could keep the cold away.”
Yvaine rubbed her hands together then blew air from her lips over her icy fingers. “Ye think that would work?”
They had managed to start a small fire, but it did do much to keep the cold away while they sat there.
Yvaine wrapped her arms around Isabella, so their bodies provided each other with warmth. While they sat there, she heard a rustling in the leaves that shocked her to the bone.
Without thinking, Yvaine lurched to her feet and drew the sword on the ground out of its sheath. “Who is there?” she asked in a shaky voice and held the sword with both hands.
Isabella rose to her feet and hid behind her too. The sound of a horse galloping nearby followed, and Yvaine heard the heavy hoofbeats grow closer before she ordered, “Stay where ye are or else I will…”
“Yvaine?” Arran’s voice calling for her was clearer than any sound Yvaine had ever heard. Her hands shook as she held the sword tighter, and her pulse skipped a racy beat.
“Yvaine…is it ye?” he called again then came out of the shadows with his sword drawn to his side.
Tears blurred her vision, but she saw him clearly in the night when he stepped out of the dark.
“Arran,” she screamed, tossed the sword to the ground, then threw herself into his arms when he rushed forward. Yvaine immediately burst into the tears she had held back the entire time and crumbled in his arms as the ache took over.
“I was so scared I would never see ye again,” she cried as his arms circled around her waist, and he held her close. “I missed ye, Arran. I missed ye, and I never want to be away from ye again…I cannae live without ye, Arran. I dinnae ever want to live without ye.”
The harder she sobbed, the closer he hugged her to his heart. Time passed as they stood there in each other’s embrace. Arran stayed quiet the entire time; his face buried in her hair as his strong arms shielded her.
When he finally pulled back, her hands moved to his chin, and she caressed him gently, stifling the next rush of sobs about to tear past her lips.
“Ye are safe now,” he finally whispered then kissed her forehead and wiped her tears with his thumb. “I will take ye home, and nay one will ever lay hands on ye ever again.”
After Yvaine hugged him again, she wiped her cheeks then stepped to his side. “This is Isabella. I have her to thank for me life.”
