Taming the Scotsman (21 page)

And all because Ewan had allowed it. He had let his own grief, guilt, and pain blind him.

Kieran should have been stronger.

Had Isobail meant so much to him, he should have gone after them and taken her back.

Kieran should have fought for what he wanted.

Ewan would have.

He would never allow someone to just take his Nora from him…

His blinked as he realized the significance of that thought.

His
Nora.

When had he started thinking of her that way?

And yet he did.

When he thought Ryan had come back for her…It had damned near killed him. Now that he had her with him again he didn’t want to let her go.

She was the world to him.

She was everything…

Dear saints, he
loved
her.

He truly, truly loved her.

Nora hadn’t realized a tear had fallen down her cheek until Ewan wiped her face with the backs of his fingers.

“Don’t cry, love.”

He pulled her gently toward him and held her close to his chest so that she could take comfort in the sound of his heart pounding under her cheek.

Nora returned his embrace and was just grateful she hadn’t lost him, too.

Graham MacKaid was a madman who would have gladly killed them both.

But they were safe now. She had Ewan with her, and they were both in one piece.

She hugged him even more tightly, so glad for that one basic fact.

Ewan cupped her face in his bound hands and kissed her.

She tasted him with more than just her mouth. She tasted him with her soul.

“Make love to me, Nora,” he whispered. “I need to be inside you right now.”

She should be shocked by his words, but she wasn’t. In truth, she wanted the same thing. “You’re hurt.”

“I’m not
that
hurt.”

“But you’re tied.”

He grinned wickedly at her. His hot look made her blush profusely. He lifted his hands over her head and lowered them so that she was in the circle of his arms. He leaned back, drawing her with him.

Careful not to hurt him or touch his side, Nora couldn’t help laughing at what they must look like, entwined like this. But when he kissed her, her mirth died under a wave of profound desire.

He nibbled her lips, then pulled back. “I’ll need you to take my trewes off.”

Nora had never contemplated such a thing. She should be mortified by the mere suggestion, and yet a part of her thrilled at the idea.

Ewan lifted his arms, giving her freedom again.

Taking courage from the needful look on his face, she did as he asked and loosened his trewes, then pulled them free of his long legs.

He was already fully erect.

Her heart pounded at the sight of him lying exposed and somewhat helpless. It was strangely erotic.

One corner of her mouth quirked up.

“Should I be concerned by that look?” Ewan asked.

Nora bit her lip. “I’m not sure. I was just thinking that I have you all to myself.”

“Aye, love, that you do.”

“You’re virtually helpless…”

“I’m always helpless where you’re concerned.”

She smiled at that. Nora didn’t know where her boldness came from, but as she watched him, curiosity took hold of her. She wanted to explore his body.

Running her hands up his bare legs, she saw his shaft jerk in response.

“May I touch you?” she asked.

“Aye,” he said, his voice deep and husky. “You can touch me anywhere you want to, and I won’t mind.”

Tentatively she moved her hand over to his rigid shaft. He groaned the instant she brushed her fingers over it.

His breathing ragged, he moved his hand to cover hers and show her how to stroke him.

Nora was thrilled by the pleasure on his face, by his deep, masculine moans. He was so hard and yet soft to the touch. She’d never before really examined a man’s part; now she took her time exploring it.

She ran her fingers over the tip, letting his wetness coat her skin. Then she went down the length of him to the base and gently cupped his sac.

He arched his back, growling at her.

Ewan watched her innocent exploration of his body. He’d never known anything more splendid than her hands on him. He wished he had his hands free long enough to return her caresses.

“Does this feel good?” she asked as she ran her finger over the tip of him again.

“Aye.”

“Why is the tip leaking?”

He groaned. The woman was completely unabashed with her questions. “It’s just something it does when I’m aroused.”

“Can I taste you like you tasted me?”

Ewan groaned again at the very thought. “Aye.”

He watched as she lowered her head tentatively to his shaft. And when she took him into her mouth, he thought he would die of the ecstasy of it.

He growled as he forced himself to lie still while
she discovered him. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her or cause her to pull back.

But the feel of her tongue stroking him while her mouth wrapped him in moist heat was almost more pleasure than he could bear.

No woman had ever done this to him before. It was something a man didn’t ask a lady to do for him, and yet she had done it on her own.

Aye, he loved her boldness. Her curiosity.

Most of all he loved her.

He ran his bound hands through her hair and reveled in the feel of her. She sucked and teased him to the heights of pleasure, until he was nearly bursting.

Then suddenly she pulled away and stared up at him. “I want you inside me, Ewan.”

“Straddle my waist.”

She did as he asked.

Arching his back, Ewan guided her hips to his. Without undressing, Nora slid herself slowly onto him.

They moaned in unison.

Ewan took her hand into his and led it to his lips so that he could nibble her fingertips as she gently rode him.

It was so strangely evocative for her to make love to him while his hands were tied and she was still fully dressed. Her bare thighs burned against his hips as she writhed above him.

He was at her mercy, and she was in control of their pleasure.

He would never have imagined the thrill this gave him.

Nora watched him watch her as she ground herself against him. “You feet so good inside me,” she breathed. “I think I can feel you all the way to my womb.”

Ewan moaned at her words and at the thought of his seed taking root there. He had long ago given up the hope of a wife and children.

But as he watched her, he wanted those things now. He wanted to see her belly grow with his child. Wanted to hold her in his arms as she suckled his baby.

He could imagine no better paradise.

She came calling his name.

Ewan thrust himself against her, then growled as his own release came swiftly and carried him away to a place that only Nora had ever shown him.

She collapsed on top of him, carefully avoiding his wound. “What is it about you that makes me crave you so?” she asked innocently.

“I know not, my lady, I only pray that whatever it is, you never grow immune to it.”

She smiled at that and slid herself off him.

They cleaned themselves and then Nora helped redress him.

He settled down near the horse on the damp ground. Nora lay down beside him and cuddled close.

She went to sleep while mumbling to him about the stars.

Ewan watched her as she slept on him, but his own sleep didn’t come. He didn’t dare let it.

So he lay for hours, listening to the night, grateful that the MacKaids hadn’t found them.

At least not yet.

Every time he dared to doze, he immediately came awake with a jerk.

As dawn approached, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

“N
ora,” Ewan breathed, shaking her awake. She woke up slowly. “Aye?”

“Someone’s coming.”

She jerked up instantly. “Where?”

Ewan indicated the direction with a tilt of his head. He pushed himself to his feet, then hid her behind a shrub.

He grabbed a limb from the ground and waited in the early dawn light for whoever it was to show himself. It was a poor weapon, and his hands were bound in such a way that he held it awkwardly. Even so, he planned to make good use of it.

The footsteps drew closer.

Closer…

He lifted the branch.

It sounded as if someone stumbled, and then a curse rang out. “Oh bloody hell, that hurt!”

Laughing at the words, Ewan breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Viktor’s irate voice.

“Shh, Viktor, you’d wake the dead,” Cat said, but Ewan still couldn’t see either one of them for the thick foliage that surrounded him.

“Catarina?” Ewan called.

The gypsies broke through the forest into the small clearing in front of him.

Catarina smiled triumphantly. “See. I told you he would head north. Only a fool would head back to the village knowing someone was after them. And Ewan is anything but a fool.”

Ewan tossed the limb aside as Nora came out of her hiding spot.

Catarina rushed to Nora and gave her a hug while Viktor stood back, his face showing the relief Ewan felt.

“What are you two doing here?” Nora asked. “Not that we’re not thrilled to see you. But how did you find us?”

“The finding was easy. The MacKaids left a large trail to follow,” Catarina said. “We found them not long after the two of you had escaped them. They were plotting a way to retake you once they reached the village. Since we were coming from the village and hadn’t seen you, I knew you had to be going north to avoid them.

“I then had Lysander and Bavel backtrack so that they could pretend to be you to lead the MacKaids away from your trail while Viktor and I continued to search for you.”

“Pretend to be us?” Nora asked.

Catarina laughed. “We shall have to make it up to Bavel that he’s wearing a gown and your brat.”

Viktor agreed. “I’m sure the MacKaids won’t get close enough to realize they’re not you, and even if they do, Pagan is trailing behind them to catch any of them in case they do become smart and think to divide. Once they reach the village again, Lysander will bribe the villagers to verify that they were you and had passed through. Knowing Lysander as I do, I’m sure he can accomplish this rather well.”

Ewan held his tied hands out to Viktor, “May I borrow a dagger?”

Viktor pulled the dagger from his waist and sliced through the ropes.

Ewan winced as his wrists stung even more from their release. Still, it was good to be free again.

Nora gasped as she looked at his wrists. They were bloodied and chafed with large bruises all around. “Oh, Ewan. First your side and now this. I honestly can’t imagine how you can stand the pain of it.”

She looked to Catarina. “Cat, have you anything we can put on his wrists? And I’ll be needing a needle and thread to stitch his side.”

“Are you hurt?” Viktor asked.

“Graham stabbed him,” Nora said before Ewan had a chance. “And it hasn’t been properly tended.”

Catarina motioned for them to follow her. “Come, I should have something in the wagon.”

They walked through the woods until they reached the wagon that had been left behind once the woods became too dense for it to pass easily.

Ewan paused as he caught sight of the short, lean man sitting on the back of the wagon in the open doorway.

His blood ran cold.

It was Ryan.

He sat at the back with a snide smirk on his face as his legs dangled down.

Personally, Ewan would have rather seen Graham or one of his brothers waiting for them.

“Ryan!” Nora gasped, rushing toward him.

She pulled Ryan into a fierce hug and squeezed him tight.

The sight of it cut through Ewan.

“I thought you were dead!” she said excitedly before she kissed him happily on the cheek. “Oh, thank the Lord for His mercy.”

Ewan felt as though someone had dealt him a staggering blow. He hadn’t wanted the man dead, but…

“Careful,” Ryan snapped, pushing her back. “They damned near did kill me, and I fear my stomach shall never be the same again.”

Nora disregarded him and his surly warning. “I’m just so happy
I
didn’t kill you.”

“As am I,” Ryan concurred. “Though to be honest, I feel as though I’ve died and been sent to hell where the devil torments me with constant pain.”

Catarina stepped past Ryan and fetched a pot of salve out of the wagon. She brought it over to Ewan.

Angry and hurt, he spread the salve over his bleeding and torn wrists, which throbbed and ached unmercifully.

Nora seemed to have forgotten all about him while she chatted with Ryan about
his
injuries.

And why shouldn’t she?

Ryan was her betrothed.

Ryan
would be her husband.

By the way she was acting, it was what she wanted. Nothing like near death to make a woman realize where her affections truly lay…

Nora paused in her fussing over Ryan. She looked back to see Ewan with Catarina.

There was a pinched look to Ewan’s features. A pain in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

She left Ryan to check on him. “Are you all right?”

“Fine.”

She looked down at his raw wrists that were now covered in white salve. “Do they hurt overmuch?”

He shook his head, then handed the cream back to Cat.

Nora reached for Catarina’s sewing basket. “Here, you go lie down and I’ll—”

“I think it best that we get moving,” Ewan said, interrupting her, his tone deep and clipped. “Viktor, hand me your sword. I’ll take the seat on the wagon since I know this area best.”

Viktor nodded and unstrapped his sword from his hips, then handed it over.

“Ewan,” Nora said, her voice thick with warning. “You are wounded.”

His tone was curt and cold. “I’ll live.”

Whatever was wrong with him?

She glanced back to where Ryan was glaring at Ewan.

Surely Ewan didn’t think…

Nay. Ewan had to have more sense than that. He couldn’t be jealous over Ryan the Toad. Surely he realized the only reason she’d gone to Ryan was that she was relieved he hadn’t died because of her.

Nora started for the front of the wagon.

“You need to be in the back, Nora,” Ewan said sharply. “We’ll move quicker that way.”

“How so?”

“Just get in the back.” His gruff tone offended her. She hadn’t seen him like this since the first day they’d been together.

Where was her gentle bear?

Her feelings hurt, she did as he said.

Fine. If he wanted to go off and sulk, so be it. They’d have to stop soon and eat. By then he should be more level-headed and she would check and clean his wound then.

If he wanted to be a baby until then, so be it.

Viktor went to ride with Ewan while she, Catarina and Ryan rode in the back.

As soon as they were settled inside, Ewan clicked at the team of horses and got them into motion.

“How did you find Ryan?” Nora asked Catarina as they took comfortable positions on the wagon’s floor.

“He came out of the tavern wounded and was babbling for someone to help him get to you.”

Nora could imagine what a spectacle Ryan must have been. The man hated to make a scene more than anything and yet he had made one for her. It was probably the kindest thing Ryan had ever done for anyone. She might not like him, but that went a long way in assuaging some of the nastier things he had done to her over the years.

“Thank you, Ryan.”

He inclined his head to her. “I’m just sorry I wasn’t more adept at protecting you to begin with. Believe me.”

“But at least you tried.”

Ryan was silent while Nora talked to Catarina about what they should do to avoid the MacKaids and every other topic.

Ryan lay back in the wagon, moaning every time he took a breath about how much pain he was in arid how neither of them understood the grueling misery that was his stomach.

Nora didn’t comment. Instead, her thoughts were on the man who was driving the wagon. The
one whose side was unstitched and whose wrists were still raw.

The man who said nothing at all about his pain.

Inside or out.

They rode for hours without stopping to break their fast. It was almost midday before Ewan finally reined the horses.

He helped Nora down, then left Catarina for Viktor.

Nora tried to speak to him, but Ewan refused.

Without a word or backward glance, he returned to the horses to care for them.

Angry at his behavior, Nora went to him. “Why are you being so cold toward me?”

“I’m not being cold toward you.”

“Nay? Then why do I get a shiver every time you meet my gaze? Or should I say
when
you meet my gaze, which all of a sudden isn’t often.”

He glanced past her shoulder to where Ryan watched them with an arched, curious brow. “Ryan is wounded. You need to see to him.”

Understanding floored her. “You’re jealous?”

“I’m not jealous, Nora. Believe me.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m angry.”

Ewan clenched his teeth, unable to believe he’d allowed that to escape.

“What have you to be angry over?”

Fate. Destiny.

Everything that kept him from being able to claim her for his own.

Everything that made Ryan more appealing to her than he was.

“Just leave me alone.”

She reached to touch him.

Ewan wanted that touch so badly that for a moment, he couldn’t move.

He waited for it. Desperate. Needful.

But he had no right to that, either.

He moved away from her.

“Ewan, please speak to me. Don’t push me away.”

Though it ruptured his heart, Ewan ignored her plea. He had to.

If he didn’t…

He brushed past Ryan roughly, and went to tend private matters in the forest.

Nora watched Ewan leave and felt a profound urge to follow after him and beat him with a branch until he shaped up and talked to her.

“He loves you.”

She blinked at Ryan’s voice. “What did you say?”

“He loves you, doesn’t he?”

“What makes you think that?”

Ryan sighed. “The expression on his face when he looks at you and the hatred in his eyes when he walked past me just now. I half expected him to strike me.”

Nora gazed at the forest where Ewan had vanished. How she wished she could see inside his
heart for a minute to find out how he felt about anything. “I know not what he feels. I only know he is a stubborn, aggravating man.”

“A stubborn, aggravating man that you’re in love with as well.”

She frowned at Ryan.

“Don’t bother lying, Nora,” he said gently. “I’ve known you every day of your life. There’s something about you that brightens whenever he’s near you.”

She scoffed at the very idea. “There is not.”

“Aye, but there is. You fair glow with it.” A muscle worked in Ryan’s jaw. “You never glow around me unless it’s your face turning red because you’re angry at me.”

“Then will you forget our betrothal?”

Ryan’s face hardened, and when he met her gaze, the steely, determined look made her heart ache.

“I can’t, Nora. I’m in debt too deeply. Some of these men will kill me if I don’t pay what I owe. I’m sorry.”

She looked away as her heart broke a little more. “So am I, Ryan. So am I.”

It took them three days to make it to Lochlan’s keep. Ewan didn’t speak to her at all, even though Nora did everything she could to engage him in conversation.

He wouldn’t even look at her.

He acted as if she didn’t exist at all, and every
time he refused to address her or even look at her, her heart ached more. What would it take to make the man be reasonable again?

“Nay,” Catarina had said when she had told the gypsy of her feelings. “He acts as if the sight of you is more than he can bear. He knows Ryan has a claim on you, and it’s tearing him apart.”

Nora prayed that wasn’t true.

But in the event it was, she set about making Ryan’s life miserable. She chattered endlessly every time he came near her. She played her lute until he begged and threatened her to stop. She did everything she could think of to unnerve him.

And more times than not, she would send Ryan off in a hurry within minutes of his drawing close to her.

“Release me from the betrothal,” Nora had asked him repeatedly.

His only answer was the ever steadfast “I can’t.”

And so it went until she was ready to scream.

Now as they neared the end of the journey, she watched Ewan atop the wagon while she rode on a horse beside him. He kept his eyes focused straight ahead, and yet she had a sneaking suspicion that he knew exactly where she was and what she was doing.

“I suppose you’ll be glad to be rid of me,” she said to him as he tried to ignore her. “You’ll be able to go back to your cave now.”

He didn’t respond.

“I’ll be glad to have a bed again,” Ryan whined from where he rode behind her. “I fear my stomach has been damaged eternally. This pace the last few days has nigh killed me.”

’Twas a pity Lochlan lived so close.

Nora
! She chastised herself.

How uncharitable!

It was, but at the same time, she couldn’t bring herself to feel more kindly toward the man who was about to ruin her only chance at happiness.

She’d lost one man to another woman.

Now she was going to lose Ewan because of his honor.

Och, men and their honor. They were quite beastly about it when they wanted to be. Oh for the day when they would let love rule them and not their stupid code of nobility.

She sighed wistfully as she watched him.

Please, God, please help him to see that I need him as much as he needs me
.

They rode silently through the gates of Lochlan’s castle, only to be pulled into full-scale pandemonium.