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He growled at her, then did as she said. "I'm not an infant, Nora, and I've no need to be coddled like
one. I've suffered much worse wounds than this and I'm still here."
She didn't even deign to respond to that, because if she did, his ears would be ringing with her insults
until the world ended.
Nora took a deep breath and fought the urge to loose her tongue on him.
How could he do this?
The wound had to be excruciating.
She forced him to lie down so that she could lift his shirt up to see the injury. She felt the color drain
from her cheeks as she saw it.
Graham had laid open a long gash. The evil-looking wound was still oozing blood.
"Oh, Ewan," she breathed. "I can't believe you didn't bleed to death. Why didn't you tell me you were
hurt?"
He reached up with his bound hands to touch her cheek with his fingers. The intensity of his crystal blue
gaze made her hot and shivery all at once.
"We couldn't stop, Nora. Had I told you I was wounded, you would have made me stop so that you
could tend it, and I didn't want to see you retaken."
Her love for him tripled with those words. For her, he had suffered this for untold leagues without a
single comment or complaint.
She took his hands into hers and kissed his fingers. "Thank you. Now lie still and let me see to you."
He nodded and pulled his hands away.
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Ewan steadied his breathing as he lay there, staring at the woman who had come to mean so much to
him.
For her, he would walk through the very fires of hell.
She laid her hand against his cheek and chastised him with her worried gaze. "You've a fever started."
"I know." He could feel it. He was already shivery, but then he was often shivery whenever Nora
touched him.
She tore her chemise and used it to make a bandage. "Hold this while I fetch some water."
He did as she bade him.
She rushed over to the stream near the horse and after a few minutes, returned with another part of her
chemise that she had torn off.
She pressed the cool fabric to his wound.
Ewan breathed deeply as the cold water stung and the material scraped against the ragged edges of his
injury. Aye, but it hurt. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep for a bit, but he didn't dare.
The MacKaids might be headed back to the village or they might be trailing them still.
It was a gamble he didn't mention to Nora. He wanted her to have the illusion they were safe. The truth
would only worry her unnecessarily when there was nothing she could really do.
He did need a little time to rest before they went any farther.
"I wish I had something to stitch this with," she mumbled. "But we'll have to make do with just bandaging
it."
"Bandaging it with what?"
She lifted her skirt high, gifting him with a luscious view of her legs, and ripped more of her chemise. A
large portion of it.
"You keep doing that, lass, and you'll be naked by the time we get back to the others." He smiled
wolfishly at the thought. "Not that I'd mind that, of course, but I'm thinking you might be embarrassed."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Just like a man. You're lying there half dead and all you can think of is me
taking off my clothes."
"Half dead, notall dead."
She shook her head at him as she bandaged his ribs. "You're incorrigible."
"Nay, my lady, I am encourageable."
Her cheeks pinkened. "That's not a word, my lord."
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Ewan had to admit he loved teasing this woman. "Sure it is. It's a perfectly good word."
She leaned over him and kissed him lightly on the lips.
Ewan closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her as he savored the softness of her mouth on his.
Aye, the lady was the world to him.
He drew a ragged breath as she pulled back from him. "You rest here while I "
"Nay!" he roared, sitting up in spite of the pain that lacerated him. "It's not safe."
She gave him a peeved glare. "I have needs to tend to, Ewan, and if you don't let me do so privately, I'll
not be kind to you in the future. I'll only be right through yon trees and I won't be gone long."
Ewan looked at the trees where she indicated, trying to see if there was anything lurking there to grab
her. He didn't want to let her out of his sight, but he could understand her need for privacy. "Very well.
But you talk the entire time so that I know you're safe."
She laughed at that. "I think this may very well be the only time in my life anyone has everinvited me to
talk."
He kissed her gently. "I cherish your tongue, my lady," he said, then he tasted said tongue with his own.
He moaned at the feel of her.
"Aye," he said, pulling back. "I find myself quite taken with it."
She gave him a delighted grin. "So you've changed your mind about having it cut out?"
He laughed at her reminder of what he'd said to her the day they met. "Aye, lass. I've become quite
attached to it. Now be off before it gets any darker."
She bit her lip, then did as he said. As she left him, she began chattering about her favorite ballad.
"You know," she said, her voice drifting back from the forest. "I miss my lute. 'Tis a pity I didn't have it
when Graham showed up. I could have used it to bash him."
Ewan smiled at her as she continued on.
Heaven above, how he loved to hear her prattle.
"By the way, Ewan, I am very sorry for all this."
Ewan considered everything that had happened to them since he had awakened to find her standing over
his bed.
"Don't be," he said loudly as he sat back down to rest. "All in all, it's been rather interesting, hasn't it?
Besides, you said you were always up for an adventure."
"True," she said from the other side of the trees. "But I never meant for this to happen."
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"I'm sure your father didn't, either."
"My father?"
"Aye, Catarina told me that he paid them to put us together."
Total silence rang for several heartbeats.
"Nora?" he asked worriedly. "Are you still there?"
She ignored his question. "Just what do you mean, my father paid them?"
Ewan explained it to her between his attempts to loosen the ropes on his hands with his teeth.
"So my fatherwanted me to marry you?" she asked as she rejoined him. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]