Chapter 3 #2
A grim smile touched his lips. For his sanity, he couldna remain trapped within the cave with her another day. It had taken every ounce of his willpower nae to satisfy his question of how her mouth would feel beneath his.
“How is your shoulder?” she asked, her tone crisp.
“Am I slowing you?”
Impatience simmered in her eyes. “Not at the moment.”
Colyne laughed. He should have found disapproval in her outspoken manner. Instead, he was fascinated by her intelligence, impressed by her ability to debate him on the most insignificant of issues and, on occasion, to reason a point to where he conceded to her view.
He didna have the heart to inform the lass that he’d kept his pace slow more out of concern for her than his injury.
He’d dealt with worse discomfort in his life, but traveling afoot through the Highlands proved an arduous trek for a knight familiar with such demands, much less a gentlewoman.
And the slippers she wore offered her little protection against the sticks and rocks strewn about the forest floor.
At the break in the trees, a glen lay before them, thick with rich blades of grass scattered with heather.
He scanned the familiar, narrowed tract of land.
Soon they would arrive at Stephano’s home.
His friend would secure her safe passage to France.
With a fresh mount and Alesia in trusted hands, he would be on his way.
And he would miss her.
Greatly.
“You said you had three sisters and a brother?” She glanced over, her eyes bright with interest. “Are you close?”
“Aye. And what of your family? Are you close as well?”
She looked away and kept walking. “Are you the eldest?”
“You have nae answered my question,” he said, remembering her avoidance of speaking about herself before.
“I have many relatives,” she finally replied, “many of whom disagreed with my decision to live on my own or to aid those who are less fortunate.” She shrugged. “I should not pry into your private life.”
A smile touched his mouth. “I wish to pry into yours.”
Alesia stared straight ahead, nae allowing Colyne the luxury of discerning her reaction. “I have led a very boring life.”
“I doubt that,” she said.
When she didna respond further, his smile grew. “Your silence will only make me more curious.”
She halted and turned with a scowl. “This is not a game we play. There are men out there who, for various reasons, want both of us dead. What difference does it make if you know of my family, or if I have chosen to live a simpler life without the false pageantry of nobility?”
“Is that what you have chosen?” Colyne caught her hand as she started to turn away. “I did nae mean to upset you.”
“The fault is mine. I was the one who asked about your family. I will not do so again.” She shot a cool look at his hand. “Now release me.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“We both have secrets neither of us are willing to share. In a day, two at most, we will never see each other again.” Her voice began to break.
Colyne stepped closer, but she shook her head.
As if erecting an impenetrable wall between them, she moved back. “You are a stranger to me,” she whispered. “A fact I have no wish to change.”
“Is it so wrong to offer friendship?”
“Monsieur, can we not go?”
“Answer me. Please.”
Sadness shadowed her face. “And if I did, will you answer any questions I have about you as well?”
“A sword’s wrath!”
Alesia’s eyes narrowed. “How dare you expect answers when you will give me none!”
At her regal tone, Colyne started to laugh, helpless to do otherwise.
Red slashed her cheeks. “ ’Tis good one of us finds humor in this situation.”
“Och, lass.” He caught her hand and pressed a tender kiss upon her knuckles, pleased when she didna try to pull away. “I was only seeking friendship, naught more. ’Tis the request too much to ask?”
Except when her gaze moved to where his lips had touched her skin, he knew he lied.
As if reading his mind, she trembled. “Do not.”
He released her hand, shaken. By the desire darkening her gaze, she wasna as immune to him as she would like, which helped naught.
“Come.” The tall grass brushed against his legs as Colyne strode forward.
At his side, her soft steps matched his, but he didna turn.
If she hadna stopped him moments before, he would have kissed her.
A mistake. What did he know about the lass? Little, a fact she ensured. Though born within the ranks of the gentry, for whatever her reasons, she had discarded the status her nobility offered and worked to help those less fortunate.
Her choice.
One that changed nothing.
He should be pleased by her withdrawal. At least she didna have the brain of an ass. That honor belonged to him.
“Mon Dieu!”
Colyne turned, startled by the fear in her gaze. “What is wrong?”
Her hand shook as she pointed in the direction in which they were heading. “Look!”
Beyond the next hill, a thick, black column of smoke billowed into the sky.
Dread ripped through Colyne. Stephano! Please, God, nae them. “Wait here!”
She caught his arm. “I am coming with you.”
Furious she’d defy him, he tore her hand free. “You will stay!”
Alesia’s face paled. “What is it?”
He refused to admit his suspicions. If he was right, she didna need to witness the carnage spewed upon the other side of the glen.
She stared at him, her troubled expression breaking down his resistance.
“I will be back.” Before she could offer further objections, he bolted toward the black churning cloud at a dead run.
And prayed he was wrong.