Chapter 10
All of Greer’s plans slipped from her thoughts that night. She should leave, venture off on her own to steal enough to buy her brother’s freedom. And yet, she could not bring herself to go.
Never had a man looked at her as if she were a person of value. Not like Drake, who had given her pleasure without seeking his own in return, putting her needs above his.
Mayhap she could trust him with her need to free Mac. The very thought set her heart slamming in her chest. It was such a great risk, and yet…and yet he might be able to help.
Wouldn’t it be better to convince him to lend her the coin, or to find a way to earn it? Perhaps he could get her a job at the castle to pay off the borrowed amount?
Her heart lifted with more hope than she’d allowed herself in far too long.
After all, he continued to say that he meant to protect her. Wouldn’t that include her brother as well?
It was with that thought in her mind that she slept soundly through the night, only waking when sunlight limned the slats of the shutters. She rose with exuberance, eager to face the light of a new day. To see Drake.
Her cheeks burned, recalling how he had touched her and brought her to climax with his large, capable hands. She wanted him to caress her thus again, to set her body on fire for him again.
Never had she allowed herself to even harbor any interest in a man before. Now, she was practically giddy at the prospect of seeing him downstairs while they all broke their fast. She washed her face and left her hair loose as she knew most men seemed to prefer.
She floated down the stairs and found Drake and Bean at the same table where they’d supped the night before.
Joining them, she sat beside Bean and beamed at Drake.
He gave her a half-smile that lifted the corner of his lips.
It was boyish in a charming, endearing sort of way and set her heart knocking against her ribs.
“Are ye feeling better?” Bean asked.
She turned to the lad in surprise. “What do ye mean?”
Bean looked up at her with concern. “I heard ye moaning.”
Greer pressed her lips together and intentionally kept her gaze from Drake lest she erupt into laughter. “The stew.” She grimaced. “I think the bit I had might have turned. I’m much recovered now, but ’tis kind of ye to look after me.”
The worry lifted from his expression, and she tousled his hair. “How did ye sleep?”
He shrugged and tore off a hunk of bread.
“Well enough. My da always says no bed away from home is nearly as comfortable, and while I agree with him, mine was quite fine last night.” He shifted his focus to his food, no longer broaching the topic of any sounds that might or might not have come from her room.
Finally, she locked eyes with Drake, but any mirth on her lips died at his fierce expression. She shook her head to indicate Bean didn’t know anything, but he only frowned in return.
Damn.
They finished eating swiftly, as happened with three hungry souls prior to a long journey.
“Beathan, will ye see to the horses?” Drake asked.
The lad ran off with a grin. Drake waited until he was out of earshot before speaking to Greer. “I’d like to speak with ye privately.”
Her pulse stumbled, then raced to catch up. Surely, he would relax once they were alone. Mayhap he’d draw her into his arms and kiss her senseless again. Possibly touch her, draw the pleasure from her body with teasing circles.
She led him into her room and turned to face him, determined to kiss the frown from his lips.
He stepped back. “I shouldna have stayed last night.” He swallowed.
“I dinna mind.” She stepped forward.
“I do,” he said firmly. “What we did…” He shook his head, his jaw locked. “It shouldna have happened.”
His words were like a slap, stopping her dead in her tracks. “Ye regret it?”
She held her breath as he studied her with those dark eyes that she’d spent all night dreaming of.
“I lost control,” he replied after a long pause.
She reached for him. “I liked it.”
“It canna happen again.” His voice was resolute.
Rejection.
Her heart, which had only recently softened for the first time in her life, had been left vulnerable, fragile. His declaration put that hardened shell back up, protecting what should never have been laid raw.
“Dinna worry,” she reassured him as she lowered her hand from his person. “It willna happen again.”
He stared at her for a long moment before turning away. When he got to the door, she couldn’t help the words building in the ache at her chest. “I thought ye said ye meant to protect me. Did ye mean for these three days of travel and nothing more?”
He hesitated where he stood under the assault of her questions. “I’m no’ my own man, Greer.” When he finally spoke again, his words were heavy with regret. “I have to remain at Lochmaben.”
She’d known the truth of it from the first, that their time had to be fleeting. And for a little while, it had been enough.
Before she’d allowed herself to want more.
He might have been a reiver once, but now he was on his way to becoming a knight. And she was merely a peasant who had to steal to afford the bribe needed to free her brother from prison. A thief.
Now, she was glad she hadn’t trusted him with Mac’s secret.
“I know,” she bitterly said when he didn’t answer. “Ye’re on yer way to become a knight.”
“I would still protect ye,” he said, so quietly she almost didn’t hear him. He looked over his shoulder. “If ye were at Lochmaben as well…” He shook his head. “I still dinna even know where ye’re going.”
His unasked question hung in the air between them like a challenge.
“South,” she answered.
He nodded, more to himself than to her, and quit the room, leaving her in resounding silence. It was too late to depart on her own now. Not when Bean would stop her and give her those sad eyes like a wee pup.
She should have known better than to have fallen for the likes of Drake, with his high morals. His casual manner in dismissing her left her bruised in a way no one had been able to inflict for some time.
An exaggerated sigh huffed from her lips as she hastily plaited her hair, then crammed her few remaining items within her bag. There was nothing for it but to travel to Lochmaben with them and figure out what to do from there.
Bean and Drake were waiting for her when she arrived at the stables.
Drake’s deep red tunic made his black hair stand out against his tanned skin and dark eyes.
He hadn’t had time to shave, and a shadow hovered over his sharp jaw.
It gave him a rugged quality, and she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what it would feel like to kiss him thus.
Would it rasp against her chin, a delicious contrast to the softness of his lips?
She steeled herself.
Damn him for looking so handsome.
“Drake says we’ll arrive in Lochmaben by this afternoon,” Bean excitedly said as he mounted his horse.
“This afternoon.” Greer looked pointedly at Drake. “How wonderful.”
His brows furrowed, but still, he reached a hand toward her to assist her onto the horse before swinging up behind her.
If bearing witness to Drake’s impossible attractiveness wasn’t already enough to nudge her mind to what she ought not to be thinking, it was nothing compared to the familiar spiciness of his masculine scent.
He smelled like slipping control, like stolen pleasure and a quiet tryst. Her heart might be locked against him, but her body was melting at the recollection such scents evoked in her memory and made her ache to rediscover them once more.
To go beyond their sensual petting and truly join together as one.
It was all she could do to keep her back stiff in front of him once more, especially when she wanted to arch her lower back, to push her bottom into his groin and tease them both for the duration of the journey.
They could not get to Lochmaben fast enough.
The journey to Lochmaben was interminable.
Drake’s arms were practically creaking with stiffness by the time the castle came into view, its boxy curtain wall visible from a distance.
In front of him, Greer sat rigidly, her hair braided once more.
Not loose as it had been that morning when she’d joined him and Bean to break their fast.
It was a small mercy that Drake was grateful for.
If her auburn tresses had been loose, the temptation would have been far too great to run his hands through them as he had the night before. To savor the sensation of the cool, silky strands slipping through his fingers. To breathe in her delicately floral scent.
Far too often, the passion they’d shared played out in his mind on that long journey.
Not only the way she had softened in his arms and how she’d cried out with her exquisite release.
It was also the way she had bared her soul to him and had listened and appreciated things he had never shared with anyone else.
They understood one another in a way few did.
That realization made him want to curl her against him and hold her tight.
I thought ye said ye meant to protect me.
Something in his chest pinched. He did want to protect her. But how could he when she was to continue on, and he must remain at Lochmaben? Unless…she stayed with him.
He quashed the idea as soon as it entered his thoughts.
Doing so would be far too dangerous. Her effect on him was not only physical but also emotional.
The loch on the left reflected the open sky above, the choppy surface catching and sparkling with the sunlight like precious gems. He shifted his focus to the stretch of water, centering his mind on the gentle lapping of its waves against the narrow shoreline.
At least until the long stretch of a wooden fence appeared on their right where the village beyond bustled with so much activity that any sounds of nature were completely drowned out.
Once they passed through the tall wooden gates, the castle was visible along the rear of the village.
The portcullis was raised, and beyond it, the lowered drawbridge led the way into the fortified area for merchants and citizens alike.
All along the battlements, red flags whipped in the breeze like dragon’s tongues.
The structure was well prepared for an attack, as was evident by its unmarred appearance, especially when one considered the number of onslaughts they had endured in the previous years.
They were finally at Lochmaben. Greer would now be left to go off on her own.
Fear gripped Drake’s heart. For what might happen to her without him there to protect her. For the times she would inevitably encounter a man who would seek to take advantage of her—for the one time she might not be able to defend herself.
He leapt down from the horse and held his hand up to her. She gazed down at him for a long moment before setting her fingertips to his palm and allowing him to assist her from the height of his destrier.
“Do ye think the guards will require our help immediately?” Bean asked from behind him. “There are many souls in this village. I’m pleased we’re here to ensure their safety and survival. I think my da will be glad I’ve been sent on this mission.”
Greer glanced to the lad and then shared a smile with Drake, as endearing parents might do with one of their children. But almost as soon as it touched her lips, she looked away, hiding her face. “I should be on my way,” she said.
“Nay.” The protest slipped from Drake’s lips before he could stop it.
She returned her gaze to him, blinking in surprise. “Why?” she asked, wary. “Why should I stay?”
Because the thought of her leaving was unbearable. Because he longed to explore what they had begun the night before. Because as much as he was afraid of what she did to him, he still craved more.
“’Tis late,” he said. “Ye would be traveling on open roads at night.”
“And ye want to protect me?” she asked bitterly.
Aye, he did. For this night and all nights. But he didn’t say that. He couldn’t when it was nothing that he could promise.
“I’ll pay for yer lodging and yer fare,” he said. “For as long as ye remain at Lochmaben.”
She scanned the village. “I’ll stay only this one night. I dinna want ye to regret anything.”
Her barb struck home.
He stepped toward her, their proximity intimate. “Greer…”
“Master Fletcher, we must go,” Bean called. “Lord Calver will be awaiting our arrival. Greer, I’ll ask if ye might dine with us at the castle tonight.”
She gave the lad a tight smile.
“Ye’ll stay tonight?” Drake asked for reassurance.
Greer nodded.
It was better than nothing, he knew, and one less night she would be at risk.
“Ye promise?” he asked.
“I promise no’ to leave ye.” With that, she waved him off and ventured out toward the village.
He hoped it wasn’t her intent to steal. And if indeed it was, that she would not be caught. Bean took the reins of the destrier and Brevis, leading both horses toward the open castle gates and where they would meet with Lord Calver.
The guards on either side of the castle entrance stopped them. “What is it ye want within the castle?”
“This is Master Fletcher,” Bean said in an authoritative tone as he displayed the king’s missive with the royal seal. “He’s been sent by King David to assist with the training of the new guards. It is imperative he speaks with Lord Calver at once.”
The men’s focus shifted from Bean to Drake, their gazes assessing. Drake bore their scrutiny with little concern, confident in his strength as a warrior. If they found him wanting in any way, they would alter their opinion upon seeing him fight.
Finally, they moved aside and granted Drake access to the bailey.
Bean clicked his tongue for the horses to trot forward, and their footsteps thudded over the lowered drawbridge.
Moments later, the sun was blotted out by the impossibly thick walls of the castle as they strode through the entryway, which spat them out into the open courtyard as Bean guided the steeds to the stable to be tended, and Drake waited for him near the entrance of the keep.
Drake’s thoughts shifted to how he might best engage with Lord Calver and begin the subtle questioning about Lord Androll’s daughter.
Though Drake hadn’t wanted Greer to be a distraction, he realized at that moment that this was the first time he truly had considered his role at Lochmaben Castle and how he might fulfill the king’s request. It was a topic he ought to have been considering for the duration of his travel.
Now that they had arrived, he needed to devise a plan and quickly. After all, if he failed, he would lose this precious opportunity to become a knight.
And he knew without a shadow of doubt that he would not be given another chance.