Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Ihave questions,” Kenna fairly shouted.
Tearloch sighed and rested his weight on one side of her, pinning her in place but no longer hovering, trying to decide his point of attack. “Ask them and be done.”
“Just how will you deceive your men if they are not here?”
He bit his lips together as if biting back a smile. “Go on. Ask them all.”
“So be it. I wish to know how it is to be accomplished and…”
“And?”
“And how long to accomplish it.”
He sucked a quick breath through his nose, then leaned close and stared at her lips. “Firstly, it is obvious when a mouth has been well and truly ravaged.”
She licked her lips without thinking. “Is that so?”
“It must needs be that I damage yer clothing, but not much.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “This was a gift. Please.”
“Any other questions?”
“You haven’t said how long I must suffer your attention.”
A slow smile, then he inched closer. “Ye’ll not suffer, lass.
But I reckon ye already ken it.” He took control of her lips with his own and made any further discussion impossible.
And it wasn’t long before she gave up all resistance and willingly answered his sallies in kind, no longer caring what this ravaging might look like in the end.
It might have been the sunshine on her eyelids, it might have been her heart’s blood beating through them, but a red haze enveloped her, surrounded her, submerged her until there was no lifeline but his lips, no breath but his to sustain her.
She was betrayed. By herself. Yet again.
A fat tear slipped from the corner of her eye and she turned her head to hide it.
Tearloch pulled back, gently nudged her chin with a crooked finger until she faced him again.
He saw the tear, scowled at it, and wiped it away with the back of his fingers.
Instead of resuming his delicious assault, he closed his eyes and held perfectly still.
A dozen slow heartbeats later, he shook his head and retreated further.
“That will do well enough. Come. I will help ye dress.”
He stood and retrieved her gown, but before he brought it to her, he studied it, then gripped the shoulder and pulled it apart. Not stopping there, he turned it in his hands and did the same to the hem on one side. Only this time, the rent was two feet long! It would go all the way to her knee!
“Well ravaged, I would say.” He chuckled, ignored the shock on her face, and dropped the gown over her head.
Once the battered hem was in place, he leaned forward of a sudden and placed a small, quick kiss on the tip of her nose.
Then he reached behind and swatted her backside!
“Oh, forgive me. I would not wish to make the ride more uncomfortable.”
She didn’t believe him.
To her dismay, he swatted at her again, ostensibly brushing dirt from her derriere but completely forgetting his own strength. By the time she sidled out of reach, she felt as if she’d been put over his knee like a rebellious child!
“Unhand me, you brute!” It sounded dramatic, even to her, considering the very non-brutish kiss on the nose.
By the time they were mounted and stepping back into the road, she was thoroughly befuddled. When he wasn’t looking, she put her hand to her mouth to see if she could feel what it might look like. A wee bit tender. Perhaps swollen, as if she’d been struck.
Fortunately for her, he hadn’t considered doing just that in order to reach the same result. But then again, he seemed to have enjoyed the plunder of her mouth even more than she.
The daze and the haze wore off instantly when, mere moments later, they came upon five familiar mounted forms waiting for them in the middle of the road.
Duncan, Kincaid, Leland, Monroe, and Jamie. The five she wanted least to see.
Tearloch rode silently beside her. She glanced his way, but he seemed to have forgotten her. And as they neared his men, his expression turned smug. Then a curtain dropped and the scowl was back.
“I ordered ye to ride for home, did I not?”
Duncan nodded. “And we did. But we heard ye scream and some thought it best if a few of us made certain ye hadn’t been attacked.” He kept his attention focused on his commander.
The others had no reservations about ogling her, however. In a trice, they had taken in the state of her gown, her mouth, and seemed horrified by the state of her hair. It seemed Tearloch had accomplished exactly what he’d set out to do.
They saw her differently now. No doubting it. And while they stared, she could almost see the thoughts in their heads as they imagined what might have transpired in that field.
Her face heated and she tried to raise her chin, but couldn’t manage it. Not as long as they believed…
She opened her mouth to erase the misunderstanding, but her horse shifted beneath her, forcing her to grasp the saddle to stay seated. She looked up to find that Tearloch had a hold of the animal’s bridle.
A stern warning in his eyes, in the set of his mouth—a message for her alone. Hold yer tongue or ye will regret it.
She dropped her attention to her lap and waited silently, like a whipped pup. He said she would not suffer, but she was suffering now. And humiliation had its own sting.
When Duncan spotted the two coming up the road, he sighed his relief.
The fight with his fellow captains could end now.
They’d wanted to fly to the lady’s aid when they heard her screams, and the debate had waged up and down the road, changing directions with every argument.
In the end, they’d agreed to wait it out on the road after he vowed to let them tear their commander to pieces if the woman had been harmed.
As the pair approached, with Tearloch looking the victorious peacock and Kenna’s gown in shreds, he realized how foolish that vow had been. He trained his attention on the king’s smug champion who might have, for once, pushed his position too far.
The woman was surprised to see them and none too happy about it. It took her a moment to realize that they all suspected what had happened to her. She confirmed those suspicions when she instantly flushed a deep shade of red that was at odds with her tousled hair.
The fool pushed his luck even further. When the lass might have spoken Tearloch reached for her horse and pulled her off balance, then silenced her with a look. Even Duncan couldn’t defend that.
“Enough,” Tearloch barked at them all. “I am eager for a soft bed, so we must push hard to reach home while there is still light on the road.” He nudged his horse forward, but no one moved.
Bold as brass, Jamie headed for the woman. He cast a menacing glare at Tearloch and didn’t stop until he sat beside her, albeit above her.
“Allow me, my lady.” He took the blanket from behind his saddle, unrolled it, and draped it over her head and shoulders like a cloak.
The ends draped down to cover the state of her garments.
“I sense a coming storm.” He glanced again in Tearloch’s direction.
“And Queenie and I would consider it a favor if ye rode with us.”
Without waiting for permission, the lad scooted back and lifted the woman onto his saddle, seating her sideways.
“Ye’ll be…warmer this way.” Now it was Jamie playing the peacock, but he was wise to put heels to his horse and move quickly beyond Tearloch’s reach.
The rest of them fell in behind him, caring little whether the king’s fool joined them.