Chapter 10
Allia came awake with a start, opening her eyes to see what had woken her so suddenly.
The sun was already well up, and the first thing she saw was Eian crouched in front of her, dagger in hand, his body tensed to attack.
She sat up quickly, clutching at the edge of the woolen blanket to cover her bare breasts, and looking around in confusion.
That’s when she saw the three men on horseback not thirty feet away, regarding the two of them with varying degrees of anger and amusement.
Mostly amusement. She recognized the colors they wore, and the faces were vaguely familiar as well.
These were her uncle’s men. Damn, she was caught…
And worse, the two of them were caught together. Naked.
She tugged at Eian’s arm and whispered to him before he did something that would land the two of them in even more trouble. “No, wait…”
He sighed and cursed repeatedly under his breath.
Then he looked to the waiting men, rising swiftly to his feet while wrapping his kilt around his waist, fastening the belt with a defiant tug.
Allia couldn’t help but look at all that she had never before seen in the light of day: a smooth bronzed chest with chiseled muscle and washboard abs.
And the tattoo she could now see was the outline of a rather fierce looking dragon, drawn in the Celtic style.
The entire effect was a stunning display of perfect male flesh that made her wish the guards gone so she could explore every inch in the sunlight.
Eian’s mouth quirked up at the corners when he caught her looking. He winked, and she smiled back at him.
“At least turn yer backs to let the lady dress”, he told the Lochain men.
One of them, who must have been in charge, laughed cynically.
“We’re none of us fools, Mac Coinnach. Ye’ll no’ be out of my sight until I ken ye willna run off.
The laird will want to deal with ye personally when we tell him what we found here.
” His satisfied smirk told him just how much he was going to enjoy personally delivering the news to Leon.
Allia bit the inside of her cheek in frustration. She wanted to say ‘It’s not what it looks like’, but she doubted the guards were that stupid. Perhaps she should have run off with Eian last night when she had the chance. But then, she didn’t want to cause trouble for his family, either.
“Fine.” Eian put his hands up in surrender and walked over to stand near the horses. He held out his wrists and one of the men tied them with rope.
Allia gasped. “Eian, no! What are you doing?”
He shook his head slightly at her. “It’s alright lass, just get dressed.
” He looked pointedly at the guards, who reluctantly turned their backs.
Allia slid out from under the blanket and quickly found her clothes.
When she saw that her shift was too badly torn, she raised an eyebrow in Eian’s direction.
He gave her an unapologetic grin, and she wondered how he could smile when the two of them were about to be dragged back to Lochain in shame.
She guessed maybe his brother would get him out of trouble, but where did that leave her?
Trying not to think about it, she wadded the shift up and put it in Dair’s saddlebag, then pulled the dress over her head, yanking the laces tight across the front before slipping into her shoes. “I’m ready.”
It was a very long ride back to Lochain for Allia.
She was sharing a mount with one of the guards, who kept his arm around her as if at any moment she might decide to jump from the horse and run.
Eian rode Dair a few paces behind her, but his wrists were still tied, and another guard held the reins.
When she glanced back, Allia saw the murderous glare he aimed at the guard who held her, and her heart fluttered at the very masculine show of jealousy.
She was almost glad he was restrained, though, because she doubted the guard would still be alive if he wasn’t.
She had seen first-hand just how easily Eian Mac Coinnach could kill.