“Ye dinna care for that threat. Well, I dinna like them anymore than ye do. Let go.”
“Will ye ever stop running and just tell the truth?”
“I’m nae the one who walked away.”
“Ye lied to me.”
“That was easier to believe than the truth. I’m sick of justifying maself to ye. Stay away from me.” Greer pushed down and against Thor’s arm, but it was a steel band around her.
“Mayhap ye dinna owe me an explanation, but I’m asking for one. I need to ken what happened. I saw yer chamber that day, Greer. Did I cause that?”
“Aye.”
Greer made her body go limp and dropped beneath the water’s surface before pulling her legs up and kicking backward to make Thor’s taut stomach a springboard. She dove deeper until the water became murky, and she knew he would have a hard time spotting her. She swam as hard and as fast as she could until she no longer had breath to hold. She emerged from the water, gulped a lungful of air before diving again. She swam until the shore rose to meet her. She didn’t expect Thor to be so close. She glanced at Rose and Blaine, but they hid beneath the drooping willow branches, out of sight. Greer could guess what they were doing. She wouldn’t interrupt, but she also wanted her clothes.
“Stay here.” Thor barked his order, then stalked out of the water. Greer couldn’t turn away. She watched as the muscles moved in his calves, thighs, and buttocks with each step. It was mesmerizing in its masculinity. She whipped her head away when he donned his leine, snatched his plaid, and returned to the water’s edge. He snapped his plaid open and swung it around his shoulders like a cape before he turned on his heel. He held his arms out, extending the plaid to nearly its full length. Greer squatted, agog, where the water was just deep enough to cover her. She realized he was offering her privacy and protecting her modesty from anyone who might see. He wouldn’t ogle her as she had him. She rushed to yank the great plaid from him and wrap herself in it from head to toe. It practically drowned her.
Thor turned back to her, and his nostrils flared as his gaze swept over her wearing his clan’s pattern. She looked far too fetching with her unique violet eyes peering at him from beneath the blue wool. She recognized the look in his eyes because she’d seen it too many times from too many men. Except, Thor didn’t make her want to run, screaming, into the mountains. Or better yet, off a cliff into the sea.
Thor clenched his jaw to keep from speaking. The last thing he needed was to admit his thoughts. The very ones that had plagued him since they were five-and-ten. When Greer looked down at the plaid, she held it tighter. Her gaze rose to meet his, but he didn’t expect the regret that shone in her luminous eyes. If they could have read each other’s mind, they would have known they thought the same thing.
This is how it should have been.
“Greer, are ye ready to get dressed? I’m famished.” Rose’s voice shattered the moment. Greer backed away, almost tripping on the hem that tucked under her foot. Thor’s hands shot out to steady her, which only made her rear back like a scalded cat. She started to fall, so Thor pulled her back toward him. He didn’t realize how much weight Greer had lost since she arrived at Dunbeath seeking shelter and an audience with Laird Liam Sinclair. She’d already verged on thin. Now she collided with him, their bodies pressed together. Her eyes jumped up to Thor’s, huge from her surprise as she felt his reaction to her.
“Some things may change, but others remain.” Thor’s voice was barely loud enough for Greer to hear. She didn’t fight him this time. She didn’t want to. She was too shocked to do anything more than watch him.
“Greer?” Rose’s voice roused them from their stupor, and Greer gathered the material until she wouldn’t trip again. Thor let go, and she hurried to Rose’s side. Once she had her chemise on, she stuck her hand out and shook it with Thor’s plaid. She didn’t see him approach, but he took it from her. Rose observed her best friend as they dressed. Finally, she tired of waiting for Greer to offer an explanation. “What was all that?”
“Naught.”
“Dinna tell me falsehoods, Greer. We’ve never done that. What is going on with ye and Thor? Ye have a past together, and ye’ve kept it from me. Now I ken how miserable Thor must have felt to learn I’d been friends with ye and never told him.”
“I dinna ken every moment of yer life, and ye dinna ken all of mine.”
“Ye practically do. If ye kenned Thor, why didna ye ever tell me?”
“Why didna he ever tell ye that he kenned me? Ye canna fault me from keeping this from ye and hold him blameless.”
“I dinna hold him blameless. Ye and I admitted our friendship and that we’d mutually lied to hide it. But ye continue to keep secrets, and now so does Thor.”
“Now? He’s been keeping it from ye for years, and so have I.”
“Why?” Rose’s voice demanded an answer. It was the harshest she’d ever used toward her friend. They’d never been cross with one another before, but the situation was rapidly moving from frustrating to infuriating.
“None of yer fucking business, Rose. Leave off.” Greer swiped her slippers and stockings from the ground before hurrying out from beneath the branches. She raised her skirts above her ankles and ran toward the keep. Thor glanced at his sister as he finished pulling up his second stocking. He watched Greer run past, tears streaming from her eyes. He abandoned his boots and chased after Greer. He looked farther down the path than she was. His arms wrapped around her, lifting her off her feet and pulling her off the path. But it was too late. He didn’t reach her in time. The infuriated adder lunged, its fangs latching onto Greer’s toe. Thor ripped a dirk from his belt and sliced the head from the animal. He pried its mouth open to release Greer and flung the head several yards.
“Greer?” Thor’s voice cracked with fear.
“Thor, it hurts.”
“I ken. Let me look.”
He was careful as he eased Greer to the ground with him. But rather than have her sit beside him, he positioned her on his lap. He yanked at her skirts until he could see her feet. She drew her legs in, and Thor leaned to look. The site was already red, and Thor was certain was very painful. It troubled him that Greer barely reacted to what would have hobbled most people. He glanced at her other foot before moving to push down her skirts, but his hand whipped out and twisted her uninjured foot so he could see her sole. Greer hurried to push her skirts down as Rose and Blaine ran toward them. Greer shot Thor a warning glare.
“What happened?” Rose’s stricken face appeared before them as she kneeled in front of Greer.
“An adder. Thor must have seen it because he killed it before it sank its fangs all the way into me.” Greer twisted to look at Thor again. “How did ye see it before me?”
