She appreciated his patience, and she was relieved they could talk so openly. But she didn’t want to keep having these conversations now that she’d compartmentalized as much as she could. But she realized Thor hadn’t done the same. He had his own shame, humiliation, and guilt to move past. As much as she needed to feel his love to grow stronger, she understood he needed the same from her. She couldn’t underestimate the depth of his pain simply because he was a hardened warrior. She’d known since they first met that he was sensitive and felt his emotions deeply. It was part of why she fell in love with him with such ease.
Except for their heavy breathing, they remained quiet as they moved together. Neither wanted to talk any more, and their focus was on giving and receiving pleasure. She clutched the front of his leine and burrowed her head against the crook of his neck as her core spasmed, pushing her into bliss that cleansed her soul. She redoubled her efforts, and when Thor thrust into her and held her pelvis pinned to him their bodies rewarded them. She knew he pulsed within her, and the friction on her pearl brought her to release a second time. She collapsed onto him as he leaned back against the wall, both spent.
Once more, Thor wrapped them in the extra material once his body no longer cooperated with his wish to remain joined with Greer. Fatigue threatened to make him shut his eyes. But with every rise and fall of Greer’s shoulders as she slumbered against him, he recalled why they were in the dank space. He wouldn’t relax his guard since he was Greer’s only protection. His arms rested loosely around her, but as his mind wandered to their future, he found himself squeezing her tightly against his chest. It surprised him she didn’t wake. He worried not only about the immediate danger that loomed, but he worried how his clan would react if they ever learned the truth. He wanted to believe they would never shun Greer, and that it would never interfere with her position when she one day became Lady Sinclair, but he couldn’t be certain. The unknown created a knot in his belly that ached.
Thor knew his great-uncle Daniel once loved a Gunn woman. They’d met similarly to how he and Greer had. They’d rendezvoused on their lands’ borders for many months. Eventually, they’d began having picnics together, taking turns crossing the border to sit beside each other. When the Gunn patrols started to report her actions to her older brother, Tomas, they’d moved their clandestine liaisons to the beach.
When Tomas learned Ceana was with child, he beat her and locked her in her chamber. Then he led a raid and killed his grandfather’s younger brother. A warrior and his wife smuggled Ceana out of Gunn Castle and to Dunbeath. She’d arrived in much the same condition as Greer had. Thor’s great-grandfather and great-grandmother offered her a home at Dunbeath, but Ceana couldn’t reconcile living in the keep and sleeping in the bed she and Daniel once planned to share. She opted to retire to Inchcailleoch Priory, or the Island of Old Women, where her son was stillborn, but she found her calling as a nun. She eventually became the abbess there.
Thor prayed his clan accepted Greer as easily as they’d accepted Ceana. But he recognized the situations were different. Possibly disastrous scenarios played out in his mind. His instinct told him to forego his family and his clan and put Greer above everyone and everything. But he knew she wouldn’t agree to him giving up the life his family trained him to inherit. She had already believed he was prepared to make too great a sacrifice when they weren’t sure Greer would ever be ready to couple. He also knew that, as willing as he was, duty would always come before his own wants. It meant the only option he could accept was ensuring Greer made a place for herself among the Sinclairs.
“Thor, close yer eyes for a while. I’m awake. I’ll listen for aught. I ken ye’re a light sleeper. If anyone comes within a league of this building, ye’ll be alert. But ye need the rest. Ye may be used to riding on patrol or going into battle and nae sleeping for days, but why put yerself in that position if ye dinna have to? Rest,mo ghaol.”
“I ken the soundness of what ye suggest, but I canna settle enough to even doze. I canna imagine aught happening to ye because I fell asleep during ma watch.”
“And yer watches always have shifts. Please, Thor. If ye canna fall asleep, then vera well. But at least try.”
“All right.” They shifted so Thor could rest his head against the front of Greer’s shoulder while her head rested on top of his. She stroked his hair, and it wasn’t long before she felt his breathing slow. She knew he wasn’t asleep, but he was more at ease. They passed the next six hours in two-hour intervals. Greer slept when Thor kept watch, and he rested while she listened for any disturbance. When someone moved the barrels above the trapdoor, they shrank into the darkest corner. Barely any light shone in, so they knew it was still very early.
“Thor?” A deep voice murmured.
“Aye, Henry.”
“Ye can come out. There’s nearly nay one in the bailey. The English forced us out of the barracks, but we didna mind. It meant we found places around the keep to rest. Naught happened that we didna ken aboot. A farmer arrived with a wagon loaded with hay. He’s only delivering half here. He’s taking the rest to the market. If ye hurry, ye can climb on and hide. If ye wait any longer, then more people shall stir. We risk those pieces of hog shite waking.”
Thor and Greer crawled back to the hatch. She reached toward Henry’s hands while Thor hoisted her upward. He did so with more force than Greer or Henry expected, making her collide with Henry. She screamed and recoiled, but Henry caught her before she fell backward in the cellar. She scrambled away from him as Thor rushed to pull himself out. Greer cowered in a corner, and Henry appeared stunned.
“It’s all right,” Thor whispered to Henry. “Wait for us outside.”
The guard didn’t need telling twice, and Thor inched across the room to Greer, who appeared petrified. He kept his hands where she could see them and raised his arms slowly. She launched herself at him, making him stumble back a step as he caught her. She trembled as she kept trying to get closer to him, but short of sharing his skin, there was no way for her to lessen a gap that didn’t exist.
“I’m sorry. I panicked because I wasna prepared for him to pull me closer. Ye lifted me, and he wasna ready to step back. When I collided with him, I—”
“Ye dinna have to explain. I understand. Can ye reason that he didna mean ye any harm?”
“Aye. I ken that, but it was the feel of ma body hitting another mon’s. It wasna the same as touching ye. I didna mean to scream. Do ye think anyone heard me?”
“Nay one’s come rushing in here, and I dinna hear Henry turning anyone away. I think it was only loud in here.”
“I hope so. I havenae embraced any mon but ye since arriving here. Yer da gave me one, and I didna feel scared with him. But I dinna ken how I’ll react to any other mon. I think I was only all right with yer da because he reminds me so much of ye, and I kenned he would never hurt me.”
“Nay one in ma family will, but they’ll understand if ye dinna wish for embraces from the men. They’ll think ye modest as ma wife. They willna take offense.”
“I hope so. I havenae asked ye this, but I need to ken before we leave here. Will ye tell yer parents and grandfather the truth aboot what happened to me?”
“I will give them only what they need to ken unless ye give me permission to tell them more.”
“I’m nae sure what I can manage.”
“Then we willna rush that. But we must rush leaving before it’s too late.” Thor adjusted hisbreacan feile, and Greer pulled her arisaid over her head and shoulders. Thor knocked on the door once. A return knock echoed in the storage building. He opened the door and found Henry standing to his left. The guard canted his head to the right.
“Over there. He has a tarp over the bundles because he swears it’s going to rain. It’s the Highlands. Of course, it’s going to rain. But it’ll keep ye dry and hidden. Keenan and Dominic already got two horses through the front gate the moment the Keiths raised it. They’re on the other side of the village. But I must warn ye. There are more knights camped just outside the barmekin. Dinna uncover yerselves until ye reach the far side of all the crofts.”
“We’re riding to Varrich. The English will likely force ye to stay here. Or at least, they’ll try. If ye can get yer horses out, ride to Dunbeath. If ye canna, ask Blaine for the birlinn and sail home.”
“But—”
“Nay. If ye join us, then we attract too much attention. If they chase us, the moment they see a party of riders, they’ll ken it’s us. Ma hope is we can keep our distance, and Lady Greer doesnae have to wear an arisaid.”
