Passion that had pushed him to brazenly track the cateran across Dunlop land.
Passion that had urged him to brashly insert himself between two brutes and their victim.
Now, suddenly, one glimpse of a familiar delicate moonlit cheek, the sweet curve of a jaw, the flutter of an eyelash, the open gasp of a soft mouth, drained that passion.For one awful moment, his hotheaded fearlessness wavered.He was stunned by sheer terror for the cateran.
He told himself it didn’t matter that the thief wasn’t a lad, but a lass.
It made no difference that the lass was not just any lass, but Lady Carenza.
He told himself these things.But his heart still pounded with icy fear for her.His breath still froze in his chest as more of the raging black beasts swirled around her.
Thank God, he was a trained warrior.His heart might be tender, but fierce blood pumped through it.He would protect her.And he would die before he’d reveal her secret.
“Stay there,” he repeated.
To his shock, she ignored his command.
Not only did she ignore it.She did the exact opposite of what he instructed.She turned her back on him and resumed leading her captive coo away.
The foolish lass seemed not to notice she was surrounded by stamping, snorting beasts that were twice her size.Beasts that could crush her in an instant.
He dared not cry out to her again.That would only further agitate the cattle.
There was only one thing to do.Dropping his axe, Hew let passion convince him to charge into the maelstrom of wild cattle.
No sooner did he enter the fray than his shin was struck by a stray hoof.The tip of a coo’s horn grazed his shoulder as it passed.And he was nearly crushed between two beasts determined to collide.
Dodging the lunging, darting cattle, he picked out the fastest, the one that looked like the leader.He shadowed the animal, running alongside until he could catch the base of its long horn in his bent arm.Then he dug in his heels and pulled back with all his might, slowing the coo and steering it aside.
It slipped and skidded on the sod, and its eyes still rolled in panic.But it finally stopped running.
“Easy,” he commanded breathlessly, slowing it to a saner pace.“Easy now.”
Once the first coo calmed, the others began to settle.Eventually he was able to circle the animal back in the direction of the woods.The rest of the fold gradually followed.
Still, by the time he swung around to seek out Lady Carenza, she’d gained a hundred yards.She was blithely continuing on her way with her spoils in tow, which both relieved and infuriated him.
Taking bold strides across the field toward her, he scooped up his axe and tossed it over his shoulder without missing a step.
“Wait!”he called out.
Her shoulders jerked in surprise, which gave him some satisfaction.She probably assumed the cattle had trampled him to death.
But when she wheeled around to confront him, he glimpsed a fearful plea in her eyes.A plea that caught at his heart.Dissipated his anger.And dissolved his conceit.
“Let me take the beast back, lass,” he murmured.“I won’t reveal your secret.”
She flinched once, hearing him call her lass.Then she tightened her grip on the rope around the animal’s neck.
“This one’s mine,” she whispered.“Ye can’t have him.”
It was as if her soft voice wrapped around the shell of his ear and breathed an enchantment into his soul.He lowered his axe, resting the blade on the ground.Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to grant her wish.
Of course, reason dictated otherwise.It was possible the lady was fleeing an unhappy home.It was possible she was giving her father’s coo away to a crofter in need.But if both the lady and the coo went missing on the same night, it wouldn’t take a scholar to figure out the connection.And Hew had no intention of subjecting the beautiful lass to a cateran’s punishment.
But before he could discuss options, the lady’s eyes abruptly widened at something behind him, and she pulled her head back into the shadows of her hood.
Hew heard the cooherds approaching from behind.
