He should have expected her to want to test him, feel him out—as he’d planned on doing with the other guards later. She was brave, throwing herself into the fray with him to learn how he fought since she might have to be the one who protected her family from him if they came here.
Or, this was her way of stabbing him to death without anyone even bearing witness.
“Of course” He stepped away from her, releasing her hand.
He held up his blade, ready to know for sure if she could kill him. She did the same with the blade that had been hanging from her hip.
He smiled at her one more time, appreciating her readiness and willingness to fight him. He expected her to be a good fighter, but she was quite small at 5’ 4” mayhap and delicately fashioned. How much trouble could she be?
She came at him so fast he almost didn’t have time to block. He stopped a swift slice of her blade just before it would have rid him of his left arm. She took the opportunity to disappear from his view. He barely moved and she was already behind him. She’d had the slightest advantage after watching him practice and seeing how he moved. He’d had no way of knowing how fast she was until she was on him—literally strapped to his back with her legs wrapped around his waist and one hand closed over his forehead.
How was this happening? How was she in a position to kill him? And how had she arrived there so quickly?
He didn’t pause and wait to see if she would do it or not, but reached around himself and tried to grab her. He saw her bringing her blade up to his neck and grasped her wrist. A harsh twist and her sword fell to the ground.
Taking hold of both her arms, he dragged her around to face him. Her legs were still coiled tightly around his waist. She stared at him, her breath coming as hard as his.
He could feel her heart beatingmadlyin her chest. Could she feel his doing the same? He should peel her off him, but every nerve ending in his body was alive and on fire. Awakened with a need that was purely physical and deeply moving at the same time.
She stared at him with wide, shining eyes and breathed hard against him. He wanted to take her face in his hands and kiss her, breathe her, win her. He realized this was a fancy brought to life by all his reading. He wasn’t here towinsome woman! He was here to rip the last place of defense out from under Edward’s feet and to kill as many English as he could, but her thighs were strong and tight around him. He didn’t want her to let go. He wanted more than this spirited hellcat’s mouth. He wanted to push her up against the nearest wall, pull her breeches down around her knees, and take her until their worlds changed.
She unwrapped her legs and slid down his body, stirring him to life. He clenched his jaw. She blushed and looked away as her feet hit the ground. “I would call that a draw,” she said softly, stepping away.
He smiled, and then he laughed and reluctantly let her go. “You are very fast.”
“I have to be,” she replied over her shoulder while she walked away from him.
True. She did, he thought, catching up to her. “You are also very brave.”
“But?”
He stared at her while they walked toward the keep. “But what?”
She turned to look up at him. A soft smile lifted her lips but there was dreadful anticipation in her eyes. “What else were you going to say?”
He thought about what other compliments he could offer her. “You are clever. You call me fierce, but you nearly had my throat five breaths in.”
She stopped walking and squinted up at him as the sun came up in full glory. “You have no harsh criticism?”
He shook his head, and then remembered that men didn’t want to marry her because she fought so well. Fools. “No, Miss Hetherington. I’m the best I know, and you almost killed me.”
Her smile grew until it made him want to kiss her again. “Thank you.”
“You act as if you do not hear praises often.”
“I do not,” she said and continued walking.
“Surely your father tells you.”
She shook her head. “It makes Galien brood.”
“Who is Galien?”
“My brother,” she said, entering the keep with him. “My other brother, Ragenald, used to praise me.”
“Why did he stop?”
“The Bruce’s army killed him at Bannockburn.”
