It took a few attempts, as his fingers were cold and couldn’t grip anything, plus he was using only one hand. Finally he managed to pull himself up and onto the step above. For now, he was safe. Kate followed, and soon they would be here… please, God, let her family arrive soon.
Chapter Two
Rory had known pain in his lifetime. He’d lived life on the streets of Paris for many years, so he’d taken and given his share of beatings. However, what he could not cope with was being vulnerable again. He relied on his wits, his strength, and his dog—he needed nothing more. Even this raven-haired angel. And yet she’d saved his life. Had it not been for her, he would have drowned or died from exposure and his injury.
She’d forced him to get to safety when he’d wanted her to leave him. Now he lay on the side of the cliff and felt his heart pounding as if he’d run miles, instead of walking a few feet. He was so cold he couldn’t feel his fingers or toes. The fire in his shoulder had become a steady ache.
“My family will arrive soon, but until then I fear it is too steep for us to climb.” She took off her gloves and started rubbing her hands over his body to warm him up. When she placed them on his cheeks, he nearly moaned with the pleasure of it. “Stay with me now, not too much longer.”
He’d kissed her, the moment brief, and yet the memory was etched in his head. Even numb with cold and fatigue, pain ravaging him, he had felt something when he took her lips beneath his. Rory had fully expected not to make it to safety and was realistic enough to understand he may still die. He’d wanted a final kiss, but that brief touch had been far more than that. In that moment when their lips had touched, he’d sworn his pain had eased. How was that possible?
“H-how do you know your family w-will arrive?”
He’d never had a family to rely on, so doubted her words. In fact, he relied only on himself for the most part, and occasionally his sister, but gave no one else that power over him.
“I just do, and we are always there for each other. We know when we are needed.” She dipped her head as if hiding her face, as if she should not have spoken the words.
She wore a black velvet bonnet and a thick blue woolen scarf wound several times around her slender neck. Her eyes were green as a new leaf; they shone with something he’d not yet named. He felt a jolt now just looking into them.
“Wh-what are you doing?” He tried to speak slowly to stop the stuttering. It was humiliating to be so defenseless.
“You need this more than I.” She took the scarf and wrapped it around his neck and head. The warmth was bliss, even if the rest of his body was frozen.
When he’d heard her voice, the relief had nearly made him weep. After Manton and Berger had left him there to die, he’d known only a miracle would save him. It seemed that miracle had come in the form of Kate.
“Call your dog to the other side, he can warm you,” she ordered him.
“B-Bran, come.”
Seconds later the dog was there, lying against him, and he felt more warmth. At least they were on dry land now, even if the wind was buffeting them. His head was light from blood loss, and Rory knew it would not be long before he lost consciousness.
“Where does his name come from?” she said, directing her dog to lie along his other side.
“Bran? It is Scottish for r-raven.”
“But isn’t his breed Irish?” Her eyes shot above him, as if searching for something.
“G-go now and get help. They will not come unless you d-do so,” Rory said. He may be dead before she returned, but he would not have her witness that. He knew what would happen; he’d fall asleep and likely not wake.
“No. They know I need them and will come soon. Tell me about your dog’s name.” She uncovered his wound again and pressed down. He could do nothing to stop the grunt of pain.
“Forgive me, but the bleeding must be staunched.”
“My br-brother named him,” Rory gritted out. The pain was starting to double his vision. “A friend he lost.”
“’Tis a wonderful thing indeed to name a pet after a valued friend, and to have family, for that matter.”
Not my family.
“Just a little longer and we will have you home, warm and dry, where my cousin can help you. She is a healer and teaching me.”
She had thick lashes, and brows that arched over those stunning green eyes and seemed to take up a great deal of her face. Her skin was smooth and pale, color riding her cheekbones from the harsh wind. Her top lip had a lush curve that drew his eyes. He remembered the feel of it pressed to his.
A lady of quality, he thought. Not to be touched by the likes of him.
“Where are w-we?”
“I beg your pardon?” She returned her eyes to his.
