She had to take a moment to acclimatize herself to the present. His tent. Her nose was filled with the scent of sandalwood and the raw metallic smell of blood and manly sweat.
“Jo?” His chest rumbled.
Grace raised her head. That voice had called her back. Vaguely, she’d heard him screaming for her.
“Mmm,” Grace managed. Her chest felt strange. She wanted to laugh and cry. When she ran, she’d genuinely believed it was the last time she’d see this beautiful,beautifulman.
Then, worry for her brother, Harris, filled her.
Her cluttered mind screamed. Her exhilaration received a douse of cold water. She was glad to be alive but she was still terribly worried for her friend. Grace imagined Harris undergoing untold torture for attacking one of their own. Owen, which made it a thousand times worse.
She shifted in Duncan’s arms and was released. Grace shook her head, throwing one of her arms over him, unwilling to discontinue their connection. The hand tightened again. She could not talk to him or anyone about Harris. She could only hope that he was alive. That he would find her. Not because she needed saving, but because of her desperate need to ensure that her friend was alive.
In that moment, her stomach gave an impertinent rumble. The belly of the man holding her shook from mirth. Grace pinched his flesh between her fingers.
“Aw!”
“Stop laughin’.” Her voice was muffled and coarse. Had she been asleep for days?
“Tis like a monster’s inside ye.”
“I’ll show ye the real monster.”
Ignoring her pain, Grace playfully struggled in his arms, rearing her head until she could see his face. She tried to grab at his neck. That close, their eyes met and her body shook.
He tried to hide his face, but Grace placed a hand under his jaw. He drew a shattering breath. Her eyes grew wet, like his, which were swollen and bloodshot.
She could not speak. She could not think. She slid downward again and wrapped her arm halfway across his back. Duncan shuddered. Every breath he took was shaky. His shirt was wet where her face pressed into his chest. Where his heart thundered into her eardrums.
They held each other, all of the words they wanted to say transmitted through the pain in their hearts.
“Thank ye,” he said in this quiet voice. If she was not so close, she would not have heard it. “Thank ye fer comin’ back.”
Grace understood. Like his brother, he’d feared she would be gone before he could save her.
“Thank ye,” Grace forced a laugh. It sounded hollow. “I owe ye me life forever.”
“’Tis over, we stopped them.”
Grace’s chest hurt for a whole other reason. In his head, there was his clan, her and them. Her attempt at escape had failed, and she was bound to him for saving her life. Yet, she would live that life, lying to him. She would live, knowing that her aim was to kill, to get revenge for her father. What would he think of her, if only he knew?
He was silent, his trembling abated. She thought he’d gone to sleep. Then he raised her head and placed the softest kisses on her forehead.
He caressed her back. “Healer says tis nae a deep wound. Ye’ll recover quickly.” He then stood. “Ye need food.”
ETHAN’S POV
“Did you see her?” He asked in a quiet voice.
The man before him had his head lowered, kneeling inside a room that held six other men. There was defiance between those shoulders. Fire in his eyes when he glared at Ethan, who’d always thought the teacher’s boy was growing bigger than his britches.
“I am your commander!” Ethan roared, his temper shooting past his restraint. “Was Grace there or not?!”
“I’m telling you; Grace Dankworth was in that camp,” Owen shouted for the millionth time. “I chased after her and this bastard tackled me!”
Ethan held up a hand to quiet Owen. His head was on the edge of explosion. If it were true, then they were so close. His eyes were ringed by dark circles from late nights spent in search of her.
His body was on the brink of collapse. Day and night, he obsessed, wondering if he’d been too harsh. If she was alive. If he’d had a hand in it. He was there and he’d not seen her. It was pure coincidence that Owen saw her in a brute’s camp.How did she end up there? What had they done to her?
