This is excellent. He is precisely what I need.
“Perfect! Then ye could pretend tae be wedded tae me!”
Laughing, Dunn shook his head as if this was a joke. But then he saw how serious and how excited Elayne was and his smile slowly dropped.
“Ye cannae mean it.”
“O’ course I mean it,” said Elayne. “This is the perfect solution. I can escape this marriage an’ ye can come tae the castle. This is what ye needed, is it nae?”
Dunn sputtered for a few moments, at a loss for words. When he spoke, his voice was higher than his usual baritone. “Ye’re insane! I cannae pretend tae be yer husband! Ye dinnae even ken anythin’ about me.Icould be insane. I could try taemurderye.”
“If ye wished tae murder me, ye would have already done it,” Elayne pointed out. “Or ye would have let the brigands kill me. Either way, ye didnae. Ye saved me life, ye didnae try tae take advantage o’ me nor did ye rob me. Ye have proven tae me that ye’re a good man.”
“I absolutely willnae dae this,” Dunn insisted, already leaning away from Elayne. Before he could get too far, though, she grabbed his arm and stopped him, looking him straight in the eye.
“The castle,” she reminded him. “Ye said ye need the information.”
With a sigh, Dunn looked around as if he expected someone to rescue him from this conversation. The more he considered it, though, the more he relaxed in Elayne’s grip, until he was fully sitting back in his seat.
“Why would ye wish tae help me?” he asked.
“We’d be helpin’ each other,” Elayne reminded him. “I am nae doin’ this without gettin’ somethin’ in return. An’ it’s best fer everyone if there isnae a war. The clan is weak… a war would be madness.”
If anything, Elayne needed him more than Dunn needed her, but he didn’t have to know that. If the clan truly went to war, Elayne was certain they would lose. The previous wars had left them weakened, many of their soldiers gone in battle.
Still, despite the promise of help, Dunn was reluctant to agree. “Are ye tryin’ tae trick me?”
Elayne shook her head. “Nay. I promise ye. I will dae anythin’ ye ask. The only thing I willnae dae is allow ye tae touch me. Ye must understand that I have nae desire tae wed an’ this will only be a fake marriage, so if ye think I will fall intae bed with ye, ye should tell me now so I can find someone else.”
Dunn laughed, loud and delighted, as if Elayne’s warning amused him. “Ye didnae complain when I kissed ye.”
It was Elayne’s turn to sputter, throwing her hands up in exasperation. How presumptuous of him to think she had enjoyed that kiss! She had, of course, enjoyed it, but that was beside the point as far as she was concerned.
“I only allowed it because ye saved me life,” she said indignantly. “I willnae allow it again.”
Dunn gave her a lopsided grin, one Elayne was certain was popular with women, but she was determined not to be swayed by his charms. This was nothing but a business transaction. As Dunn considered it silently, Elayne tapped her fingers impatiently on the table, the tapping rhythm of them drowned out by the voices in the inn.
“Alright,” Dunn said eventually with a decisive nod, before he reached for Elayne’s arm to pull her closer—too close for her liking. “Ye have a deal. But I promise ye, by the end o’ this, ye’ll be beggin’ fer a kiss.”
CHAPTER TWO
Dunn could hardly believe he had managed to get himself into a strange deal with this young woman he barely even knew. Perhaps had it not been for her long, auburn hair and her blue eyes that looked at him as though they could see right through him, Dunn wouldn’t have agreed to it. But he had long accepted a terrible fact about himself: he was weak when it came to women. A pretty face and a charming smile was all it took for him to fall for their charms and do anything they wanted.
I should dae somethin’ about that.
He didn’t know what he could possibly do, though, since every time he made the resolution to stay away from women, he lasted only a few hours at best.
His pact with Elayne had led him to ride with her through the woods towards Macgillivray Castle, where he would be staying while pretending to be her betrothed. He didn’t really know what to expect, but at least he knew how to act. The two of them hadstayed up all night discussing their plan and what they would say if anyone asked them how they met. He could only hope neither of them would be relentlessly questioned about their relationship. Though they had gone through the details, they were bound to crumble under pressure. There was no amount of planning they could do in such a short time that could replace the organic feel of a real relationship.
It was a chilly day and there was a storm rapidly approaching again. Dunn could see it in the roiling grey clouds that gathered close to them over the tops of the trees, so thick that little sunlight could make its way through. He could only hope they would make it to the castle before the storm, as the last thing he wanted was to be soaked to the bone while travelling.
Next to him, on her own horse, Elayne shivered but tried her best to suppress it, her body going tense. Dunn laughed and she turned to glare at him. It had occurred to Dunn recently that Elayne was quick to anger and this time was no exception, but that only made it more entertaining to tease her.
“Would ye like me coat, lass?” he asked. He had his plaid to throw over his shoulders, after all, though it wouldn’t be as warm.
“I’m fine,” said Elayne stubbornly. “I’m sure yer coat smells like ale anyway.”
Dunn snorted in a rather inelegant manner that didn’t befit his upbringing. If his old governess could hear him now, she would certainly lecture him about it, even at the age of twenty-four.
