10
THEY’D RIDDEN THROUGHthe day—and most of the night—but not thirty-six hours after that disastrous kiss, Thom stood in the shadow of the formidable Bamburgh Castle, listening to Douglas go over the plan that would send Thom 150 feet up a cliff and into one of the most formidable castles in England.
Though his former friend had avoided him over the long, harrowing ride across the dangerous Marches, Thom had felt Douglas’s scrutiny more than once.
Douglas was a suspicious bastard. Thom’s silent acceptance of the order to accompany him—rather than the anger Douglas had undoubtedly been expecting—hadn’t sat well with him. Douglas was probably wondering whether his sister had anything to do with it.
If he only knew.
Douglas would kill him. And it would probably be deserved. Thom had been one thrust away from taking her innocence and destroying them both.
He’d acted dishonorably, and he knew it. For his entire life, Thom had prided himself on always doing the right thing. In a world that only cared aboutwhoyou were, notwhatyou were, he’d always told himself that it was actions that made a man noble—not blood. But he’d acted as base as the world wanted to make him.
And all for what? To prove a point? To make her see what was between them? To make her realize what she’d forsaken?
Well, he’d succeeded. He’d proved that there was a hell of a lot more than friendship between them. He’d proved just how incredible it would be between them. He’d proved that she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.
But at what cost? The hard-wrought peace he’d found, and the new life he’d built for himself, had been shattered. He would hear the cries of her release in his dreams for the rest of his life. He would hold the memory of her kiss, the sweetness of her mouth, the softness of her skin, and the perfection of her breasts forever. Any woman he took to his bed in the future would suffer by comparison.
For a few precious minutes he’d had everything he’d ever wanted, and it had been better than he’d ever imagined.
He never should have touched her. He still couldn’t believe he’d lost himself like that. But he’d had plenty of hours over the long journey to recall in vivid detail exactly how close he’d come to giving Douglas a reason to stick that blade in his gut.
But Thom didn’t give a shite about what Douglas thought or suspected. He was here to do a job. The sooner the better, which was one of the reasons why Douglas’s decision to wait until the following night to make their ascent didn’t sit well.
“There is no reason to wait. I’m ready now,” Thom insisted. “There are still three or four hours before dawn.” He had already inspected the cliff below the castle. “It won’t take me longer than three-quarters of an hour to climb. Even with the additional time to secure the rope, have you and the rest of the men climb that last section, and hoist the rope ladder to climb the wall, we will have Archie out of there well before the sky begins to lighten. Besides, the mist is thick tonight and will shield us from any soldiers who happen to pass.”
Douglas’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t used to being contradicted—especially by someone in Thom’s position. But it was bad enough that he’d been forced under his former friend’s authority again, he would be damned if he’d keep his mouth shut when he didn’t agree with something—especially when that something involved his life and area of expertise. He and Douglas would never be equals, but they were both warriors, and the field of battle had a way of leveling.
“The rocks are damp from the rain earlier,” Douglas pointed out.
“As it rains almost every night this time of year, they’ll likely be wet tomorrow as well. At least today it is relatively warm. Tomorrow it could be colder and the wet could turn to ice.”
Ice would make that last section of the cliff impassable—too dangerous for even him to attempt.
“I thought you would need time to recover after the ride.”
Thom’s jaw tightened. “I’m fine.”
He’d had to work hard to keep up with the rest of the men, but his struggle with riding—usually a source of amusement—wasn’t when it came from Douglas.
“MacGowan’s right,” MacLeod said. Thom was more pleased by the support than he wanted to let on. Over the past day and a half he’d been impressed—maybe even awed—by the warriors who rode beside him, and none more so than by the man who appeared to be their leader. “If MacGowan says he can do it, we should let him try. The lad has already been in there for six days.”
Jamie’s expression darkened, and despite the bad blood between them, Thom felt a twinge of compassion for his former friend. He could well imagine the dark thoughts that must be racing through his head. Christ, if Johnny were in Archie’s place Thom would be going half-crazed wondering what kind of tortures and hardships he was suffering. Actually, he had to admire Douglas’s clearheadedness and ability to prevent his personal demons from interfering with his decisions.
Thom’s tone lost some of its combativeness. “Let me try, Jamie. If it looks like it will take longer or the conditions worsen, I’ll turn around. You know I can do this.”
Jamie held his gaze and eventually gave a terse nod. “Don’t take any unnecessary chances. We can’t afford anything to go wrong. If we lose the element of surprise...”
He didn’t need to finish. They all knew that without surprise they had virtually no chance of rescue. The only way to get Archie out of there would be a direct attack on the castle or a siege—neither of which was going to happen. Bruce was focused on taking Scotland’s castles, not England’s.
“We won’t,” Thom replied, the decisiveness of his voice adding assurance. “We’ll be long gone before the English realize we were there.”
Douglas’s mouth quirked. It was probably the first time he’d smiled at Thom in eight years. “Aye, well, I wish I shared your confidence. But I’ve been doing this too long and have learned that if something can go wrong, it will. Just ask MacGregor about the dog at Berwick,” he added dryly.
The famed archer overheard him and told Douglas to do something to himself that was physically impossible.
The rest of the men laughed, and Thom was already looking forward to hearing the story on the return journey to Roxburgh.
