Her breathing harsh, her lungs burning, she kept her gaze riveted upon the thick trees just ahead—ah, God, help her to reach them where she could hide from Darragh!
Hide from him at least until nightfall when she could try to make her way back toward Glenmalure on foot without him finding her?—
“Foolish woman, did you truly think you could escape from me?”
Deirdre shrieked as she was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. Darragh now lying on top of her body and pinning her by the wrists to glare down at her, spittle dripping from his mouth onto her flushed cheek.
Deirdre saw then what she had feared from the moment he had abducted her, no matter his denial that he wanted her for himself.
A flaring of lust in his eyes as she struggled vainly beneath him, Darragh’s leg thrusting between her knees to spread them apart.
“No…no, damn you!”
He only laughed, a harsh sound, a brutally ominous sound as he bent his head to press his lips to hers. Deirdre so sickened that she felt certain she would vomit when she felt him yank up his tunic with one hand and pull down his trousers.
A horrible tearing sound an instant later telling her that he had ripped open her trousers.
The muscled weight of his body coming down upon her as Deirdre desperately jutted her hips to one side to evade him—only to feel Darragh suddenly jerk and raise himself up to claw at his back.
His dark eyes wide, his face reddened and a strangled scream erupting from him just before he collapsed upon her, Deirdre screaming now, too.
Screaming so shrilly and struggling again to free herself from beneath Darragh’s limp body even as she felt him lifted from her and thrown to one side, Liam kneeling down to pull her into his arms.
“I’m here, Deirdre…you’re safe! We found you, thank God…thank God.”
Deirdre clung to him in wild disbelief, her breathing still harsh and hot tears streaking her face.
She saw then the hawk-fletched arrow sticking out of Darragh’s back, his head at a strange angle and his sightless eyes staring at her in death?—
“No, don’t look at him, love…look at me.”
Deirdre did, Liam cradling her and smoothing back her wet, tangled hair as her father and mother came running up to them.
Triona at once tearing off her cloak and dropping to her knees to cover the lower half of Deirdre’s body, and then embracing both her and Liam, her mother’s shoulders shaking.
“Tell me he didn’t ravage you, daughter?—”
“No, no, I fought him…but how did you find me?”
At Deirdre’s hoarse query, her throat clogged with tears, she heard Triona’s soft laughter now, amazingly, as if her mother couldn’t believe what Deirdre had asked her.
“Have you forgotten we know every shorter route through these hills and valleys? As does the man I heard you’ve chosen to marry—after all, he’s from the Glen of Imaal, our nearest neighbor.”
“Aye, it was his arrow that saved you, Deirdre, but enough for now,” Ronan said gruffly, bending down to tenderly wipe a tear from her cheek. “Gather her up, Liam, and let’s bring our brave girl home.”
He did, rising to his feet and picking her up so gently to hold her close…so close that Deirdre could feel his strong heartbeat against her shoulder.
His husky voice murmuring to her how much he loved her and asking her if she still wanted him, Deirdre meeting his deep blue eyes that glistened with emotion.
“Want you, Liam? Aye, always and forever, I love you!”
CHAPTER 12
Liam stared in quiet awe at Deirdre nestled against him in bed, her tousled head resting on his shoulder and her hands curled so sweetly beneath her chin.
Her breathing was slow and steady, and he was certain she slept after their rousing bout of lovemaking, for after all, it had been a very long day.
Everything happening so swiftly after they had ridden into the O’Byrne stronghold to the deafening cheers from clansmen, wives, and children alike.
