She soon forgot the question anyway, as she listened to the sounds he made with his mouth. Was this normal? Was this whatallmen and women did, or just the Scots?
Overcome by passion, she threw her head back and cried out. Her body began to quiver and shake, her muscles tensed, and a hot wave of fire splashed over her. She writhed like a trapped animal on the fur and pounded her fists on the ground. Pleasure like no other consumed her, even while she fought to resist it; thenallher strength poured away.
After a time, he backed out from under her skirts and covered her body with his own. He held her close, and she felt strangely loved and protected. She didn’t want to let go of him. She wanted to be held like this forever. She had never felt so close to anyone.
“What was that?” she asked, knowing that her emotions were not, at present, rational.
“I told you, we Scots like to pleasure our women.” Hepulledher skirts down to cover her legs. “But you should sleep now, lass.”
She stared up at the sky, feeling as if she were in some kind of drunken stupor.
“I enjoyed it,” she confessed.
“I know.”
“But I should not haveallowed it to happen. It was too much.”
For a long time he said nothing. He simply looked up at the shadowy treetops against the night sky.
Then at last he spoke. “Aye, it was. And I should not haveallowed it to happen, either.”
They said nothing more to each other that night.
* * *
Duncan had not slept soundly in months, and feeling completely rested thefollowingmorning was a foreign, unrecognizable thing. He woke to the perfume of the pines, the sound ofswallows chirping in the treetops, and the pink glow of the sunrise beyond the forest, casting a pale light on his eyelids.
Yawning, he stretched his arms over his head, then remembered, with a sudden stab of discontent, what would occur on this day. He would ride with Amelia to the castle and perhaps find Richard Bennett there, enjoying the many luxuries Moncrieffe had to offer.
Duncan’s immediate reaction to the idea of Bennett being served at the castle made him want to go there straightaway, grab the dirty maggot by the throat, and toss him over the castlewalls. But first he would drive a sword through Bennett’s heart and remind him why he was dying:Do youremember the girl in the orchard? This is for her. And it’s forthe woman you thought you might have for a wife. She’llnever suffer what Muira did.
Duncan sat up and looked around. Amelia was not beside him, however, nor was she within view of the camp.
Instantly alert, he rose to his feet and shouted, “Amelia!”
No answer came, nor was there any sign of another person within sight or earshot.
He surveyed the silent forest. Hazy beams of sunlight shone through the trees, casting long shadows on the ground. The new day seemed to be creeping up on him, moving surreptitiously along the mossy floor of the wood.
“Amelia!” he shouted a second time, striding forward more insistently into the mist, but hiscallreturned only as an echo.
No, she wouldn’t have.…
But yes, he knew that she had. “Fookin’hell.”
Within minutes, he had saddled Turner, packed up the camp, and was shoving his axe into the saddle scabbard. He swung himself up onto Turner’s back.
“Yah!” Duncan shouted, urging Turner into a gal op toward the edge of the forest, then to the southern fields beyond.
What time had she fled the camp? Duncan wondered anxiously. Had she reached the castle yet? And what if Bennett was there and had already issued orders to hunt down the infamous Butcher, who was in the immediate vicinity? Duncan might not even reach the castle gates before he was overtaken by enemy soldiers, and then what would he do?
Damn her. Damn her straight tohell. He should never have taken her from FortWilliam, because now the only thing he cared about was getting her back. He didn’t care if Richard Bennett lived or died—only that he would never touch Amelia again.
In light of the current circumstances, Duncan could see only one way to accomplishallof those things. He kicked in his heels and rode hard toward Moncrieffe.
Chapter Fourteen
After an initial ordeal of terror and imprisonment,followedby a confusing and overpowering lust for her captor, that particular morning was the worst.
