If she had held a loom there would have been a tiny thread just bound between them. “You are the only one who knows, Callum MacCade.”
“You wish this to remain as such?”
“Very much,” she whispered.
“Consider it done.” Relief filled her bones. “There is nae shame in who you are, Nella.”
His eyes held no discord; he was being earnest.“You were always a joy to speak with, Callum,” she confessed. “’Tis an element I have missed most about you.” Why was she gushing like a smitten lassie? Where the hell was her pride? Resolve? Backbone? Two confessions and she was back being a nitwit! His thumb brushed her lips, and her breath halted. Was she doomed to faint at his feet once more?
“Nella, there is so very much I have missed about you.” His tone was same as a lover.Doomed!She was a goner for sure. Someone call for the fainting couch!
A rustling from the bramble broke the delicate thread as Sir Brayden emerged fastening his scabbard about the mail tunic. “Pardon for the delay. Shall we?”
Callum dropped his hand while she straightened her shoulders. A moment of weakness, nothing more on her part. Aye! Remain upon the accord set!
Callum’s arm snugged about her waist while he kneed Luss into a gallop. Why did it seem like everything just changed?She leaned her back against his torso – for the first time. His grip tightened. No fainting couch needed; she was going to faint right here in his embrace at his touch. No. It was exhaustion. It had to be!
Chapter 5
Whizz!The branches flew by his ears; the wind whipped his face as Callum snugged his arm about Nella’s waist. It seemed after no sleep and strained events a cost was claimed as she gave herself into exhaustion, slumbering for a long while.
If Brayden hadn’t appeared when he had, a kiss upon her lips would have been stolen. Then where would they be? No, it was better this way. He would see the traitors seized then he would make certain she was looked after somewhere safe of her choosing. Never would she fear uncertainty again. This he could give and give and give.
If the cruel husband had still drawn breath he would have seen to that –directly. Then her sire, he had never liked him, and no wonder his own sire never had either. Who the hell tells their daughter she is an instrument of Satan? What a complete piece of swine shite!
Nella tucked her temple closer under his neck, and with her wimple lost back in the mud at the abbey, the wispy tawny hairs tickled his throat. She felt… divine. The only Satan here was him. It felt complete sinful perfection having her weight in his arms again. In a blink he was back in the past and a smitten lad. A smitten lad who had turned more bitter than frost, almost costing him his two younger brothers then his clan then any semblance of existence all from being a complete… well, arsehole to those who had remained surrounding him.
It had taken him years of learning to breathe once more when Nella flashed his thoughts or even when the tiny task in pulling on his braise seemed too great a chore to conquer by the darkness looming over him. No, it was sensible remaining as he was. He had his standing at court, knights and guards beneath his command, and the respect of the king. Then why did it all now seem hollow?
“How did you know I was there?” Her gentle voice broke his thoughts. Luss picked up a step when his calves tightened at discovering her awake.
“On the fringes of the abbey?” he murmured.
“Aye.” The breathy way she spoke the reply, how he missed that! His palm tightened on her waist.
“The wind shifted direction. When the ash gave way to a fresh scent from herbs, I knew it was not only the pine forest in the distance.”
“Hhmm.”
She purred the word. This was going to be more than complicated in staying away from her.
“The arrow. In our times past you were a master with the bow. Was the sentiment you spoke true at the abbey? Were you aiming for the tree?”
“Aye.” It was the truth. If he had hit her accidentally… His fingers turned into a vice. He hadn’t. She was safe here in his embrace.
“Callum?”
“Aye?”
“I cannot breathe.”
Fuk! He loosened his grip. “Pardon.”
She readjusted her weight against him while her legs lay across Luss’s left wither. His whole body tightened same as the stone they rode past. Hopeless, it was hopeless; he was done for! He was tasked at halting the raiders who endangered Scotlandturning back into war against the Kingdom of Norway yet all he wished was to take Nella somewhere only for them; to taste her… Dammit, he was the captain of the king’s guard – he should act as such!
One more stride she began leaning her head a bit toward her left shoulder. She heard something. Like a doe, she adjusted her head which adjusted her ear to pick up on the sound. How the hell had he missed that all those times with her? Well, he was more taken with her gaze and sway of her hips when she walked and…
“Callum.” Her words for his ears alone broke into his carnal considerations. “Something dire is unfolding. I…” His stomach clenched when an expression crossed her features as if the reaper had bolted from the treescape. “There are cries from fear alongside a crackle same as at the abbey from flames.” His eyes burst wide. Her prowess was unmatched!
