Steady footfalls at her back, like a quiet rhythm gaining momentum.
Una ran faster.
***
CORMAC HAD HER DIRECTIONwithin three strides of leaving the roadside.
The reeds at the edge of the ditch were still trembling, bent in a clear arc pointing northeast.A single small shoe print was pressed deep into the soft bank where she had pushed off hard.She had chosen well, threading away from where his men were and cutting into the densest part of the canopy, where the undergrowth would drag at a larger man.She had good instincts.He would give her that.
His mask had come half-loose in the scramble, so he tucked it inside his plaid without breaking stride.He did not call after her.He simply moved through the woods like a shadow.
He knew Seumas and his men would track them both from a distance.What he feared most was the lass hurting herself in unfamiliar terrain.Cormac had witnessed sure-footed men fall to their deaths from ravines, or break bones and tear flesh in tumbles.The thought of her running blind through these woods made his chest tighten.And as he tracked her, he realized she had changed direction, most likely to lose him.That brought a different fear.The mercenaries were close, and she was running directly toward them without knowing it.
Cormac pushed harder until he caught the swish of her gown against bracken.Were it not for his acute hearing, he would have missed it entirely – her breathing was controlled and steady, her footsteps light.She was running with her wits about her.Under any other circumstances he might have paused to properly admire it.
Then he caught a flash of sage green between two dark trunks, and he knew he had her.
Una sensed him at the same moment.She glanced back over her shoulder – the first mistake she had made – and her eyes went wide when she saw how close he already was.
"No!"she gasped, and veered sharply left.
Cormac adjusted without thinking, cutting wide to intercept rather than follow.She was quick, and she nearly made it past him.She burst from behind a broad oak directly into his path, and he caught her around the waist mid-stride, one arm locking across her middle as her momentum nearly sent them both into the bracken.
For a fraction of a second, everything stopped.
She had her hands braced against his chest and her head up, ready to fight – and then she saw his face.
The half-mask was gone.She had registered that in the abstract but not properly, not like this, with his face bare and close and the afternoon light falling across it without obstruction.She stared.She could not immediately help it.He was...quite extraordinarily braw.Strong jaw, dark lashes, features that were beyond handsome – sharper, more serious, the kind of face that had been tanned by the sun and was all the better for it.She had been thinking of him as a masked unknown, but unmasked he was something to behold.
He was watching her gaze at his face.
Cormac registered the widening of her eyes, the moment of shock before she gathered herself.He had no time to examine what he thought about it.More pressing matters awaited.
Once he had hold of her, the tightening in his chest eased, and he could not fathom why.But the moment was lost when she suddenly fought like a wildcat.Elbows back, heels driving, a stream of curses directed at him.He cursed in turn, got his footing, tightened his grip, and made his decision.
He bent, got a shoulder under her middle, and hoisted her off the ground.
"Put me down, ye heathen!"she shrieked.
"Calm down or ye'll hurt yerself," Cormac growled, and turned back the way he'd come with her over his shoulder.
"I swear to all the saints, if ye do nae put me down this instant I will—"
"Ye'll what?"he asked, with extreme patience given that she was presently trying to bite him through his plaid.
He gave her backside a firm smack."Stop that.If ye want to bite me, at least wait till we're both naked!"he said with a grin.
She made a noise of pure incandescent fury and went back to kicking until Cormac gripped her thighs.She began to pound his back with her fists, which felt to him like light taps.
"Ye'll have to do better than that, lass, if ye mean to escape me again," he snorted.He couldn't help but smirk when she muttered curses under her breath.
"Now ye listen here, Mr.Shadow.If ye dinnae let me go, I'll make sure ye live to regret it!"
"Och, trust me, beauty.I regret it already," he replied.
Una stilled.No one had ever called her that before.She had to admit she liked it – then mentally slapped herself for such vanity."Put me down, ye brute!"
"No, ye violent wench.Get used to my shoulder for now."
