So instead, she focused on remaining as still as possible so that Ewan could maneuver them.
Her entire body was tense and ready as they sped through the forest. His spirited horse flew through the trees easily, but she was terrified the brothers would catch them.
After a time, Ewan reined to a stop and turned to look behind them.
“Did we escape?” she asked, her voice high pitched from her fear and trepidation.
“I think so.” He hugged her close to him. “You were brilliant, Nora.”
“The horse was the easy part. You did the hard part, what with pulling the ring from the wall. Are you all right?”
“A bit sore, but damned glad you kept your wits about you.”
She smiled at his praise. “Were you expecting me to lose my wits, my lord?”
“Nay. I know you better than that.”
She was warmed by his words and wanted desperately to kiss him for it. And knew that she would as soon as they stopped.
She would kiss the poor man blind for everything.
Ewan led them through the woods, further away from the MacKaids.
“Shouldn’t we head back toward town?” she asked.
He shook his head. “They’ll be expecting us to do that. No doubt it’s where they went and they’ll be waiting for us. I say we go further north, then west before he head back toward Lochlan’s.”
It amazed her how much she trusted him.
How much she loved him.
He slowed the horse so that he could untie the belt from her hands and free her. Nora tried to return the favor, but his ropes were so tight that she couldn’t.
She gingerly touched the red welts on his wrists, some of which had already started bleeding. “It must hurt dreadfully.”
“I’ll live until we find some way to cut it off.”
“Do you not have the dagger in your boot?”
“Nay, I loaned it to Lysander and forgot to get it back.”
“‘Tis a pity,” but even as she spoke those words, she frowned. Ewan looked a bit pale and he was perspiring quite a bit.
Attributing it to his exertion at the wall and their close escape, she leaned back against him and let him lead them to safety.
They didn’t stop until nightfall.
Ewan removed his arms from around her and helped her down as best he could.
It wasn’t until he slid from the back of the horse that she saw the bright red stain on his clothes. It looked like blood. A lot of blood.
Nora’s heart stopped at the sight. Surely he wasn’t injured. If he were, he would have mentioned it.
Wouldn’t he?
And yet there was a pinched paleness to his handsome features. He was still perspiring and she noticed the uneasy way he moved. There was no sign of the lethal grace she was used to seeing from her giant.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the stain.
