Margaret Mallory - The Sinner

Alex stood and, taking his time, met the eyes of every man around the fire. Then he whipped his claymore out so fast it was a blur. Glynis felt the tension of the men as they exchanged glances and silently debated which of them would take on this bold stranger. She prayed Alex knew what he was doing.

Alex swung his claymore through the fire several times, back and forth. At first he did it with both hands, and then he shifted the heavy blade from hand to hand as he sliced it through the fire in smooth, deadly arcs.

After this display, he stood in front of Glynis and said, “No one touches her.”

Glynis swallowed. She suddenly felt very warm. When Alex sat down next to her again, she could feel the power rolling off him.

He turned and spoke to her in a low, commanding voice. “You’ll sleep with me.”

CHAPTER 12

That was not how Glynis had imagined Alex would ask her to lie with him—not that she had imagined it, of course. But if she had, it would most definitely have involved kissing her as he had against the castle wall. His mouth hungry, his hands urgent. His voice rough with desire.

I must have ye, Glynis. I don’t want anyone but you.

Glynis shook her head to clear it. By all the saints, what was she thinking? Alex was not the sort of man who wanted only one woman. All the same, when Alex lay down behind her and pulled her against him, she let herself pretend, just for a moment, that he was whispering in her ear, I want ye badly. Only you.

The arm around her held a dirk.

“I’ll wake ye when it’s time,” he said.

He thought she could sleep? Between waiting for the Campbells to slice her throat and having Alex’s body wrapped around hers, that seemed an unlikely prospect. She lay wide awake listening to Alex’s breathing as the others settled down around the campfire. Despite Catherine’s complaints, the Campbell warriors had insisted that she make her bed far from the “strangers.”

“They have two men keeping watch by the horses,” Alex whispered in her ear. “I’ll take them first and then come back for ye.”

Before Glynis could say no, he was gone without a sound. How would he subdue both guards? And even if he managed that, surely he would startle the horses and wake the other men.

What was she doing, waiting here to be murdered or worse?

She nearly shrieked when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find Alex squatting beside her. How had he returned so quickly? He put his finger to his lips and motioned for her to come with him.

The snores and snorts of the sleeping men seemed unnaturally loud, as did every twig under her feet. With each step, she expected to hear a shout behind her. But the angels must have been watching over them, for none of the Campbell men awoke. When she and Alex were thirty yards from the camp, Glynis heard a horse’s neigh. In the darkness, she made out the outline of two horses. One of them nickered and trotted toward them.

“Ah, Buttercup, there’s a good horse,” Alex said in a low voice, as he rubbed the horse’s forelock. The other horse followed and nudged Alex with its nose. “Now, don’t be jealous, Rosebud.”

“Ye know these horses?” Glynis asked.

“We just met,” Alex said. “’Tis a long journey overland from here to Edinburgh so we’re borrowing them from the Campbells.”

“But if we steal their horses, they’ll be after us for sure.”

“We should hurry,” Alex said in a calm voice, as he rubbed the second horse. “Do ye know how to ride?”

The saints preserve her. “Aye, but—”

Without waiting for her to finish, he lifted her up onto the horse, which was already saddled, and handed her the reins. “We can talk on the way.”

“Which horse am I on?”

“I named that one Rosebud,” he said, as he swung up on the other one. “Be good to her.”

“I’ve never ridden in the dark before.”

“We’ll ride slowly,” Alex said as he moved his horse into the lead. “Just give Rosebud her head, and you’ll be fine.”

“What if the Campbells chase us?” she asked.

“Their first duty is to get their chieftain’s sister safely to Inveraray, so they probably won’t,” Alex said over his shoulder. “And I scattered the other horses.”

After what seemed like a couple of hours, Alex dismounted and led their horses across a creek. Then he lifted her down from her mount.

“We’ll sleep here, where we’ll be hidden by these bushes,” he said.

“Shouldn’t we get farther away?”

“We have a good lead on the Campbells, and they won’t be able to look for their horses until daylight,” Alex said. “Besides, it’s dangerous to ride in the dark.”

Dangerous to ride in the dark? Glynis stood with her arms crossed while Alex rolled out two blankets.

“We must rest while we can,” he said, as he lay down on one of them. “We’ll need to be moving again at first light.”

Glynis lay down on the other blanket, facing him.

“Did ye sleep when the fishermen left us at their camp today?” she asked.

“Of course not.”

“How did ye do that with the horses?” she asked.

“I just have a way with horses,” he said in a fading voice. “I always have.”

Just like he had a way with women.

* * *

“Time to be on our way,” Alex said after they ate their cold breakfast in the predawn light.

He couldn’t understand why Glynis seemed surprised that he had collected the dried beef, cheese, and oatcakes from their boat before he got the horses last night. Did she want to go hungry?

He was anxious to put more distance between them and the Campbells. There had been no point in worrying her last night, but he was not as certain as he pretended that none of the Campbells would follow them.

Glynis rolled up the blankets and packed away the food while he saddled the horses.

“Traveling across other clans’ lands is dangerous with just two of us,” Alex said, as he lifted her onto Rosebud’s back. “I don’t want ye out of my sight, understand?”

Glynis fixed him with her serious gaze and nodded.

They rode steadily for hours. Though Alex saw no one behind them, twice he had to quickly pull their horses off the path to avoid meeting other travelers. Because of Glynis, he couldn’t take any risks.

To pass the time, he told her stories. Glynis liked the one about how Ian fell in love with his wife Sìleas best, judging by all the questions she asked.

“Ian left her for five years after they wed?” she asked.

“Ach, he didn’t take it well, being forced to say vows with a dirk at his back,” Alex said. “And he blamed Sìleas for it.”

“I’m glad their story ended happily,” Glynis said with a soft smile.

“Do ye need to stop and stretch your legs?” he asked, but she shook her head. “For a lass with a sour disposition, ye don’t complain much.”

“It’s my stepmother who says I’m sour.” Glynis heaved a sigh. “And it’s true I do complain when she expects me to sit indoors doing needlework for hours.”

“Well, ye are a fine traveling companion,” he told her. “Ye have several advantages over the ones I usually travel with.”

“I do?”

“For one thing, ye are prettier to look at than my cousins and Duncan,” he said. “And for another, ye haven’t heard all of my stories before.”

On the other hand, if he were traveling with one of them, he wouldn’t have to dive off the path like a frightened Lowlander every time a group of warriors was headed their way.

“Ye have a gift for storytelling,” Glynis said with a faint blush. “I wouldn’t mind if ye told them to me more than once.”

“You’ll regret those words,” he said, and laughed. “We have a long journey ahead of us, and I’ve only got three days of stories.” Of course, Alex had a good many more that he couldn’t tell her.