Page 20 of Moon Awakening

Regardless, Emily was glad she and Cait planned to escape before getting on the boat. The sea was not exactly calm. Waves crashed against rocks a good distance from the shore and she had no desire to be in a boat amidst such awesome movement of the deep, dark water. She had no desire to be in a boat at all.

She had grown adept at hiding her terror of the water, but it was there inside her, a dark force that would consume her as surely as the murky depths.

"Eat this." Drustan held an oat cake and apple toward Cait.

She shook her head.

"The babe needs nourishment."

As much as she hated to, Emily agreed with the warrior. "Eat, Cait. He's right."

Cait took the food and bit into the apple.

Drustan handed a similar offering to Emily in silence. She accepted it without a word. If they were going to run, they had to keep their strength up.

She took one bite of the oat cake and realized why Cait had chosen to eat her apple first. The bread tasted like wood, but she choked it down. She immediately took a bite from her apple to clear the awful taste from her mouth.

She looked at Cait and grimaced. The other woman laughed.

"What is so amusing?" Drustan asked.

Cait lost her smile. "Emily doesn't seem to like the oatcake."

"It is merely that the flavor took me by surprise," Emily hedged, not wanting to be rude even amidst her enemies and then got angry with herself for caring whether or not she offended them.

They bloody well deserved to be offended.

"I don't like them either," Cait assured her. "Only warriors lack taste enough to find them palatable."

"That doesn't surprise me," Emily said with asperity.

They finished the repast quickly despite its unappetizing nature.

"Come here, English." It was Lachlan. He was twenty feet away, standing by the boat that looked much too small to transport five giant warriors and two women anywhere across the water. He was so close to the edge, he was practically standing in the water.

She had no desire to get that close to the sea. "My name is Emily, not English."

The big warrior just shrugged. And waited.

She crossed her arms and gave him a look that told him he could wait until her father came calling from England. She wasn't getting that near to the water. She measured the distance to the horses out of the corner of her eye. If Drustan wasn't so close, they would have better luck escaping, but they had to try.

She turned to signal Cait, but she was too late. Without so much as a muscle twitch of warning, Drustan swung Cait up in his arms and headed toward the boat. She yelled and shoved against his chest, but he kept hold of her.

"Ulf," the laird said.

A second later, Emily found herself swung high in another warrior's arms and then thrown over his shoulder. It was the man who had said Talorc would thank Lachlan for stealing her because she was English. She immediately tried bucking out of his hold, but his grip tightened painfully across her thighs and she yelped.

His shoulder rammed her stomach with every step he took and she found it difficult to breathe. She was not happy about hanging upside down either. His backside was right there and she averted her face so she was at least looking at the ground. He felt different from Lachlan and she didn't want him holding her. Even briefly.

His glare had been filled with a malevolence she had not seen in Lachlan's eyes either.

"Put me down," she demanded when she could get enough breath, only to lose it again as she realized the warrior had walked right into the water.

He put her down all right… straight into the boat on a tiny seat beside Cait. The craft rocked dangerously and she gasped in fright. Drustan was in front of them and Ulf climbed into the boat behind them. He sat down right behind her, his hostile presence too close for comfort. She felt trapped and her body twitched with the need to get away from him.

The water was shallow here. She noticed his legs were only wet up to his knees. No matter how dark it looked, it was not deep. She must remember that. Emily pinched Cait lightly. It was now or never. Her friend dove out one side of the boat while Emily forced nausea-producing fear down so she could dive out the other. Ulf caught her by the skirt of her overtunic and held her hanging above the water.

The sound of splashing and Drustan's bellow told her Cait had been more successful.