Page 122 of Bound to a Warrior
“Need I remind you that there is no way in hell I’m going to let you hurt Mercy ever again?”
“I have no intentions of hurting my daughter,” her father said. “It is you who will suffer until she gives me what I want and then you both will meet death together.”
Duncan swept Mercy into his arms, and though it looked as if he kissed her, he actually whispered in her mouth.
“Grab your dagger; we run for it.”
They parted and she smiled. “I’m ready.”
With that, Mercy and Duncan moved so swiftly that chaos ensued. They both had daggers in their hands before the soldiers could reach them.
“Grab them, you fools,” her father shouted, but Mercy and Duncan wounded the two soldiers that charged them, which caused the other soldiers to approach more cautiously.
Their hesitation gave Duncan and Mercy the time they needed to run and they did. They took off through the woods like arrows being shot from a bow.
“Don’t stop,” Duncan warned.
And Mercy didn’t. She kept pace with him, ducking out of the way of branches, jumping over fallen logs and not slowing down even to look back and see if the soldiers were gaining on them.
They traveled at such speed that when they broke through the trees and saw they approached the edge of a cliff, they didn’t have time to stop. They went straight over.
The two soldiers halted just in time, though it was the one who lagged behind who prevented the other from going over the edge by grabbing his shirt and yanking him back.
The two stared over the edge and watched the couple plunge into the raging river below.
Duncan instantly wrapped his arms around Mercy as they plummeted down to the river. She, in turn, tucked her head against his chest, though not before telling him…
“I carry your child.”
“Now you tell me,” he yelled and did all he could to wrap himself around her and protect her and his child from the fall.
They hit the water and plunged down, and Duncan immediately went to wrap his arm around Mercy to help her swim to the surface. To his surprise she pushed his hand away and began swimming to the top, and he joined her. With them both working together, they surfaced in no time. And together they made it to the bank of the river not far away.
“Our child?” Duncan asked when finally they stood on the bank, his hand splaying across Mercy’s stomach.
“Aye, our child,” she said and shivered.
“We need to get you home and warm in bed,” Duncan said.
“How I wish, but we are too far—”
Duncan shook his head. “Do you really think my brothers would let me come entirely alone?”
Mercy looked around. “But there is no one here.”
“There will be soon enough. My men watched from a distance and they will see what has happened and come for us.”
And they did, and with dry clothes, blankets and horses.
They made it home by nightfall and retired to their bedchamber shortly after their arrival, after informing everyone that they were fine. They cared naught about the shackles. Tomorrow was soon enough to be rid of them. Tonight they simply wanted to be together, to hold each other, touch each other, love each other.
With hot cider heating their innards and their naked bodies keeping them warm, they snuggled together beneath the blankets. Though it wasn’t long before simple touches turned desirous and passion claimed them.
It was a gentle mating, soft and considerate for all Mercy had been through, though when he slipped into her, she took over the pace and they were soon lost in a frantic joining that had them exploding with an intensity and had them both calling out each other’s names.
They laughed afterward and cuddled close.
“I can’t believe I’m to be a father,” Duncan said, his hand resting gently on her stomach.
