Page 15 of Bound to a Warrior
“Love lasts forever.”
Again she startled, though didn’t recover as quickly. “You truly believe that?”
“Don’t you?”
She shrugged. “Men love when it’s convenient for them.”
“Not all men.”
“You have never told a woman you loved her for the sake of the moment?” she asked.
“No. Never,” he answered tersely. “There is only one woman I will pledge my love to and that is the woman I take as my wife. She will be my partner, my lover, my mate for life. I will love no other but her, and she will love no other but me.”
“Then she will certainly be a lucky woman,” Mercy said.
“And I will be a lucky man.”
She leaned forward, closer to him, nervously chewing at her bottom lip as if she was uncertain to reveal something, so he was rather disappointed when she said, “You’re right. We better get going.”
“I’ll tend your feet,” he said, reaching for the sack that had held their food.
Mercy took the sack from him and began tearing off a strip. “I can manage it myself.”
He would have protested, but she looked determined and there was no time to argue. They truly did need to get started.
When she finished, he noticed that she winced when she slipped her boots on and it bothered him to know that the day’s journey might prove painful for her.
She held up the sack. “I just took some off the top edge. This way the sack is still useful to us.”
Duncan snatched the blanket up, folded it, then shoved it in the sack. “How are your feet?”
“They will do fine.”
He had to smile at her determination. “You’ll let me know if they become too painful.”
She was about to respond when an unfamiliar noise startled them both. Duncan motioned for her to remain silent and she nodded.
Suddenly a hare hopped into their lair so fast that Mercy would have screeched if Duncan hadn’t clamped his hand over her mouth. He cautioned silence with wide eyes and a shake of his head. For an animal to scurry in fright could mean only one thing…something chased it.
“You fool, you missed it,” a male voice chastised.
“It’s around here somewhere. I’ll get it,” said the other man with gruff irritation.
“It’s long gone and I’m long hungry,” the other fellow complained. “Now let’s do what I said and get us some fish to fill our empty bellies.”
Duncan removed his hand from Mercy’s mouth and leaned forward to peer through the brushes as best he could without stirring them. The hare remained where he had landed as if he sensed it was a safe spot.
“I’m telling you the two are dead,” the one said. “I don’t know why we have to waste time looking for dead people.”
“You want to tell the king that?”
The man must have shaken his head since the one fellow spoke again.
“Fine. Then let’s get our bellies fed.”
“No need to hurry,” the man complained. “The dead ones aren’t going anywhere.”
Their footfalls finally faded to nothing, but Duncan and Mercy, along with the hare, remained perfectly still and silent. None of them wanted to take the chance of being caught. Finally, the hare made the first move, hopping off.
