Page 26 of Bound to a Warrior
Step by careful step, they climbed and, as before, the terrain turned rocky and more treacherous. Duncan paused when they reached the spot where he had previously lost his grip. He looked around and was more watchful of the rocks he chose to grab.
His hand latched on to a sturdy rock when he heard the rumble of falling rocks below, and he instantly tightened his grip on the ragged stone and locked his fingers with Mercy’s just as she lost her footing.
“Duncan!”
Her frightened scream tore at his heart, but his firm grip stopped her from falling too far and from taking him with her.
“I’ve got you,” he reassured her with a shout. “Find a firm footing.”
More rocks went crumbling and he knew that the hill was protesting their presence. It had had enough of their trespassing and wanted them gone. It was a strange thought to some, but not to those who knew the land.
“Stay still,” he yelled. “I’m going to pull you up.”
She weighed little. It was no struggle at all to pull her up beside him. As soon as he did, her free arm wrapped around the back of his neck, and she tucked her head beneath his chin, resting her face in the curve of his neck.
Her chest heaved, her slim body trembled and she clung to him for dear life.
“Hold on, I’ll get us to the top,” he said.
“I can do it,” she reassured him, though he was well aware that she was trying to reassure herself.
“I know you can, but leave this to me.”
“If you insist,” she said, her voice quivering.
“I do,” he said, and almost kissed her forehead. He had no intentions of wasting his kiss on a reassuring peck. When he kissed her, she would remember it—and no doubt would he.
“Have we far to go?” she asked.
He glanced up at the distance and though not far, it was treacherous. Not wanting to add to her distress he said, “It’s a short distance. We’ll be there in no time.”
“Tell me how I can help.”
“Hold tight,” he said. “I’ll get us the rest of the way up.”
Her arm never left his neck. She remained locked firmly against him, and with brute strength he caught hold of rock after jutting rock, her shackled hand not much help, though she retained his rhythm as best she could as they climbed. With only inches from the top he swung her up past him and, with his hand to her bottom, he pushed her to safety and then joined her.
They lay side by side, hands joined, Duncan’s breathing labored.
“We made it,” she said in a rough whisper, almost as if she didn’t quite believe it.
His cough was more a laugh. “We have yet to climb down.”
She laughed, too, and turned to nestle in the crook of his arm. “Down has to be easier than up, especially if we take another tumble. At least then we’ll be at the bottom and not have to climb again.”
“No more climbing today,” he said, his arm settling around her and keeping her close. Close and safe. “We reach the bottom and we feast and rest.”
“You’ll not find me objecting.”
He turned so that their bodies faced. “Were you taught to be so agreeable?”
Her eyes sprung wide for a moment and then retreated to a natural flutter. “My circumstance taught me that objection could often prove futile and so I learned how to adapt.”
“As you do now shackled to me?”
“What else is there to do?” she asked. “But survive.”
He couldn’t help but notice how her eyes had turned such a brilliant blue, although it could have been that her long, curled, dark lashes intensified the color. Or was it that every inch of her face seemed to grow lovelier before his eyes? Her lips even appeared more plump than usual and of course more tempting to kiss. Or was it that he had the promise of a kiss on his mind?
