Page 2 of Bound to a Warrior
Duncan silently cursed himself for not acting sooner.
“Choose,” the other soldier said. “A sword through you to send you over or—” He laughed as the other man joined in. “Or jump. It’s death that will be greeting you either way.”
“But we want to be fair and let you choose,” the heavier of the two said with a snicker.
Duncan gave a glance over the edge. It was a long, deep drop to the turbulent river below that would either swallow you up or spit you out. On his own he’d have a chance; a slim one, but a chance. Two shackled together, one a mere wisp of a woman, was not good odds.
“Figured it out, have you?” the one asked with a grin.
Duncan wanted to strangle the man. The woman obviously understood his snide remark, since he could feel her body tremble beside him. However, once again he had to admire her courage, though he was beginning to believe it was more tenacity, for she took firm hold of his hand and raised her chin.
“I’m ready.”
The two soldiers snorted with laughter, but Duncan realized that she was letting him know that she could do this. She was ready to survive.
Duncan, knowing a slim chance was better than no chance at all, bowed his head to the two men who continued to snicker. He then hooked his arm around the woman’s slim waist and yanked her hard against him. Strange that at a moment like this when death could be a hair’s breath away he should notice that she molded so perfectly to his body, almost as if she had been created for him and him alone. It made him want to protect her even more and pray that they would survive.
“Hold on and don’t let go,” he ordered and without hesitation he stepped off the edge, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around her.
She buried her face against his chest as he continued to keep her pressed against him. They tumbled for what seemed like forever to their deaths, or would it be to the rescuing arms of the river?
They hit the water feet first and submerged to a good depth. He released his hold on her and gestured toward the surface, and then he immediately began swimming in that direction. She followed his lead, her slender arms pumping as fast as she could, though unable to match his mighty strokes.
Her effort, while valiant, hampered his attempts. And he soon wrapped his arm around her waist and with one hand swam to the surface. She gasped for breath and sputtered and coughed while he kept an arm around her waist and managed to easily regain control of his breathing.
The cliff was a sheer wall of rock from river to sky and it appeared to travel horizontally for as far as he could see, leaving no river bank they could swim to.
They had no choice but to keep swimming.
The woman seemed to struggle and he yelled to her, “Easy or you’ll sink us.”
Her head disappeared beneath the rough water and he yanked her up.
She sputtered and struggled to speak until finally she spit out, “I can’t swim.”
Duncan quickly wrapped his right shackled arm, taking her left shackled one with him, beneath her breast, leaving his left arm free to keep swimming. He couldn’t believe that she had the audacity to jump off that cliff knowing that she couldn’t swim. Or had she trusted him enough to save her?
Finally he spotted a small section of riverbank and swam toward it. He feared that the strong current would rush them right past it, and to his surprise, as he reached for a rock jutting out from the shore, the woman did so as well.
Her extra effort helped sustain their hold there, giving Duncan a chance to catch a good breath. He then managed to get them both to shore where they collapsed on the muddy bank.
While summer was in its waning days, the nights grew chilled, especially this far north in the Highlands. They would need to get a fire going and get dried or else a fever was sure to finish what the river had started.
“We need to get moving,” Duncan said and stood, though was prevented from rising all the way since the woman didn’t follow.
She sat up, giving slack to the chain so that he could straighten some, and she placed her hand to her chest.
He was amazed at the way her creamy wet skin sparkled from her dunk in the river and her blue eyes were a more brilliant blue, if that was possible. Damn, but he couldn’t believe he continued to be captivated by her after she almost drowned him.
She patted her chest and barely managed to say, “Mercy.”
He was surprised that she begged when she had shown such bravery. “I know you’re probably exhausted from your ordeal, but this is no time for rest.”
She shook her head and patted her chest again. “Mercy. My name is Mercy.”
He went down on his haunches with a twinge of guilt for having doubted her courage, and with a smile introduced himself. “Duncan. Duncan MacAlpin.”
“Thank you, Duncan MacAlpin, for saving my life.”
