Page 30 of Bound to a Warrior
He shook his head. He’d coupled with enough women, but made love? Now there was the question. Was he feeling more toward this woman than he realized? He didn’t know and he didn’t know if he wanted to know. All he knew at the moment was that in a strange sense he felt as if she belonged to him and an even crazier thought, he belonged to her.
He needed to be free of her, if he was to make sense of any of this. So he needed to concentrate on getting them home. Then he could put some distance between them and see what happened. Why then did he get a punch to his gut every time he thought of being separated from her?
This whole ordeal was making him crazy. It was time to get back home and attend to his mission. He had no time to fall in love.
Fall in love?
He couldn’t possibly be falling in love. Could he?
He shook his head. He had to get home and be ready to do whatever was necessary for their mission. He and his friends had to see about getting the rightful king on the throne. They had been pledged to the task since they were young. It was their task in life. They had trained for it and he was proud to be part of it. Once it was done, then he could think about love, marriage and family. But now was not the time?
But could he make love to her and let her go?
Damn, he didn’t need this now. He needed to concentrate on the matters at hand and to make certain he did that, he couldn’t kiss her. He knew as surely as the sun rose each day, if he kissed Mercy he’d want more. And it wasn’t only coupling he was thinking about.
“Duncan.”
Mercy whispered his name as she moved closer to him and he saw the look of concern in her wide eyes.
“I hear something.”
Duncan stopped, took her hand, and after assessing their surroundings as best as he could through the mist, walked to a small cropping of trees and took shelter among them.
“What did you hear?” He kept his voice to a murmur.
“Voices.” Her voice quivered with fear.
“Are you sure?”
She shook her head.
He grumbled beneath his breath annoyed that he hadn’t been paying attention. That was why he couldn’t give a woman thought right now. It was imperative he remained alert, not only to this situation, but to his mission. Otherwise they could very well die, or the mission he had trained so very hard for could fail.
He kept his voice low. “We’ll listen for a few minutes and see if we hear anything.”
She nodded and he felt her fingers latch more tightly to his.
They waited, the mist making it more difficult to see anything. They had to rely on their hearing and stillness spoke loudly. Not a bird cried out, nor did an animal scurry. For some reason the forest was on alert.
Duncan placed a finger to his lips and Mercy nodded.
They heard it then, footfalls and none too light, which meant possibly more than one person.
“I heard something, I tell you.”
“Shut up.” Someone scolded harshly.
Silence immediately followed.
Duncan wondered how many soldiers were out there. A pair or more? Whatever waited for them, defending themselves would prove difficult being shackled together.
The footfalls grew closer and then stopped. Duncan again pressed his finger to his lips and Mercy nodded. He was glad she understood it was not only silence he sought from her but no movement as well. The smallest rustle and the soldiers would be on them.
They waited, for how long neither knew, though it seemed an endless amount of time, and finally, hearing nothing, Duncan signaled Mercy to follow him. Her brow furrowed and her eyes widened as if questioning his decision.
He squeezed her hand to reassure her and signaled for them to move again. This time she didn’t hesitate, she followed. They both treaded cautiously, making as little sound as possible, still wary of what waited for them in the mist.
They had taken only a few steps when they collided with the two soldiers.
