Page 38 of Bound to a Warrior
“But I do,” she said and raised her head to meet his dark eyes. For a moment she stared speechless into those dark absorbing depths that so keenly expressed his profound concern. And her heart swelled with the magnitude of his compassion, or was it more than that? There was something…something in his eyes she couldn’t quite understand, though felt the need to.
“Why?” he asked with a shake of his head.
She realized then that they both had stood speechless, staring at one another until finally Duncan had snapped out of whatever had hold of them and had spoken.
“It teaches me how to survive,” she said with a bravado that wasn’t quite as courageous as it sounded.
“I told you that you will survive, I will make sure of it,” he said sternly, as if annoyed she doubted him.
She placed her hand to his chest and spoke softly. “And I will make certain you survive. Remember we work well together.”
He smiled and chuckled, jingling the chain. “I couldn’t do it without you.”
“That you couldn’t,” she agreed with her own smile.
Duncan walked her away from the lifeless body, but not from the protection of the boulders. “We need to be extra vigilant.”
“How is it that only one soldier found us?”
“He’s probably a scout that covers their rear and somehow caught wind of us,” he explained. “Once he doesn’t return they will send others to search for him.”
“Which means the area will be swarming with soldiers soon enough.”
“A good reason for us to take cover and travel no further today,” he said.
“I know it might be more difficult, but perhaps we should consider traveling at night.”
“Traveling the woods and land at night can be treacherous.”
“It appears traveling during the day is just, if not more, deadly,” she said and could tell by the squint of his brow that he was considering the suggestion.
“It would take us more time.”
“Want to be rid of me so soon?” she teased.
He leaned down, their noses almost touching. “I want this chain off and then…”
There was no misunderstanding the fiery passion in his eyes and suddenly she felt that for the moment it was better they were shackled together.
“We better go,” she said.
He gave her a quick kiss. “You’re right. We need to get out of this area and find a place to rest until dusk.”
Carefully, they made their way out of their hiding spot and when relatively certain no one lurked about, they darted across the path they had traveled and disappeared into the woods hoping to take a wide berth around the contingent of soldiers that continued on the road not far ahead.
Travel soon grew burdensome as they attempted to forge a path through the dense woods. How they would be able to accomplish the same feat at night was a question that troubled Mercy. But then her accomplishments had been many since being shackled to Duncan and time and again she was grateful for his presence.
She nearly tripped on a fallen branch, though caught herself quick enough. She silently admonished herself for not concentrating on her steps. She had to be ever watchful of each and every step she took. And so she turned her attention to what was important and silenced the endless chatter in her head.
Mercy wanted to shout out her joy when Duncan finally stopped a few hours later. They had not taken a minute’s rest and lord, could she use a minute, or a few, maybe an hour or two.
“You’re worn out,” he said glancing down at her.
She wanted to be courageous and deny the truth, but she simply couldn’t. She was bone-weary from all that had taken place today and she needed a small reprieve, to refresh and grow strong once again.
“Aye, that I am,” she admitted.
He smiled. “I’m glad you admitted it, for I feel the same myself.”
