Page 6 of Bound to a Warrior
He reached out, grabbed hold of her and brought her into the warmth and safety of his arms once again. “We need to do this fast and settle next to the fire for the night.”
She nodded, knowing he was right and anxious to be done with it, for then she would remain in the heat of his arms for the whole night.
They set to work, her thoughts no longer on the cold, or their nakedness, but on the task at hand. First, they arranged a sizable bed of leaves for a sleeping pallet. Then she helped him spread their clothes around the fire.
“Branches,” he said.
She scrunched her brow, not understanding.
“We’ll use them as a blanket.”
She nodded and followed him.
They didn’t go far from the fire and he ordered her to stand back as far as the chain would allow. She watched as he reached up and easily broke a large branch from a towering evergreen. He turned to break another and her glance fell on the muscles hunching in his back as he broke the branch with one forceful snap.
She noticed then that though wide, his waist narrowed just enough to define the sheer beauty of his form and his backside rounded thick and firm, while long muscled legs followed, completing the mighty size of him.
He turned and she had a clear view of him. Thick, tight muscles were everywhere. There was no doubt he was a strong warrior and a generously endowed man.
With no more time, nor wise to dally in such thoughts, she bent along with him to help with the branches and together they dragged them to the campfire.
“We’ll need to stay wrapped around each other,” he said as they both lowered themselves to the leaf pallet.
She nodded and didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation of his outspread arms. She snuggled against him. And then working together they spread the two wet garments beyond the shackles. They had made certain the garments would be close to the campfire in hopes that by morning they would be dry.
Duncan then reached for the branches on the ground beside him and covered them, the leaves a bit prickly against their skin. He draped his legs over hers, forcing her closer against him. She didn’t object. She needed his heat as surely as he needed hers.
She wasn’t surprised when after a few minutes she felt him grow large against her and she raised her head from the crook of his shoulder to look up at him.
“He has a mind of his own when I have a beautiful woman in my arms,” he said with that rumbling tone that was growing familiar and comfortable to her. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him bother you.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you for the compliment and for your chivalry.”
Laughter tickled her ear. “Chivalry only goes so far, so we need to get this chain off fast.”
While he teased, she also knew he warned and he was right. They couldn’t remain shackled long. After all, he was a man and a man had needs, as her mother had often explained in more detail than she had cared to hear.
But then her mother’s needs had been just as ravenous as a man’s and had been the cause of her own tragic downfall. Unfortunately, with her mother’s downfall came Mercy’s.
“Perhaps tomorrow we’ll come across a croft where we can seek help,” she suggested.
“We’ll need to be careful. The farmers will fear retaliation from the king’s men if they help those in chains.”
“I didn’t think of that,” she said. “What then do we do?”
“We’ll scout the area and see what we can find. If it doesn’t look safe we’ll need to make it to my people.”
“How far is that?”
“A week’s travel without any incidents,” he said.
“A week?” she asked apprehensively.
He smiled a half-smile. “I’ll behave if you will.”
While the one corner of his mouth turned up in a smile, the scar in the other corner appeared a constant frown as if he continued to warn, and she would do well to remember that there were two sides to their dilemma.
“I’ll do my best,” she said with her own gentle smile.
