Gifts of Desire (16 page)

             
She
collided with
something hard.  She turned
quickly
and saw a man’s chest before her
,
and screamed
before she could stop herself
.  Then she looked up at his face. 
Ceann
.  She let out her breath, relieved beyond words.  Then
, in pure reaction to her fright,
she
drew her fist
and punched his arm as hard as she could.  “You scared me!
  I
told
you not to do that!
”
 
Letting out a harsh breath,
sh
e collapsed wearily
against him
.

Chapter 7

             
Ceann
felt his arms come up
instinctively
around her before he could stop them
.
 
Ella
.
 
She was battered and scratched and her
gown
was
torn
in a number of places
.  There were smudges of dirt on her face, and her chest heaved as if she had been running
some distance
.  She looked wild
and
…
beautiful
.
  He was so relieved to have her back
, more so than he wanted to admit
…
and then she
had
hit him
. 
No
lass had
ever hit him like that
, like she did
. 
As if she could do any damage to him with her wee fist. 
He wanted to smile, but kept his face
carefully
blank. 
She still leaned against him,
her breath coming fast,
and in truth it felt so good he could probably
have
stay
ed like that
forever, but instead he took her by the arms and held her away so he could look down at her face.
He struggled to keep a cold distance, so she would not know he had been worried. 
Worried, like a man who cared. 
Bloody h
ell
. 
“Where have
you
been lass?”
he asked
stern
ly.

             
She looked
up at him, her mouth slightly open in an expression of incredulity, her eyes sparking
in sudden anger
.
 
“Where have I been?  I am kidnapped and locked up and barely manage to escape
with my life
and
you
ask me
where I’ve been
?”  She
aimed her fist at him
again,
but he caught her by the wrist b
efore she could use it on him.
She pulled her hand away with an outraged growl. 
Behind him, he heard
Ethan’s
amused snort.  He shot him a glare over his shoulder.
He had forgotten Ethan was even there.  Ethan
,
and thirty other men.  He
turned bac
k to the
lass
before him
.
 
“We
ha
ve
been searching for
you
, from the moment we
returned and
knew you were missing
…”
 
I was so scared…
and I don’t understand why. 
I’ve never felt scared like that before…
and I didn’t like it at all!

             
She
scowled
up
at him. “Of course
you
were
looking for me
.  It seems everyone wants me as their unwilling guest
lately
.
 
You
mig
ht have asked me if I’m alright!
”
 
With a huff, s
he moved past him and took Eth
an’s arm.  “Take me back to
Tulloch
Ethan
.  I’ve had a very long day and I’m tired.”

             
Ethan took her arm and led her towards their horses.  He gently pushed back her hair and examined her face.  “Are
you
alright lass?”  He threw a smug look
back
at
Ceann
.

             
“Aye,
thank
you
, Ethan.”  She clung more tightly to his arm. 

             
Behind them,
Ceann
glared
mightily
.  He felt
a strange tightening
in his chest
when she took Eth
an’s arm.  But then, he had not offered her his own.  What should it matter to him that she was on another man’s arm?  She was not his, nor did he want
a woman,
any
woman
.
 
What he wanted was…
to punch Ethan in the face.
 

             
H
e did not know what possessed him when they reached the horses and he heard himself say
,
“She rides with me.” 
If Ethan was surprised
,
he did not show it, but merely
nodded and
handed her
over
to
him
.  He wasted no time in tossing her up into the saddle
before she could protest
,
and
swinging up behind her in one smooth, practiced motion. 

             
Ella
was really too tired to argue
anymore;
all of the fight had drained out of her in the last five minutes
when at last she knew she was safe. 
Safe
.   T
o make matters worse, now that she was
out of danger
, she began to
shiver
.  All that had happened in the past couple of days caught up with
her as her body finally relaxed.  She could feel her thighs tremble as she tried to grip the horse, and all of her muscles suddenly felt slack. 
Shock.  I’m
in shock
.  Ah well, it
will
pass
. 
Rest. 
I just need
to rest
. 
She smiled weakly
to herself
, proud that she had been so brave and hadn’t succumbed until now, when she was safe in Caen’s arms. 
Safe
.

             
Ceann
felt her
shivering
and pulled her closer, thinking she must be cold.  God, but she felt good in his arms.
 
Too good. 
Far
too good. 
E
ven as dirt covered
and
scraped up
as she was, she still smelled
sweet.  He lowered his head just a little to inhale the fragrance of her hair
again
.  In the moonlight, it shone and sparkled like spun gold, and it looked so soft, soft like her skin would be if he touched it. 
If he undid he
r
gown and
…
he stifled a groan as his body hardened
against her
and he
suddenly
felt dizzy with need.  And it was a need he could do nothing about.  Why
in hell
had he insisted she ride with him?  Perhaps he felt the need to be tortured?  But when she leaned back against him and her bottom pressed against his groin, pleasu
re and torment mingled until it was all he could do to just keep breathing.  When her body went limp with sleep, he
let himself
relaxe
d a bit too.  No dou
bt the lass
was tired if she had
escaped from someone and run all that way, but he still wasn’t sure he belie
ved her, it could all be a
n elaborate
ruse,
part of a bigger pl
ot
;
to throw him off track
, to earn his trust
.
  He looked over
at the sound of hoof beats
t
o find Ethan had come up
beside him. 
Some of the
other men they
had brought were farther
behind;
others rode ahead
, to protect
them
against
ambush.

             
“Are
you
alright
Ceann
?” Ethan asked,
looking
at him oddly.

             
“Of
course I’m alright, why wouldn’t
I be?”

             
Ethan feigned a look of innocence
.  “Och, the look of pain on
you
r
face just now.  Do
you
have an ache
somewhere
?”

             
Ceann
looked daggers at his friend
, who was trying unsuccessfully not to grin
.  “
You
’r
e
lucky
you
’r
e
over th
ere on that horse, Ethan, or
you
would have a terrible ache in
you
r
face right now.”

             
“Ah, I guess I’m a lucky man, then.”  He looked at
Ella
still asleep in
his
arms
and
shot him a lewd grin
. 
“Though not half as lucky as
you
.”
 
Ethan
rode quickly ahead
to join Gregor
before
Ceann
could say anything else. 
He
looked down at the lass he held
in his arms
.  His body still burned
out of control
for
her, and again he questioned his sense at insisting she ride with him. 
Och, I’m a bloody
, bloody
fool!
  And at least another hour before they were home.  He groaned, but held her closer still, his fingers lightly tracing her soft curves as if they had a mind of their own.
 
If only things were different, if only…  In another lifetime he would have claimed her in a heartbeat, no matter who she
had
belonged to before.  He would keep her as his very own, fight anyone to have her.  The heat between them, the way she made his very blood boil…
it was a most uncommon thing.
In truth he had never felt this way before.  If he felt like this just holding her, what would it be like to… 
He squeezed his eyes shut. 
Don’t torture yourself.  Don’t give in.  Don’t.
 

             
He did not look forward to questioning her when they arrived at
Tulloch;
too afraid she would either not answer, or tell him what he didn’t want to know.

***

             
Later, t
hey sat in the Laird’s study, a cozy fire burning in the hearth. 
Ella
knew she would have to be
questioned
,
of course,
but she would really rather just have a nice hot bath.
  Although the shock had worn off
some time ago
, s
he was tired and she ached.  And her arms were already mightily sore from lowering herself out of the window.  Her fear must have lent her great strength, because now she could barely raise her hand to her face without flinching
, and it was bound to be worse in the morning
. 
But God it was good to be back at Tulloch, like Heaven…
like home
. 
Aye,
surprisingly,
she felt very much at home here. 
But
now
s
he was
worr
ied about Cean
n.  She
would have
to tell him of his uncle’s
treachery
,
but she saw no reason that he sh
ould
believe her.  There
was no reason, really, why he sh
ould
trust
her at all.  She couldn’t even tell him her
full name:  Ella Naomi MacCrae
,
because
h
e was bound to know who the MacCraes were
, could trace her easily enough then to Mandaine
. 
She did not want to think about what would happen to Esme and the others if he knew they had sent her here… 
And so she let out a sigh
of
utter
frustration
as the men gathered. 
Ceann
, Ethan,
Gregor,
and a few
loyal
others
.
  The Laird’s Cou
ncil, she supposed.