Page 64 of Intrigued By A Highlander

His kiss was so much more than a kiss. It committed them to each other, sealing their future together. He loved how firmly and eagerly she returned his kiss, how her slim arms wrapped tight around his neck as though she would never let him go. And he tightened his arm around her waist to let her know the same.

Dru felt the tug of his arm around her, tasted the desire in his kiss, and the strength of his aroused manhood pressed against her. She wanted this, a chance to know the intimacies of marriage, but she couldn’t. She simply could not do it to him or to herself.

She was grateful to her stomach for grumbling when he placed her on her feet. An excuse to delay their coupling and give her time to make an escape.

“I forgot you only had broth since this morning. You must be hungry.”

“I am,” she lied, her stomach twisting in knots for what she was about to do.

“I will go hunting and then we’ll eat. Afterwards, we’ll seal our vows,” he said as if preparing her and smiled faintly. “And don’t worry, I’ll make sure we fit perfectly.”

Soon after he left her tears started and her heart felt as if it shattered.

She loved him. She truly loved him. But even if she did couple with him, she wouldn’t want it to be here in the bed where her mum had thought she found love only to find herself stuck with a man who had no heart.

Brushing her tears over her cheeks, she hurried to find her mum’s herbs. The ones she kept hidden and used on Lord Randall when he arrived in a foul mood that would always end up with her mum suffering.

A little of the leaves sprinkled over Knox’s food would put him to sleep until morning and by then she would be well on her way to where he couldn’t find her.

Rain turned hardwhen Knox returned with two fish that Dru set to cooking while he slipped his wet shirt off to dry by the fire. His muscular body was rare to see, most men having gone soft from too much ale and food. But then he had trained from when he was young to be a fearless warrior, and it showed with every movement of his taut muscles that glistened from the dampness his wet shirt had left behind. He had the finest of looks, many women boldly admired him, letting him know they were interested. But he never returned their smiles or nods. He had remained focused on her.

He was a good man for a mercenary and that got her wondering over a question she never got to ask him.

“Why are the mercenaries so frightened of you?” she asked, watching him fill a tankard with wine from a jug on the table and he filled one for her as well.

Mave.

She had left it, thinking Dru would need it to see the deed done.

Knox pulled out a bench from beneath the table and sat. Then he took a swallow of wine before responding. “I beat Phelan senseless and a few of his men who tried to stop me, then I demanded that he release me of all obligation to him.”

“What made you beat him?” she asked, drifting away from the hearth toward him.

“I was angry.”

“At Phelan?”

He shrugged. “At life.”

Dru shook her finger at him. “The truth.”

Knox reached out quickly and hooked his arm around her, spreading his legs apart to draw her in between them. “Truth and trust. I want both in our marriage.”

She nodded, knowing there was no way she could give her word. “So, what is the truth?”

“I found a young lad he had purchased a few months prior beaten badly. Phelan did that to all the young ones he got, to break them, make them fearful of him so they would obey without question. That day I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t stand to see another young lad broken, left without hope.”

He eased her down on his leg to sit, running his hand gently along her hip and across her stomach to rest there. It sparked a pleasurable sensation, sending tingles racing throughout her and she quite enjoyed it.

“So, you went after Phelan?” she asked, needing to get her mind off how she was feeling.

“I did,” he admitted. “And when I found him, I didn’t say a word, I swung, and I didn’t stop swinging even when others tried to stop me. My hatred for him overwhelmed me and that I did nothing while he continued to do what he did to me to others… enraged me. I needed revenge for myself as well as other innocent lives he had ruined.”

He paused and Dru handed him his tankard of wine and he drank before he continued.

“Phelan was covered in blood when I finished, his nose and one arm broken. Five of his men lay scattered around him. I hadn’t even realized how many I fought. I told him I was leaving and taking the young lads with me and if I ever heard that he abducted or purchased another young lad again I would finish what I started and see him dead. He hasn’t taken a lad since then.”

“What happened to the lads,” Dru asked. “Did they go home?”

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