Page 24 of When A Laird Loves A Lady
He set his jaw. He didn’t know whyMarion thought she needed to protect him, but now was not the time to argue.“Come on.”
Within moments, Iain, Marion, andAngus had scaled the wall and slid down the ditch, plunging into the freezingwater once more. As they swam silently across, Iain could not take his eyesfrom Marion to ensure she was safe. When they reachedtheother sideand he helped her out of the ditch, he felt herbody trembling violently.
“Are ye cold?” he asked, drawingher to him with one hand and reaching down to help Angus with the other.
She nodded. “Yes, but also worriedabout what will happen now.”
He could hear the fear in her voiceand feel it in the way her fingers curled tighter around his hand. “Dunnae fashyerself, Marion. Ye’re my wife now, and I’ll defend ye with my dying breath.”
She tugged her hand from his andset both of her hands on her hips. “I’m not worried about that.”
Her confidence in him filled himwith pleasure, until he realized she’d not actually said she was not worriedatall, just not about that.
As the three of them moved towardthe place where Rory Mac and Neil should have been waiting, Iain watched herhips sway in the moonlight, but when he turned to meet Angus’s angry glare, hepulled his gaze away. The man may think of her as a daughter, but Marion wasnow Iain’s wife, and he was getting tired of the Scot glaring at him.
“What are ye worried about?” hequestioned to her back as she marched ahead of him.
“If you don’t know, then it’s notworth my breath to explain,” she snapped without breaking herstride.
Iain let her leave, as he suspectedher worry lay with his telling her he would never love her, and there wasnothing he could say to ease that worry. Angus coughed, none too discreetly,until Iain finally looked at the man. “What?” he barked.
“Let me ken when ye need myadvice,” the Scot offered with a chuckle.
Iain frowned. “I’ll nae need yeradvice on how to deal with my wife,” Iain bit out and stalked ahead, each stepmaking him wonder why he felt like there was a possibility he could rue thatstatement.
Five
Several hours later, Marion clenched her teeth asthe horses drove relentlessly forward over the rocky terrain of Scotland. Toher right, Rory Mac glared at her, still clearly angry over her taking hishorse. She understood, but it seemed to her he could forgive her. After all, hehadgotten his destrier back when two of her father’s knights had riddenout of the castle and Rory Mac had apparently overtaken them. He had retrievednot only his horse but one more. She’d said as much to the man after she, Iain,and Angus had escaped her father’s castle and met up with Rory Mac and Neil. RoryMac had only growled at her as she’d spoken. Apparently, Scots wereveryattached to their horses.
She looked away from Rory Mac witha sigh. Every time she was jarred, her bottom and back cried out. Iain MacLeodwas the devil himself. She started to turn around on the horse to tell him so,but his big hand came to her shoulder and stayed her movement. “Dunnae move. Yerisk losing yer balance and falling off.”
Angry, she blew at a strand of hairdangling in her face. The man may never intend to give his heart to her, but hecould at least give her his respect. All he’d done since they’d escaped herfather’s castle was order her about. “I’m not one of your men you can constantlycommand.”
“True enough,” he agreed. His tonewas so soft and pleasant that a bit of her anger slipped away. “Ye’re my wife.”The implication that she was also to be ordered about was clear in his now-flattone.
Her anger spiked to near eruption.“I’m not your wife fully yet,” she snapped.
“By the time the sun sets again yewill be,” he replied. His easy banter irritated her even more. It was as if heranger amused him. She ground her teeth against saying another word to the manuntil he treated her with respect.
As the horse galloped forward, theclopping of his hooves drummed in her ears and her mind returned to Iaintelling her that he’d buried his love, and his heart, with his late wife. Evenif Marion had wanted to be hurt that he’d so bluntly told her that he’d neverlove her, she could not be, not really. They barely knew each other. What shedid know of him, besides the fact that he was brave—fiercely so—and honorable,was that he was in grave pain from his loss. He’d not said it in words, yetwhen he’d spoken of his late wife his tone had been raw, as if simply thinkingof her pained him. She’d felt it like an enormous wave washing over her.
She clenched her hands and pressedher lips together at the memory. She was married to a man in love with a ghost.In spite of his declaration that he’d never love again, she could not help butwonder if it was truly so. She didn’t even know if she would ever want thisman’s love, but she wanted the possibility of it. Not a lifetime of beingforsaken.
When the sun started to rise, shewas sure they would pull over to hide and rest, and relief poured through her.Her body ached all over, her head pounded, and her stomach growled. The desireto beg him to stop strummed through her, but she held off until she thought shemight fall off the horse. That’s when she realized her idea not to talk to himuntil he showed her respect was foolish. She had to talk to him, but she vowedshe would make him see she deserved respect and not to be ordered about.
Her mouth was so dry that she hadto swallow several times before speaking. “Will we stop now that the sun is up?”
“Nay.”
Marion didn’t consider herself aweak, helpless woman, but she was on the verge of collapsing or crying. Shecouldn’t decide which would be worse. Crying, she concluded, would be worse,shameful even. One could help weeping, but collapsing really was quiteinvoluntary. “I’m going to slide off the horse from exhaustion,” she protested.
“Ye will nae. I command ye to stayupright.”
Her face burned with anger. He’ddone it again! She curled her hands into fists with the desire to hit him. “Youcannot simply demand a person not collapse,” she grumbled.
“I can.”
“You cannot! You rude beast,” shesnapped. She was normally so sweet tempered, but he really was bringing out theworst in her.
