Page 48 of Unforgotten
“Aye,” she said, her voice tight with pain. “Please let go of me … ye will break my wrist.”
In the pale glow of the nearby hearth, Ella’s face was pale and taut, her gaze wide with fear.
Gavin abruptly let go of her wrist, and she stepped back, rubbing it gently. “I’m sorry.” Gavin ran a hand over his face. “Reflexes, I’m afraid.” He observed her once more. She wore her satchel slung across her front, and despite that her habit covered her from head-to-toe, Gavin saw that Ella was trembling. “What’s wrong?”
“MacKinnon just attacked me.” The words tumbled out of her. “In my bed-chamber. I stabbed him and knocked him out with a jug of water … but he’s bound to wake up soon. We need to go … now.”
For a heartbeat Gavin merely stared at her—and then fury hammered into him like a sledge hammer to the chest.
With a curse, he swung his legs over the bed and stood up.
And then he froze.
Like most folk, Gavin slept naked.
Ella was staring at him. And as the moment drew out, her gaze slid down the length of him. It was not an innocent gaze, but one that had known carnal desire, the look of a woman capable of great passion.
Yet she didn’t utter a word. And as Gavin watched her, Ella’s throat bobbed. “Ye should get dressed,” she said huskily, a pleading note in her voice.
Gavin drew in a deep breath. Anger pulsed within him; all he could think about was finding MacKinnon and beating him to death. Clothes hardly seemed to matter.
Looking around, Ella spied his braies and léine slung over the back of a chair. She grabbed them and handed them to him, her gaze averted now. However, Gavin saw the pink stain that colored her cheeks.
Gavin took the clothing and started to dress. “That piece of dung,” he snarled as he laced his braies and grabbed his boots. “I’m going to rip him apart.”
“No!” Ella gasped, rushing forward. “Please, Gavin.” She placed her hands upon his bare chest, her sea-blue eyes glistening. “We need to go … gather Ceard and the others and ride. We must get away from here.”
“I’m not leaving without getting my reckoning against that bastard.”
“Ye will only make the situation worse.”
“I’ll make him wish he’d never been born.”
“Ye will destroy relations between yer clans … because of me. I can’t let ye do that. It’s bad enough that I have to involve ye in my escape.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, before he growled a response. “I don’t care about that.” Gavin reached up, placing his hands upon Ella’s shoulders. He could feel the tremors that wracked her. She was terrified. “Did he hurt ye?”
She shook her head. “I stabbed him before he had the chance.” Her fingertips splayed across his chest, and she pressed into him. Her touch was a brand upon his skin. Did she have any idea what it did to him?
“I beg ye, Gavin,” she gasped. “Leave yer need for reckoning. Take me away from Dunan, away from that man, before it’s too late.”
The desperation in her voice cut him to the quick. He hated to see her like this. What had MacKinnon said and done to make her so afraid?
“This doesn’t end here, Ella,” he said, his voice hoarse with the anger that still pulsed in time with his heartbeat. “MacKinnon’s not going to get away with this.”
She nodded. “And he shouldn’t … but right now, we must go.”
They stared at each other for long moment, and then, reluctantly, Gavin nodded.
A waxing gibbous moon lit the way as the MacNichol party clattered under Dunan’s south gate and into the night.
The guards had let Gavin pass without argument. He was a clan-chief after all and had told them that urgent news had reached him by carrier pigeon, calling him back to Scorrybreac.
Ella rode behind Gavin and Ceard. The cool night air kissed her face, and she drew in great lungfuls of it. Never had she been so grateful to leave a place. As beautiful as Dunan was, the broch was rotten at its heart.
The man who ruled it was poison.
Tell Leanna that I’m free to wed again … tell her that I’m coming for her, and that the walls of Kilbride will not stop me from taking what is mine.
