Page 34 of Awoken
Which they soon would be.
Leanna’s ears strained for the baying of dogs, the shouts of men, or the tattoo of pursuing hoof beats, but she could hear nothing over the pounding of her heart.
She couldn’t believe she was actually free—that Ross Campbell and Drew MacKinnon had risked their own lives to help her.
Hopefully, the clan-chief would never know that Lady Drew had assisted their escape from Dunan. She had been careful to keep her vice low in the hallway, and had fetched Leanna a traveling cloak without any fuss before disappearing into her quarters.
As they waited for Lady Drew to fetch the cloak, Campbell had whispered that Leanna actually had Hume to thank for her escape. MacKinnon’s man-servant had betrayed his master. Fortunately, Hume had been wise enough to run for his life after doing so.
The chill night air bit against Leanna’s cheeks, despite that she had pulled the cowl of her cloak over her face. Bowing her head, she found herself leaning in to the man seated before her.
The warmth and strength of Ross Campbell’s back became her anchor during their flight, and although she’d initially been reluctant to wrap her arms around his waist, Leanna now clung to him as if he were a lone rock in a stormy sea—her only chance of survival.
The horror of her near rape was ebbing now, MacKinnon’s hold slipping with each furlong they traveled west. The threat had been real, and even now the memory of his hot breath on her cheek, his rough hands upon her body, made Leanna’s pulse race.
She’d directed every bit of strength she possessed into kneeing him twice in the groin. She’d have shoved his cods up into his throat if she could have. Still, she knew she’d inflicted injury upon him. Even if someone freed him before dawn, he’d be able to do little—and he certainly wouldn’t be able to ride a horse in the state he was in.
A tight smile stretched Leanna’s lips.
I wish Mother Shona could have seen that.She also wished Sister Coira had been present. Her friend was skilled at defending herself with her hands.
Leanna’s eyes stung as a wave of homesickness swept over her. It wasn’t for Duncaith, but for Kilbride Abbey and the women who’d become her family over the past two years.
She’d felt restricted by her life in the order, but now that her world was in chaos, she longed for its safety, its simplicity.
Leanna stiffened against Ross Campbell’s back as a thought took hold. Leaning forward farther still, she spoke for the first time since they’d galloped from Dunan.
“Where are ye taking me?” When he didn’t answer immediately, Leanna pushed on. “To Kilbride?”
“No,” he replied, the word gruff. “MacKinnon will look for ye at the abbey … ye won’t be safe there.”
Leanna tensed a moment, before she realized he was right. As fierce as the abbess and her nuns were, they couldn’t protect her from MacKinnon and his men.
“Where then?”
“Duncaith,” he replied. “I’m taking ye home.”
Leanna caught her breath, before she spoke once more. “But won’t MacKinnon search for me there as well?”
“Aye … but I’m hoping yer kin can protect ye, hide ye. MacKinnon would have to declare war upon the MacDonalds of Sleat and storm their broch to get ye back … an act that might go ill for him.”
Leanna considered these words. He was likely right, and as she thought about returning to her family, a warmth grew in the pit of her belly.
“Why are ye doing this?” she asked after a brief pause. “I don’t understand.”
Campbell’s voice held a note of censure when he replied. “This is not the time for such a conversation, Lady Leanna.”
She stiffened. “Why not?”
A tense silence stretched between them, before he spoke once more, his voice strained. “Ask me again in the morning … and I will answer ye.”
They didn’t halt until the rosy blush of dawn crept across the eastern horizon. As soon as the sky lightened sufficiently, Campbell turned his horse from the road and took them across country. They rode through stands of spruce, the heavy resinous scent of the trees lacing the dewy morning air.
Eventually, Campbell drew the tired courser to a halt near a trickling mountain burn. Without a word to Leanna, he swung down from the saddle before helping her to the ground. And unlike the last time he’d helped her down, Leanna didn’t resist. However, this time her hands weren’t bound. Only a couple of days had passed since then, and yet to Leanna it felt as if weeks had gone by.
If Ross remembered the incident, he didn’t say. Instead, he turned his attention to the horse, loosening the girth, and murmuring soothing words to the beast as he led it over to the stream for a brief drink.
Their mount had done a valiant job of taking them a great distance from the walls of Dunan, yet it would have to carry them farther, and Campbell clearly wanted to ensure that the courser lasted the distance.
