Page 40 of The Highlander's Dare
“Take me to Scotland,” she whispered.
“Aye, I will.”
“Today?”
“Aye, today.” The sooner they left, the better since Cormac had already gone. Graham was not yet certain what had happened with Brodie Ross, but Baston was going to be in a murderous mood when he woke. Best if they were already well away from here when it happened. He pressed his lips to hers, murmuring against their velvet softness, “I love ye.”
“I love you, too.” Clara leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him back. Her hands slid over his bare shoulders and back. He loved the way she touched him, the way his skin felt scorched. Desire rushed through his veins, more potent than even the lust of battle.
Oh, how he wanted to make love to her. To lay her out right then and there on his pallet, and to show her just how much he needed her, loved her, worshipped her.
“I’m already packed and ready to leave when you say so,” she murmured, her hand pressed to his heart.
Graham nodded, teasing her mouth with a little nip. “I dinna want ye to leave my side. I’ll send Alan to fetch your things, and then we shall be off.”
Clara smiled up at him. “I cannot wait to be free of this place.”
She sank against him, her head to his chest, and he felt a surge of warmth fill him, as well as a deep instinct to protect her. What had started off as a game had changed him completely. This woman had changed him. Made him whole somehow.
Lord, if someone had told him a mere sennight ago that he’d be embracing the woman he loved, willing to die to protect her, Graham would have laughed in their face.
But now, he just wanted to hold her closer. He pressed his lips to her soft hair, breathing in her familiar scent and sighing with contentment.
“If I were to have it my way, we’d never have to see another Ross face ever again,” he said.
“A dream that I pray becomes a reality.”
12
Leaving Rose Citadel and Lord Yves’s domain was a lot easier than Clara would have ever imagined. Alan gathered her things, including her hawk. Her maid was paid well to pretend Clara was ill in bed and couldn’t come to the feast, and off they went with Alan, Lachlan and Duncan on horseback.
The three men with them had also managed to procure a few extra provisions for the Sutherland clan, which were being transported on three additional horses. How they came by the horses and provisions, Clara wasn’t certain, and she didn’t want to ask, for she was convinced whoever woke up tomorrow and found their things gone might just chase after them.
They rode hard and for a long distance, leaving Clara sore from never having to do so before, and quite often, she found herself in Graham’s lap, which was perfectly fine with her. Her hawk proudly took over her seat each time she vacated the saddle. Though they’d yet to say their vows before a priest, they were in mind and body already united. If Baston Ross, or God forbid Clara’s mother, came for her, they could argue their marriage was already consummated.
However, they had also decided that when they reached Sutherland lands, they would officially declare before one and all in Graham’s birthplace their eternal commitment.
The journey north took nearly two weeks. Several days they’d had to take up the hospitality of clans along the way because of rain, and in those moments when they’d stopped, she and Graham had claimed to be husband and wife, and then were given a room together where they made love until they both passed into a deep sleep.
Clara had been nervous about traveling so far up into the Highlands, simply from the stories she’d heard of Highlanders and warriors being complete savages—not only from when she was a child, but from whispers at the tournament too. But for her part, every Scot besides the Rosses that she’d come into contact with had been perfectly charming.
And so, she was pleasantly surprised to find they had no trouble on their journey. It was obvious that Graham and his brother were well respected; or else, he’d only taken them on a path through clan lands that were on their side. That made more sense. Graham was not an idiot and had said many times that he would protect her with his dying breath.
Of course, she prayed it didn’t come to that. She’d much rather they both live to be old with their grandchildren running amuck around them. The very thought of that made her smile, and she snuggled closer on Graham’s lap, the temperature in the Highlands having sunk several degrees from what it had been in England.
“We’re almost home,” he whispered against her ear.
Home…
Clara perked up, excited to see the place where Graham had roamed as a child and grown into a man. “Do you think they will… like me?” She felt silly for asking the question, but she couldn’t not ask.
She was an outsider, infiltrating a tightly knit, struggling clan, and here she was bringing in riches. That wouldn’t exactly make people act genuinely toward her at first, a notion that upset her greatly. She wanted to befriend Graham’s people, embrace them as her own. “I do not want them to think me snobbish.”
Graham chuckled. “No one who ever meets ye will think ye snobbish. They will all love ye as I do.” He sounded so confident.
“Are ye certain?”
“Aye, and if anyone wishes to challenge me on it, I will welcome the fight.”
