Authors: Hannah Howell
Highland Hunger (7 page)
“Can ye ride?” he asked when she started to brush off her skirts and revealed no sign of any serious injury.
“I have been riding with ye for several days,” she said, a little confused by his question.
“Nay, can ye ride on your own? Their horses are just inside the woods. We can take them and then ye will have your own mount to ride.”
“Will that make us able to move more quickly and help ye to fight if the need arises?”
“Aye. Tor is a strong beast, but he is carrying two people, isnae he? One would be better, for I could get a wee bit more speed out of him without fear of tiring him too quickly.”
“Then let us get their horses.” She glanced at the two dead men. “Do we leave them for the carrion?”
“I think we have to as the others cannae be too far away.”
“So be it.”
In moments, Una found herself seated on a horse of her own. She looked down at Raibeart and smiled. “I have done little riding in my life so I hope ye will be patient with me.”
He patted her leg. “Ye will do fine.”
She watched him mount Tor, securing the reins of the third horse to the saddle, and grinned. He had just patted her. Shaking her head, she nudged her mount closer to his as they began to ride through the trees. She was going to miss being close to him as they rode together, holding him near and enjoying his warmth, but he was right. There would be a lot of advantages to their each being mounted.
The sky was already growing lighter by the time he led them to a small stone house. Una winced as she dismounted, her muscles aching. It required a lot more strength and attention to handle her own mount. She suspected the fight with Red Rob and Donald had added a few aches as well.
She was still sore after they ate, and Raibeart laid out their bedding while she washed up. Despite her best efforts not to, she let out a soft sound of pain as she settled down beside him. Una really wanted to taste the passion they could share again but suspected her body would make that impossible.
“Turn onto your belly, love,” Raibeart said, “and I will rub away some of those aches ye arenae hiding as weel as ye think ye are.”
She laughed as she turned onto her stomach. “As we are both naked, I was rather hoping we might be doing something else.”
“So was I, but ye have had a hard day. Ye need to rest and let the battering ye took heal a wee bit.”
The soft sounds she made as he rubbed her back and shoulders made him hard with need for her, but Raibeart did his best to hide it from her. She needed rest. The tension of pain began to leave her body beneath his hands and he was not surprised when she soon fell asleep. Raibeart settled down next to her and pulled her into his arms, smiling when she cuddled up against his chest without waking. He would get no loving today but there was always the night.
Chapter Seven
Una woke to a fire raging through her body, the heat of Raibeart’s mouth upon her breast surging through her veins. She opened her eyes just enough to see his head against her skin and tangle her fingers in his hair. Then she gave herself over to the desire he stirred within her with every caress, every kiss. She did her best to touch him, to caress his warm skin, but he began to slide out of her reach, kissing her belly, and then her legs.
“Raibeart,” she called, clutching at his shoulders and trying to pull him back into her arms. I need . . .” She stuttered to a halt as she vainly searched for an appropriate word in her passion-clouded mind.
“So do I, love.”
He did not think he would ever get enough of the taste of her and the feel of her soft skin. Raibeart had wakened with a naked Una curled up in his arms and a need so fierce and demanding he had groaned. He knew they should be getting up, collecting their things, and riding hard and fast for Cambrun, but he could not resist the temptation to make love to her again. They would have little time for such pleasure in the next few days, not with eight other Lost Ones waiting to be saved.
Beneath his hands he felt her body tense with shock when he kissed the neat vee of blond curls between her strong slender thighs. Raibeart ignored her gasped protest and proceeded to make love to her with his mouth. She quickly went wild in his arms, her soft cries of pleasure sweet music to his ears. Una made him feel as if he was the greatest of lovers. When she cried out his name, demanding he join their bodies with all the haughty command of a queen, he laughed even as he obeyed her.
He thrust inside and paused, lightly pressing his forehead against hers. She was so tight and hot he wanted to stay there pinned on the knife’s edge of desire for hours. Then she wrapped her legs around him and he lost that last weak grip he had on his control, taking her with all the fierce, greedy hunger that had built up inside him, and sending them both tumbling into release.
Una barely twitched when Raibeart gently cleaned her off. She did not think she would be able to move again for hours. A small part of her mind tried to make her feel shamed, or at least a little embarrassed, over all she had allowed him to do, but she silenced it. He had driven her mad with need and she really hoped he planned to do it again. If that made her shameless or wanton, she was prepared to accept that. She smiled weakly when he returned to her arms and kissed her.
“This wee stone cottage is verra nice,” she said, idly stroking his strong back. “As dark and dry as the crypt but no dead sharing it with us.”
“And, sadly, no bath, either.” He kissed her cheek. “Ye can have a bath as soon as we reach Cambrun.”
“Tonight?”
He nodded. “That is my plan. We may have to race for the gates, however, but that has been done before. Some of our men have brought Lost Ones home with hunters hard on their heels.”
“I am bringing danger to your home.”
“It has come before and, nay doubt, it will come again.”
“And ye are certain your clan will help us save the others caged at Dunmorton?”
“They will be aching to ride out the moment the sun begins to set.” He slapped her lightly on her thigh and then stood up to stretch. “And that is what we should have done but”—he winked at her over his shoulder—“I woke to a temptation too great to resist.”
Una slipped out from beneath the blanket the moment his back was to her so that she could dress. It was impossible to take her gaze off him, however. He was so big and strong, his shoulders broad and his muscles taut. His skin was dark, as if he had spent a lot of time basking naked in the sun, something she knew he could never do. When she caught herself reaching out with the urge to touch his taut backside, she shook the haze from her mind and hastily finished dressing. Raibeart was certain that they would soon have all the help they needed from his friends. It was time to cease thinking of smooth broad backs, lovemaking, and wooing.
Una took a deep drink of the enriched wine Raibeart apparently had an unending supply of and watched him as he studied the shadowed areas all around them. They still had not shaken the hunters even though there were now only four of them. She was surprised the hunters had not given up yet, especially if they had found the bodies of Red Rob and Donald. When Raibeart turned to look at her, she held the wineskin out to him.
It had bothered her in the beginning that drinking the blood-enriched wine could make her stronger. That need for blood had always troubled her, and she had been glad that the dark hunger had risen only rarely. Now she was stronger and healthier than she had been in years and, at some time during the journey, she had accepted that part of her. What preyed on her mind now was that she had the urge to bite Raibeart when they made love, just as he bit her. She was not bothered by his need to
take a wee sip,
as he called it, but she was not sure she liked the fact that she was rapidly wanting to do the same.
take a wee sip,
as he called it, but she was not sure she liked the fact that she was rapidly wanting to do the same.
“No need to frown so, love,” he said and reached out to lightly rub away the lines on her brow. “We will be at Cambrun soon.”
“ ’Tis that close?” She had no intention of telling him what was really making her frown.
“Two, three miles. Ye see that wee mountain just ahead?”
“I see some of it and then it disappears into a misty cloud.”
“Aye, there is always some mist sheltering us from view. I think ’tis one of the reasons our ancestors chose this place. That and the caves beneath the keep.”
“Ah. But, if ye live in caves, why trouble building a keep?”
“The keep is kept dark, too, and our laird stays in it. And the caves arenae like the one we stayed in. The Purebloods have made themselves a fine place down there.” He decided not to tell her that he, too, had a place down there, that such news was best held back until she decided to stay with him.
“And if the hunters follow us right to the gates?”
“They will die there. There is no mercy for the ones who hunt us.”
“Nay, I wouldnae expect there to be any. I dinnae care to think on how many poor souls have died at the hands of men like the laird, and I suspicion nay all of them were truly of MacNachton blood.”
“True, but too many nonetheless. All MacNachtons carry the weight of those deaths. We should have kenned the chance that bairns were bred outside the clan. It has happened at Cambrun, so we kenned it wasnae impossible.”
“That was the responsibility of the men who bred those children, nay you. They didnae tell ye that had bedded a woman here and there, so how were ye to ken that there was any chance of a child?”
“We all ken how a child is begotten, so when a mon would boast of what pleasure he had found, or taken, for himself, someone should have considered the possibility that there would be a child. Now no mon leaves Cambrun without being recalled to that responsibility.” He suddenly inhaled deeply and then cursed.
“What is it?”
“The hunters draw near, love. I can smell their sweat and their horses. We are going to have to ride hard and fast now. Will ye be able to do that?”
Una nodded and gripped the reins of her mount a little tighter. “Will the horses be able to follow the trail at such speed?”
“Easily enough for a while as the moon is bright and, once we are on the path that winds up the hill, our enemies will have to slow as much as we will. Ready?” he asked even as he freed the third horse he had secured to his mount, knowing it would follow them now.
“Aye.”
The moment Raibeart kicked his mount into a gallop, Una did the same. She did not look at the land they rode through, knowing she would be unsettled by the sight of all the trees, obstacles that could prove a real danger to an unskilled rider such as she was. Instead she kept her gaze fixed on Raibeart, knowing he would lead her in the right direction.
Raibeart could hear the hunters riding hard behind them. It was going to be a close-run race. If it were only himself he had to worry about, he would stop and face the four men squarely. In truth, he would have stopped running and stalked them, a silent killer slipping in and out of the shadows. But, he had to think of Una’s safety first and not just because she was a woman. She was
his
woman. Leaving her on her own so that he could hunt down the men hunting them had never been a choice.
his
woman. Leaving her on her own so that he could hunt down the men hunting them had never been a choice.
Once he started on the winding rocky path up the mountain, he signaled Una to slow down. He knew that, from below, it would soon appear as if they had just disappeared into the mists, but he doubted that would stop the hunters. They had come too far and lost two men. The laird of Dunmorton could also have promised punishments so dire that failure was more frightening than facing a MacNachton. At least until he met them face-to-face, he thought with a touch of satisfaction. Soon the men following them would discover why his clan was still feared despite the fact that all that was left of their vicious past were tales whispered in the dark.
Una stared at the keep before them, barely noting that the path they followed had grown a great deal wider. It had appeared out of the mists with little warning and was a formidable building. It looked as if it had grown straight up out of the rock it was set on. She wondered if the ones who had built it had made it look so threatening on purpose. From what little Raibeart had told her of his ancestors, she suspected they had.
She was about to ask Raibeart a few questions about his overpowering home when he suddenly turned to look behind them. Una turned back as well and cursed. The hunters had caught up with them. She had the fleeting thought that it was odd for Angus to be riding behind the others, for he was a man who led, not followed, and then Raibeart appeared at her side.
“Tell my kin there are hunters on our lands,” he said and gave her mount a slap on its rump.
Her horse jumped forward and began to run toward the keep, the spare horse right beside it. From what little she could see while attempting to rein the animal in, Cambrun was set in a rocky valley between two mountains. Daring a look back at Raibeart, she saw him draw his sword and face Dunmorton’s hunters. When it looked as if the still mounted Angus was actually backing away, leaving the other three men to face Raibeart, Una decided being on the back of a running horse was making her vision play tricks on her. Angus was one of the laird’s coldest, cruelest killers and not one to back away from a fight.
Then four men came running toward her and she knew immediately that they were Raibeart’s kinsmen. They were all tall, strong, and too darkly handsome for any woman’s peace of mind. “Raibeart is facing hunters just behind me,” she said quickly as she finally managed to slow her mount down a little.
“Keep riding to the gates, lass. We will take care of those fools if Raibeart doesnae,” said a lean man with cold amber eyes.
Una had not ridden far when screams rent the air and were quickly silenced. She suspected any armed strangers coming into Cambrun lands would have met a similar fate. When everyone found out what Dunmorton’s men were also guilty of, any unease they might feel over the swift execution of four men would fast disappear. The fact that Raibeart had ordered her to say there were hunters told her that such men were already considered enemies to be killed without mercy.
A tall slim man with thick black hair, golden eyes, and softly pale skin caught hold of the bridle of her horse and forced it to a halt. “Who are ye?” he demanded.
“Una Dunn,” she replied. “I came with Raibeart.”
She glanced behind her to see Raibeart and the other men approaching. Raibeart nudged Tor to a trot when he saw the man holding her horse. He looked down at the man as he reined in next to Una and, to her surprise, patted her thigh right in front of the man. Since she was neither hurt nor showing signs of being upset, she wondered what game he played. The way the other man grinned made her wonder if some strange message understood by only men had just been sent out.
“Cousin Einar,” Raibeart said and nodded in greeting, “I thank ye for sending help so quickly.”
“Weel, I ken that ye could take down three hunters with ease, but the lads were bored,” drawled Einar.
“Three?” Una frowned at Raibeart. “There were four.”
“Aye,” Raibeart said, “but Angus was gone but a moment after I sent ye on your way. We thought on chasing him, but he had good start ere we cleared the path and ’tis too close to dawn to go ahunting.”
“He will hie himself right back to Dunmorton.”
“He has no knowledge that will change anything, love. He but kens that ye escaped with me, and, mayhap, that ye are now with others of your kind.”
“Ye dinnae think that will cause trouble for the others?”
“Nay more than they already have.”
“So ye found yourself a Lost One?” asked Einar, frowning a little as he looked Una over. “The blood tie is an old one, aye?”
“Aye, her grandmother’s mother. One of the cursed Nightriders, I suspect.” Raibeart dismounted and then reached up to pluck Una out of her saddle.
“But enough of one to already be drawing the hunters to her.”
“Aye, and from what she tells me, the mon leading this pack has a lot of MacNachton blood on his hands.”
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