He brushed the pad of his thumb along her jawline, as aware of her soft skin as he was of her silky hair. He inhaled her sweet scent and felt her gentle curves against him.
The exquisite moment seemed suspended in time, almost part of an otherworld. Not made of the here and now. She appeared ethereal. Different. Not truly here. Gone someplace else just like Maeve. Terror flashed through him before warmth washed over him, and his suddenly racing heart calmed. Yet the sensation that she might not really be here unsettled him enough that he pulled away.
Moments later, Cray appeared out of the woodland on his horse. “Bloody hell, why did you two veer off like that?”
“Veer off?” Chloe rubbed her arms as if chilled. “I’m not sure.” She looked from Aidan to their horse grazing nearby. “The last thing I remember, Aidan and I were riding alongside everyone else, then I was dreaming, so I assume I fell asleep...” She narrowed her eyes at their surroundings before she looked at Aidan. “You raced by me in the dream, trying to get to Maeve—”
“Maeve?” Cray frowned. “I dinnae ken.”
“’Twas not really Maeve,” Aidan said softly, sure of it. “But the Disinherited trying to lure me...kill me.”
“Och.” Cray scowled at the sharp drop nearby before his troubled gaze landed on Aidan. “They’d have you leap to your death, then?”
“Aye,” he confirmed, noting that it was later in the day now. “How long ago did we veer off course?”
“A few hours ago,” Cray replied. “We should catch up with everyone by nightfall.”
He nodded and helped Chloe onto the horse before swinging up behind her. Cray hadn’t been riding alongside them earlier, so he must have questioned the others. A conclusion Chloe came to as well.
“So we were seen riding off by ourselves?” she asked Cray as he rode alongside them. “Didn’t people wonder why?”
“Nay, ‘tis not uncommon for those traveling in retinues like this to take time to themselves for necessary reasons.” His gaze darkened as though he sensed something. “I knew that was not the case, though.”
She cocked her head. “How did you know?”
“I am dragon.” He glanced at her as though he should not need to explain such. “Even with our magic waning and our inner beasts repressed, our instincts are untouchable.”
Naturally, with that statement, Chloe had more questions, and the two began chatting about dragons. As they did, Aidan thought about what had just happened, which inevitably led to thoughts of Maeve and Chloe. How the Disinherited seemed to be using Maeve against him, which ironically enough pushed Chloe closer. It was safe to say he was vulnerable when it came to Maeve, so he would have to remain vigilant. They sensed she was his weakness. He would choose her over Chloe if given the chance.
That, he realized, was at the root of this.
He must not be lured so easily. He needed to remember that Maeve was gone at least for now and not be tricked so easily. Yet he hadn't been in the end, had he? Rather he had found clarity in Chloe's voice. Her strength.
Which brought his mind back to the lass in front of him.
Never were two women more different than Chloe and Maeve. Outside of her love for two men, Maeve had typically been content with the world being the way it was. She rarely questioned anything but accepted things as they were.
Now he wondered if she should have questioned more.
If he should have too.
Because things had weighed on his mind.
Why was she not content loving one man? What unsettled her soul enough to need more than one? What had he done wrong? It always came back to that. Why was he not enough?
When‘why wasn’t I enough?’whispered through his mind as if an echo, he instinctually wrapped his arm a little tighter around Chloe's waist. That had been her thought. For a moment, she’d been thinking the same thing as him. Suffered from the same pain. Had gone down a similar road.
The sound of her in his mind, whether speaking or thinking, was as all-consuming in its warmth as gazing into her eyes. Hearing her thoughts laced with such sadness, though, brought out a surprisingly strong protective side in him.
Why did she think such thoughts? Ones so similar to his own? Regrettably, her sentiment had been but a glimpse because he sensed nothing more for the remainder of the day. Yet it had been there. A sadness that might not run as deep as his, but ran deep enough.
By the time they set up their tents on the outer edge of Robert Bruce’s encampment, men were in their cups, and the Bruce was eager for their company. Or more accurately put Chloe’s company. So much so, that he sat her beside him around the fire rather than next to her ‘husband’ where she belonged.
It seemed the gown she had worn, then allowing Robert to escort her without her ‘husband’ at Edinburgh Castle had done her no favors after all. As he'd feared, it had sent a very direct message.
She was open to a dalliance.
Though inclined to set the record straight, Aidan wasn’t about to confront Robert in the midst of his own men. Not yet, anyway. It was up to her to make things clear. Or, if she so chose, to become the royal bastard’s lover en route, which was clearly what the Bruce intended.
