He’d spent part of last night exploring Rionallís, for he’d anticipated having to make his own escape.Not for one moment did he believe he was safe here, and he’d wanted to know the best way to quietly leave.Now that Mairead’s father was here, his time had run out.
And so, he’d waited for her inside her chamber.
The moment Mairead entered the room, he lowered the bar across the door and stood in front of it.
‘Balor!’she gasped and stepped back.‘You frightened me.’
He pointed towards her bed where he had set aside serf’s clothing for her.‘I brought you these to wear.’
She blinked a moment and stared at him.‘Why?’
‘Because if we’re going to find your brother, you need to blend in with the others.’
Her expression turned thoughtful, but she laid the clothing back on the bed.‘You should turn around.’
He started to move, but then her green eyes locked with his as she began to loosen the laces of her gown.His throat went dry, even as honour demanded that he turn away from her.
‘I should, shouldn’t I?’The words revealed a trace of rebellion.
Mairead answered his defiance as she slowly raised the overdress andleíneover her head, wearing only her shift.
He couldn’t tear his gaze away as she reached for the trews and pulled them on beneath her shift.Then she turned her back on him and lifted the shift away, giving him a slight glimpse of bare skin and the curve of one breast.
God above.The sight of her was a temptation that silenced his honour while she dressed in the tunic and cloak.It took everything in him not to reach for her and press her down to the bed, feeling that softness beneath him.She awakened a hunger in him, a craving that would never be satisfied.
Mairead hid her gown within a trunk on the other side of the room and turned back to him.She braided her hair and stuffed it down the back of the tunic.
‘Should we leave?’she asked coolly.
He managed a nod.‘Lift your hood first.I’ll go down the stairs, and you’ll wait before following.Find a group of men to trail behind, if you can.’
He lifted the wooden bar across the door and left.Hedidn’t see any guards, which meant they hadn’t seen him enter Mairead’s chamber earlier.
When he reached the bottom of the spiral stairs, he heard her footsteps behind him.He kept his pace even, as if nothing was wrong.
But just as he reached the door leading outside the castle keep, a hand seized his arm.‘And just where are you going, Ó Phelan?’
He turned and saw Bevan MacEgan.The older man’s gaze was shrewd, as if he fully expected Balor’s defiance.
Behind him, the footsteps stopped, and he prayed Mairead would remain out of view.‘I’m going home to Dunmalus,’ he answered honestly.‘Unless you’d prefer that I stay?’
The Irishman’s expression held a warning.‘Leave my niece alone.’
He pulled his arm free and faced the man.‘I’ve done nothing except obey her orders.’
Bevan ignored the response.‘She needs to remain safe with her family.Stay out of this.’
Something about the man’s warning felt like a challenge.Balor simply smiled and walked past the man through the doors.He didn’t turn back, not wanting to reveal Mairead’s disguise.He walked towards the inner wall, fully aware of the soldiers trailing behind him, likely from MacEgan’s orders.Balor knew if he drew the men away from Mairead, it would be easier for her to leave.
And then what?his mind prompted.It wasn’t as if she could stay with him after they found her brother.He was her protector; that was all.After that, he had to return her to her family, where she could wed a nobleman.
But a rebellious side of him wanted to keep her.Hewanted to shatter Mairead’s carefully constructed world of royalty and steal the woman he wasn’t meant to have.
He didn’t know what sort of madness this was, to even consider it.But he’d never really been a man of honour—he’d been a man bent on learning to fight.And learning to survive.He’d been told by Fergus, time and again, that he was worthless.Even now, the MacEgans wanted him to stay away from her.And yet…
Mairead had asked to come with him.Not the earl.Not another nobleman.
Him.The Demon of Éireann.
