“That accounts for your proficiency with a blade, but nae your tactical expertise.”
A frustrated exhale sounded behind her. “Do you always interrogate the people you meet?”
Though tired, she smiled. “Only the interesting ones.”
Ice crunched beneath the horse’s hooves as his destrier picked his way through the litter of rock and snow down the incline.
At her protector’s silence, she glanced back.
In the cloud smeared moonlight his gaze held hers.
At the intensity, a shiver swept through her. From their less than cordial start, she’d doubted they’d ever come to a point where she’d look at him as other than a man to avoid. Yet something about Thomas drew her.
Drew her?
An understatement. In truth, from the way his eyes held hers, his direct manner, and how he moved with predatory stealth, left tingles of awareness sliding through her body. He was unlike any man she’d ever met.
Thrown off balance by the feelings he evoked, she shifted to a safer topic. “I want to apologize.”
“You have done naught to apologize for.”
“I have. Although you were praised by our king, I doubted you.”
“Lass,” he said, fatigue weighing heavy in his voice, “your belief in me is irrelevant. Once you are safely delivered, never will we see each other again.”
She stiffened, hurt that he could dismiss her with such ease when thoughts of him lingered on her mind. Why? ’Twas nae as if she wanted him to stay. Still, a foolish part of her needed to know. “And when you ride off will you forget me?” she teased.
He grunted. “Anyone who drives an arrow a finger’s width from my heart I remember.”
She smiled at the reminder. “That is all?” Why was she pressing him? Regardless of how he made her feel, their time together would soon be over, and he’d ride away. In the end, he’d be naught but a vague memory. In truth, this warrior she would remember. A woman didna forget a man like him.
“I would think a woman of your beauty,” Thomas said, interrupting her musings, “wouldna need to rummage for compliments.”
“You think I am beautiful?” Warmth swept her cheeks as she stared at him. “Never mind.”
He chuckled. “If your private banter with the Bruce is anything like what we are sharing, I understand why he finds you intriguing.”
At the mention of their sovereign, memories of Grisel swept over her along with her reason for fleeing southward. The lightheartedness faded. “’Tis loyalty that binds us,” she said, smothering the heartache. “How did you come to know the king?”
“A common friend.”
Alesone frowned. “You have a penchant for vague replies.”
“And you have a penchant for prying into people’s lives.”
She leaned back against his muscled chest. “’Tis nae prying, only curiosity.”
“Are you this inquisitive with everyone you meet?”
“Nay,” she said, intrigued by the fact that something about this man threw her off balance. She’d believed him a simple knight when they’d first met, but by the king’s faith in him, and judging by his split-second decisions, cunning, and determination, he was much more. Neither was he cold or hard.Intensewas a better choice, driven to serve those who’d earned his loyalty, and ferocious to those he protected. “’Tis that you are unlike anyone I have ever met before.”
A rock clattered beneath his mount’s hooves and the horse shifted. Thomas swayed in the saddle, righted himself, and then guided his mount between two oaks. “I am unsure if that is a compliment…or nae.”
She chuckled. “Now who is seeking flattery?”
“I seek naught more than to serve my king. Never forget that.” The coolness of his tone matched the rush of air that howled past.
Grief settled in her heart. Nay, she wouldna forget, a fact he would ensure. How had she thought him neither cold nor hard; he was both and more. The day when they parted couldna come soon enough.
