But we arenae even there yet, man. We have more to worry about before we can find each other in bed.
Taking his eyes off the road, he saw the wound on Beatrice's arm. It had stopped bleeding for the most part, but just seeing it made his blood boil. That someone could do that to her sickened him. That someone who was his own kin could do that to her made him want to tear the world apart with his bare hands.
The betrayal stung hotly, needling his nerves even as they swelled with images of Beatrice’s nubile figure. Being left to bleed in the woods was better than Allistair deserved, as far as Leo was concerned.
If I could have done more to him, I would have. I wouldnae have hesitated.
“Are ye all right, me Laird?” one of the men called out, galloping up alongside Leo and Bea. “Yer horse is driftin’. Do ye need to rest for a spell?”
“Nay,” Leo answered curtly.
He refused to glance at the man, but he resolved to keep his mind on the task at hand.
“We ken that it’s been a lot for ye,” the man said.
Leo ignored him.
How can I trust anyone now?
He watched his men galloping furiously back to the castle.
How can I trust me council or any of me servants if me own family was ready to kill a lass under me protection right in front of me?
A warm breath spoke directly into his ear as the man dropped back and let Beatrice calm him in the way only a woman could.
“Ye are worried that there may be more like Allistair,” she whispered, her voice flowing over the rushing water and the soft whistle of the wind. “Are ye thinkin’ that ye daenae ken who ye can trust anymore?”
Leo squeezed her hands. He spoke into the wind, unsure if she could hear him.
“I didnae understand the lengths men would go to for power,” he said. “I never thought I’d have to kill me cousin and leave him to rot.”
“Ye saved me without hesitation,” Beatrice whispered, each word heating the shell of his ear.
He squeezed her hands again but said nothing this time.
Aye, and I’d do it a thousand times over, Bea. I’d do that and more for ye.
It was becoming a struggle to maintain his focus as the journey carried on.
As the castle rose from the hills in the distance, Leo breathed a heavy sigh of relief. They had made it back, and Beatrice's shape remained seared into his skin even after they dismounted in the courtyard.
CHAPTER FORTY
The ride home didn’t take as long as Beatrice had expected it.
It was funny that they had felt so far away the night before as they tangled in the warm bed at the inn, trapped in a storm that had ambushed them like an assassin. With Leo’s men around them and the steady sound of horses galloping at a glorious pace, they came up to the castle ahead of whatever threat was held in those darkening clouds.
“One of the men took off ahead of us to deliver the good news,” a guard told Leo as they drew closer to the gate.
“Aye, there is most certainly good news,” Leo rumbled.
Beatrice wrapped her arms more firmly around his torso, clinging to him in excitement rather than fear.
We can only hope so.Have we forged the destiny we wanted to, or has our fate already been decided?
When Leo had held her in the woods and asked her if they dared to move forward in love, there had been no other concern in her mind. What she wanted was at hand, and she was ready to grasp it fully with him.
As they returned to the castle, she couldn’t help but wonder if other machinations had gone on while they were away, or in the time while she was sweating out poison and lying on the brink of oblivion.
