For once she didn’t argue. Annie slid her knife toward him and Niall regained his feet at the same time the attacker did. Armed now, Niall waited for his opponent to make his move. And then Annie screamed again.
“Behind ye, Niall! Behind ye!”
He whirled as a fourth man came running up the path into the clearing. Where the hell had he come from? There were only supposed to be three… Niall hurled the blade he held, this time catching the newcomer in the gut. He clutched his stomach and fell. Niall turned to finish what he had started and nearly tripped himself.
Annie had jumped on the guard’s back. One hand was pulling hard on the man’s hair while with the other, she was pummeling him with a rock she held. The guard was spinning in circles in an attempt to dislodge her, but she just clung tighter, a few choice words, ones Niall didn’t think he’d ever heard a woman say, coming from her mouth. Her hair had come loose and swirled around her head like a halo of fire. Niall would have liked to admire the whole image, but the man was nearing a tree, obviously intent on knocking her against it. Niall leapt.
And found himself clutching thin air as the man fell. One of Annie’s whacks with the rock had found its mark. Annie went down with him. Niall caught her, barely managing to pull her off before she hit the ground.
She stood there shaking. “If ye had nae come—”
“’Tis nae the time to talk,” Niall replied, half-carrying her to their horses and lifting her onto the mare. Quickly, he grabbed the others’ saddlebags before turning their horses loose. “Those men are nae dead. I suggest we ride.”
For the second time in minutes, Annie didn’t argue.
****
They were several miles down the road before Niall finally slowed the horses and gestured. “There is a village up ahead.”
It really didn’t look like much more than a few cottages and a building that might be a coach exchange. “Do ye think it safe to stop?” Annie asked.
“Nae. We will go around. The MacDougalls will be following us as soon as they patch up their wounds and catch their mounts. If nae one spots us, they may think we went in a different direction.”
“’Tis a good plan.” Annie looked around. “But there is nae other road.”
Niall grinned. “We follow the sheep, then.”
“Sheep?” Annie gave him a worried look, wondering if the fighting had done something to his brain. “There are nae sheep in sight.”
“True.” He pointed to the ground. “But their droppings leave a trail.”
So they did. Annie wasn’t sure exactly how following a sheep trail would help, but Niall had already turned off the road and her mare decided she didn’t want to be left behind. It didn’t take long before they reached a small glade where the animals grazed near a tumbling burn. Niall stopped beside it and dismounted. “We can rest the horses here for a few minutes.”
As Annie started to dismount, her leg buckled. Niall was beside her in an instant, his hands around her waist, steadying her. “Easy there.”
Annie put her hands on his arms, feeling the rock-hard definition of his biceps. The touch was comforting. She hadn’t realized she was so shaky. Suddenly, the enormity of what had happened in the past twenty-four hours—the real danger she had been in—swept over her like one of those rogue waves on Loch Linnhe. She clutched Niall tighter and looked up at him. “If ye had nae come—”
“’Tis over, lass. Try nae to think about it.”
“I thought….they said…that ye were dead.”
Niall smiled. “’Tis a good thing they thought that or they might have finished me off with a bullet.”
“Doona jest!” Annie gripped him harder. “I could nae bear the thought that they had…killed…ye.”
Niall’s eyes darkened as he looked at her. Holding her gaze, he encircled her waist and drew her closer until her breasts pressed against his chest, and then he bent his head.
Annie stopped breathing. The mere graze of the first kiss was a gentle caress, barely there, the second teasing, his warm lips playing with her. Then Niall nibbled lightly at one corner of her mouth before slowly sucking her bottom lip between his.
Annie felt dizzy and about to swoon, even though she had managed not to while abducted. His tongue probed hers as he deepened the kiss. Instinctively, her arms went around his neck as she opened her mouth to allow him entrance. Niall groaned, his tongue delving deeper to taste all of her.
The experience was heady, like sweet mead. Instinctively, her tongue sought his, circling and looping, playing tag. Her nipples tightened and her breasts grew heavy. Annie rubbed against him, seeking the friction that would bring pleasure.
Niall broke away, his breathing short. “I want to taste all of ye, Annie, but ’tis nae the place. We are nae safe yet.”
Annie drew a shaky breath. “Ye are right. We must ride.”
Niall nodded and boosted her into the saddle, then handed her the reins. He vaulted onto his own horse and turned to her, his eyes darkening again and his gaze intense. “But tonight…tonightwe can finish what we started.”
