Page 100 of Dark Lover

Sam straightened. “Shit.” The army was coming back. There were about a dozen knights. She knew Ian really didn’t want to leap. She got it, she did. It hurt. He’d leapt a whole bunch of times recently, mostly because of her. “Are you really…going to take them on…one by one?” she panted.

He took her hand and pulled her with him into the forest. The outskirts were sparsely populated with evergreen trees, tangled shrubs and brush. A horse and rider could navigate the outer edge, although not adeptly. About a hundred yards ahead, the forest was so dense that it seemed pitch-black. They ran for those impenetrable depths.

Hooves pounded behind them.

Sam glanced back and saw the knight riding like a madman, weaving through the trees, his horse zigzagging the way those western gals did on barrel racers. She didn’t know if she could run any harder or faster. Her lungs were about to explode.

His sword sliced the air, close to her head and shoulders. Maclean put his arm around her, wrestling her into sudden blackness.

They stumbled forward. Sam couldn’t see and she hoped he could. They crashed into a trunk, branches scraping their arms, their faces. Her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. They slowed abruptly to a walk. The only sound now that could be heard was their own harsh, labored breathing.

Sam slid her hand down his arm to his hand and sank to the ground, which felt soft, maybe mossy, beneath her bottom and bare thighs. She realized what she was doing, released him and threw back her head, breathing hard. He sank down beside her. For a long time they just sat there in the near darkness, gulping air.

The birds started to sing from the treetops around them.

Sam leaned back against the trunk, and realized it was his shoulder. She hesitated.

The past few minutes were a crazy blur. But they’d done it. They’d outrun those monster knights. And his body felt awfully warm and strong, frankly male, behind her shoulder. His body felt good. “What a rush,” she finally said.

He made a sound, like laughter.

Sam now saw that the forest wasn’t pitch-black. It was dark with shadow, but she could make out every tree trunk and branch that was close by. She could even see the chipmunk that had paused at the base of a tree, not far from where they sat. It blinked its beady eyes at them.

She smiled and breathed.

Ian didn’t move away from her.

He’d leapt through time to find her.

Her heart seemed to quiver oddly at the notion. She was almost elated. She dared to look up at his handsome profile. He glanced down at her. His gaze remained serious and searching.

“I’m all right.”

“They didn’t hurt ye?”

“They planned to. But those locks slipped off and then Tabby threw a really good protection spell at me. I took off.” She sobered. “If Tabby hadn’t heard my cry for help, I’d be dead right now.”

He stared into the forest grimly.

She looked at him. She wanted to touch him, his cheek, his jaw, and the rest of his amazing, hard body. She wanted really good, really hot sex. No, she wanted really hot sex together with friendship and caring. She sort of liked Maclean.

And she wanted to thank him for his help.

But that was insane. She got down to business. “Where is the damned page, Ian?”

He looked at her. “Loch Awe.”

It only took her an instant. He’d never leap back in time to hide it, not if he didn’t have to. “How did you get it there?”

He shrugged. “A charter jet, a pilot, a messenger.”

There was one problem, Sam thought. She was in 1527. She needed to tell Nick, who was in 2009.

Ian looked at her.

“Reading my mind?”

“Ye know by now that I can’t read minds. Not often, anyway.” He was sharp.