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‘Did I do something wrong?’
‘No, you did nothing wrong. I did.’
‘Conall?’ There was so much hurt in that one word.
‘Come here to me.’ He gathered her into his arms and held her tight against him.
‘Conall, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. Did I hurt you?’
‘No, it was nice. I liked you touching me, and you were gentle, so fear not, you did nothing wrong.’
‘Do you not like me?’
‘Like you? Aye, I like you, more than you know and too much to treat you like that. Hush now. You have to rest, and so do I. We can talk in the morning but what we really need now is to sleep, for we have a long journey ahead of us.’
‘But the storm is too loud.’ Indeed it was, but not compared to the storm raging inside of him.
‘You are exhausted. Cuddle into me, and sleep will come, I promise.’ Conall held her close as the thunder boomed overhead, lying as still as he could. His cock still pulsed with desire.
Kenna pushed her head into his chest, small hands clutching his back while he lay awake, anger, shame and desire wrestling with his conscience. Her body warmed him, but he could not sleep at first, alone with his thoughts and with the cold comfort that he had done the right thing.
Eventually, Conall fell asleep thinking that if they had applied this kind of torture to him back at Sgathach Dun, he would have given up all his secrets in a heartbeat.
***
Conall was jolted awake at dawn to the sound of Kenna’s shriek and a man’s angry voice. He tore his eyes open and stared into the face of a toothless old man who was holding a pitchfork aimed at his throat. He leapt up, and the pitchfork dug into his neck.
‘Who are you, villain? What are you doing in my house? Speak of I’ll run you through,’ screeched the old man.
Glancing sideways, Conall saw that Kenna was right beside him, holding a blanket up to her neck to cover her nakedness. Suddenly she dropped it, revealing two magnificent breasts. Old age certainly hadn’t blunted the man’s eyesight, for his mouth fell open, and he stared.
In a flash, Conall took the chance to grab the pitchfork, thrust it aside and wrestle the man to the ground. He held the man’s arms behind his back and put his weight full on him so he could not break free.
‘Murder, murder,’ the man shouted at the top of his lungs.
‘Hold still, old man. I’ll not murder you. Forgive me for taking advantage of your empty cottage, but it was necessary for our survival. Now, how would you like some coin for your trouble, eh, more than you earn in a year? If you stop shouting and calm down, we can bargain.’
Sometime later, Conall and Kenna were on the road again, with full bellies, dry clothes and swaying along on the back of an ancient horse, for which Conall was complaining they had paid over the odds. Not much had been said between them since they had set off and though Conall let Kenna rest her head against his broad back, arms wrapped around his middle, she could feel the tension between them. Conall carried on muttering to himself.
‘That old man robbed us. This horse is only fit for dog meat.’
‘I don’t care. It’s just so nice not to be walking to Dunslair.’
He was quiet for a moment, and then out of the blue, he said, ‘Was it absolutely necessary to show yourself like that? He was nought but a feeble old dodderer. I would have had him in an instant, so there was no need to show him your paps and shame yourself.’
‘It worked, didn’t it and if you had barred that door properly, I wouldn’t have had to,’ she snapped back at him. ‘As to shame, ‘twas no worse than what we did last night.’ There she had said it. Now Conall would have to talk about it.
Kenna could not see his face, but she could almost feel him glowering. Kenna smiled at his outrage and felt just a little bit of satisfaction. Could he be jealous?
‘A shock like that could have stopped his heart and killed the poor old bugger,’ said Conall.’
‘Aye, but at least he would have died with a smile on his face, and at least he found me appealing.’
‘Ah, so there it is. You think I don’t find you pretty, so your vanity is pricked.’ His voice was wounded. ‘Last night, do you suppose I didn’t want to have you on that mattress? I could have taken you like some alehouse slut. You were practically begging me to. But no, I did the right thing, the honourable thing. I did not take advantage of you, and what do I get in return for respecting you – sulking?’
‘I’m sorry I offended you with my wantonness, Conall.’
‘Don’t be a fool.’
