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Thunder boomed in the sky, and lightning slashed across it in a brilliant show of blinding color. The very air around them seemed to crackle with danger, yet she stood unmoving, feeling protected just by his nearness. When he raked his gaze slowly from her feet to her face and their eyes met, she shivered at the voraciousness gleaming in the green depths. He desired her! It was both shocking and compelling at once. Her lips parted, and she sucked in a sharp breath to steady her pulse. When heat consumed her, she reached behind her head to lift her heavy hair with one hand and she fanned her face with the other.
Cameron groaned, and she could see a tic start at his jawline. He tilted his face toward the sky for a moment, and she stood entranced at the sight of the rain showering the glorious warrior. When he glanced at her once more, the hunger in his eyes was gone. In its place was undeniable indifference.
“What are ye doing out here?” he demanded, his cold voice slicing through her composure like a serrated dagger.
She worried her lower lip. She had vowed to speak the truth. Though there was a large part of her that suddenly did not want to admit that she felt they must be entwined somehow, since her only memories were of him, she could ill afford to speak lies simply to protect her pride.
“I’ve only two memories,” she said, blinking the rain out of her eyes. “Both are of ye.” Lightning slashed through the sky again, this time so close that she flinched, the hair on the back of her neck prickling.
Wariness flickered in his eyes, making her discomfort grow, but determination to get answers from him, answers she felt he had, coursed through her. She shoved her sopping hair back, and his eyes fastened on her forehead. “Does it hurt?” he asked.
“Aye,” she replied, “but it does nae cause me half as much pain as having nary a notion of who I am. What do ye ken about me?”
Uneasiness danced across his face. “Nae a thing,” he said slowly, “besides the fact that ye were with the group of men who ambushed me and my men and killed Katherine.”
“I dunnae believe ye,” she growled, then rushed to say more before he interrupted her. “My other memory is of ye standing beside a woman with long, dark hair.” She swallowed hard, shivering with the recollection of the all-knowing eyes. “The woman had eyes that seemed to see into my verra soul, as if she knew a dark secret about me.”
The only indication that Cameron heard her was a subtle shift of his body away from her. He seemed almost scared of her.
Icy fear of what his response might mean twisted into her. Dear God above! A hundred possibilities battered her mind at once. “Did we,” she said in a broken whisper, “conspire together to kill the king’s mistress?”
Five
Cameron felt his eyes widen and his lips part. Either the lass was the most accomplished liar he had ever met or she truly had lost her memory. His gut told him she was not lying, but he realized his gut might be misleading him, with such strong lust coursing through him.
“I met ye only once, Serene, and that was the night of the St. John’s Eve festival eight years ago, as I already said. Ye were dressed as a lad, and ye won the competition with cunning. If I wanted to strike at the king, which I dunnae,” he said, vehemently, “I would nae kill a helpless woman to do so. So, nay, I did nae conspire with ye. But it seems, upon thinking about it now, that ye have a history of lying.”
Such hurt flashed across her face that the wish to be able to take back his words filled him. She opened her mouth to say something, but a blur in the sky alarmed him, and he shoved her behind him as an arrow came flying from the woods and blew by them so near that it whistled in his ear. Furious, he glanced toward the overhanging rock ledge that would provide protection for Serene while he chased down the intruder. He lunged for his sword and dagger, both of which he thankfully had laid close to his plaid. But neither would protect them from arrows. He had to get Serene to shelter.
“Come,” he hissed. He grabbed her by the hand, and taking care to keep his body in front of hers, he fairly dragged her over the rocky embankment as she struggled to keep pace.
Another arrow flew toward them, and he almost failed to get them both out of the way in time.
As the rain poured from the sky, partially blinding him, he raced toward the rocks while looking up high past the woods to the watchtower where Roland, the loch guard, was set up to spot and warn them of any attacks. But the man was too far away, and the noise from the rain too great to try to call to him and alert him to sound the horn telling the others that there was an intruder on Dunvegan’s grounds.
“Watch out!” Serene screamed, snapping Cameron’s attention back in the direction of the woods. He saw the arrow too late to move out of the path, so he threw up his arm to deflect it. The arrowhead skidded the length of his forearm, slicing the skin with stinging precision but mercifully not causing grave harm.
Finally, they reached the rock ledge, and he shoved Serene into the shelter. “Stay here!” he commanded.
“Nay!” she retorted. “I’ll nae sit here like a helpless bairn while ye chase after the attacker.”
“Unless yer aim is to get me killed by distracting me with yer presence, dunnae move. Do ye ken me?”
“I ken ye,” she grumbled, her eyes flashing her ire. “I dunnae wish to get ye killed presently, but that may change, given how churlish ye are.”
Laughter bubbled in his chest, despite the dire circumstances. He held his dagger out to her. “If the enemy should reach ye…” He didn’t finish because she was already nodding, indicating that she understood.
He turned away and dashed out of the cave, glancing back only once to ensure she was following his orders. She glared back. Many a lass would be crying, distraught, after being shot at, especially when still facing mortal danger, but not Serene. Admiration filled him as he moved along the rock, staying as flat as he could make himself against it. Shortly, the overhanging ledge would end. He’d no longer be sheltered from view, but it wouldn’t matter. The thick woods met the shore where the ledge ended, and there, he’d be able to move through the cover of trees to move up to where the arrows had been shot from. Then, if the intruder was still there, he would capture the attacker.
He quickly reached the end of the overhang, and he shoved his way past gnarled branches and sticker bushes to climb the steep hill that led to the ledge overhanging the shore below.
Through the gray haze of the storm, he saw a lone figure standing with a flapping cloak on, arm drawn back, and arrow nocked. The rain had lessened as Cameron climbed and now drizzled into nothingness. The man moved suddenly, swiveling his body toward the right, and Cameron was filled with the certainty and the fear that Serene had come out of the cave. He flew across the distance separating him from the attacker and launched himself at the hooded man with a roar, crashing into him as the stranger let loose his arrow. Cameron swung his arm out and knocked the man to the ground before stealing a glance down to the shore. A shadow raced across the rocky ground toward him, skirts flying and hair flapping. God’s teeth! She was damned lucky she’d not been—
The hit atop his head sent him to his knees and made his teeth jar together. Pain exploded in his head, but he rolled forward, coming up on his right knee and swinging his sword in front of him to defend himself. His blade sliced across the attacker’s cloak, and with a gasp, the man stumbled backward.
“Cameron!” Serene screamed from the rocks below. Cameron did not have time to spare a glance. He scrambled to his feet, but the ground immediately swayed underneath him and he stumbled forward onto his knees once more as he watched the attacker turn to flee.
“Devil take ye!” he roared, shoving up to his feet and swiping at the blood dripping from a fresh cut above his right eye.
