Nora followed after him.
He was already to the wagon.
"Ewan MacAllister," she said sharply, "stop right where you are."
"Go away, Nora. I"m in no mood for you."
"Why? Because of what that fool said?"
He clenched his teeth and looked away.
She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, then forced him to look at her. "You didn"t steal me from anyone."
"Think you Ryan will feel that way? You don"t belong to me, Nora. I have no right to you."
"You"re right. I don"t belong to you. I belong to no man on this earth. I am my own person and not the property of my father, Ryan or anyone else. Whom I give myself to is my concern, not theirs."
He tried to pull away, but she held him.
"Look at me."
He did.
"You"re a good man, Ewan. One with a good heart. If Isobail couldn"t see that, then she was an even bigger fool than her brother. But I see you. I know you."
His eyes were filled with agony as he stared at her. He took her hand into his and pressed it against his lips.
Ewan inhaled the sweet scent of her. He wanted this woman with every piece of his heart. But at the end of the day, he knew Graham was right.
He had stolen her from another.
For all he knew Ryan would be like Robby MacDouglas, pining away for her. Willing to risk life and limb to regain her.
And who would blame him?
Nora was wonderful.
He didn"t deserve someone like her. He deserved nothing at all.
"Go back inside, Nora. Please."
To his relief, she nodded and obeyed.
Ewan stood back, trying to draw a deep breath to alleviate the pain in his chest.
He had to let her go, and yet all he wanted was to hold on to her.
Why couldn"t he ever find a woman for himself? One who wasn"t promised to someone else?
Pagan joined him. "Your friend has decided with a little help from yours truly to leave the village immediately. Are you all right?"
"Thank you. Aye, I"m fine."
Pagan glanced in the direction Nora had vanished. "She"s a good woman. You"re very lucky to have someone like that who"s willing to appreciate you for what you are."
Ewan nodded in agreement. "That she is."
"Are you to marry her?"
He shook his head. "She"s not meant for me."
Pagan scoffed at him. "Then who is she meant for, Ewan? I can"t imagine any other man showing her the patience you do. I for one would go mad if I had to tolerate her tongue for any length of time."
Ewan snarled at him.
Pagan grinned at his reaction. "There"s what I expected from you. You"ll tolerate no one to insult her.
Sounds like love to me."
Ewan grimaced at his words. "You know nothing of it."
"True enough. I know naught of Cupid"s arrow and have no wish to be educated. But if I were ever to be stricken by his machinations, I don"t think I could just let go of the one who held my interest and see her in another"s arms. I only know how to fight for what I want."
"And have you ever had to?"
He turned darkly serious, his eyes glacial, and in that moment Ewan was glad he wasn"t facing the man in battle. There was something very deadly and sinister about Pagan. "Every day of my life."
Ewan"s mind flashed to the sight of Isobail rus.h.i.+ng toward her lover. The two of them had embraced and kissed.
Dumbfounded, he had watched them until his anger spurred him to attack.
Night after night, he had lain awake wis.h.i.+ng he had beaten the knight that day. That he had continued to fight until the man killed him.
But he"d been too heartbroken to breathe.
Thank you, Ewan, Isobail had said coldly, her eyes icy as she regarded his beaten and b.l.o.o.d.y form.
Without you, I"d still be locked in the Highlands with no hope of ever seeing Gilbert again .
Her lover had thanked him then, never knowing what Isobail had promised Ewan if he would help her, and the two of them had laughed as Gilbert"s men escorted him out.
In the end, he had consoled himself with the knowledge that a woman so faithless and cruel, who could use her body to lure both him and Kieran, would never be true to the knight. Gilbert would come to learn her as they had.
G.o.d have mercy on him then.
Ewan sighed.
Life was ever confusing to him. Nora wasn"t faithless. He knew that. She"d never used her body to get her way.
But she had given herself to him.
How he wished he had one of his brothers there to talk to.
Nay, he wished he had Kieran there to talk to.
His gut twisted as he remembered the last time they had been together.
"She doesn"t love you!"
"She loves me, Kieran. Accept it."
They had fought like lions, trying to shred each other until Braden had come between them and pried them apart.
"You are brothers!" Braden had snapped. "Would you let a woman come between you?"
Ewan had wiped the blood from his face and glared angrily at Kieran. "You"ve never loved any woman more than a few weeks. You can have any woman you want. But Isobail loves me. Can"t you leave us in peace?"
"How could you ask that after what you"ve done? She was to be my bride, and you went behind my back to have her. You"re not a man, Ewan, you"re a sniveling coward."
They had fought more until Lochlan had removed Kieran from the room.
That night, Isobail had come to him and told him that she was leaving.
"If you love me, Ewan, come with me and we can be together forever. We can never stay here in Scotland with your family. They will never forgive us for what we"ve done. The only chance for happiness we have is in England. Come with me."
Like a fool, he had gone.
It was a mistake he would pay for for the rest of eternity.
Nora sat in the pub with a heavy heart. What would it take to lift Ewan"s spirit?
She looked over to Catarina, who had returned from outside with a change of clothes for the night.
"Cat?"
Catarina paused and looked at her.
"Do you know much about men?"
Catarina smiled. "Aye, my lady. I know a great deal about them."
"How do you entice them?"
"All men or just Ewan?"
Nora blushed. "Just Ewan."
Catarina smiled, then crooked her finger for Nora to follow after her. "Let me share with you the secret my mother gave to me. "Tis guaranteed to win over any man, be he beggar or king. Trust me, Nora. You do as I say and you"ll be able to command any man who suits your fancy. Lord Ewan will be powerless against you."
Chapter 9.
Nora spent hours with Catarina as she taught her numerous exotic tricks to entice Ewan with exotic dances. How to roll and undulate her hips in a duplication of Catarina"s wild movements.
She felt strangely erotic and womanly as she learned the dance, and she found it hard to believe Cat"s mother had taught her all this.
All Nora"s mother had ever done was teach her to be circ.u.mspect and proper. Her graceful, decorous mother would be possessed of vapors to know Nora was practicing such heathen antics.
But if they would gain her Ewan"s notice...
"Will this really work?"
"Trust me," Catarina a.s.sured her. "Men are easily led astray by their desires. All you have to do is cater to them, and voila, they are yours."
"Aye," she said as she thought of Isobail and the grief she had caused him. "It"s why Ewan is in so much pain now. Perhaps I shouldn"t do this," she said as Catarina dressed her in one of Catarina"s low-cut gowns. "My mother always told me that it is evil to tease a man."
"It"s only evil if you have no intention of keeping him."
Nora bit her lip. "What if I am unsure yet whether I want him?"
"Are you?"
She hesitated as she thought about the matter. "Aye... nay... maybe?"
Catarina shook her head. "My lady, what more could you want from a man? He is handsome and concerned for you. He looks at you as if his very life hinges on your happiness. I would give aught to have a man dote on me as he does you."
Nora bit her lip in indecision. "Aye, you are right. If I must marry, and I must, I can think of no one I would rather have than Ewan."
"Then why are you fretting?"
"What if he doesn"t want me? He likes his quiet solitude, and I am most certainly not quiet."
Catarina tied a thin, gauzy blue veil around Nora"s waist. "I wonder if he likes it so much or if he is just used to it."
Nora frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I just wonder if he chose it because he liked it or if it was forced upon him by others."
Catarina stepped away and swept a critical gaze over her.
"Perhaps," Nora concurred. "I said as much to him myself, but he never commented on if it was true or not."
Nora paused as Catarina moved to style her hair. "Why are you helping me, Cat? You should be scandalized by what we"re doing, not partic.i.p.ating in it."