Sean actually crossed himself at those fiercely uttered words.
Graham spat on the ground and shoved Nora toward Rufus. "Secure the wench and let us finish our business."
Ewan pulled at the ropes that held him. Somehow he was going to find a way to escape this. G.o.d help the MacKaids when he did. They were all going to learn firsthand why no one crossed a MacAllister.
Only death awaited such fools.
Once Rufus had Nora tied up with Graham"s belt, he sat her roughly next to Ewan, then returned to his brothers to help write their note.
Nora licked her lips, but held herself together with a strength of will that amazed him. She was truly spectacular given what she"d been through this day. Brave.
Even so, he could tell just how shaken she was from all this, and he ached to soothe her nerves. But he doubted if anything short of their escape could do that.
"It"s hopeless, isn"t it?" she asked.
"Nothing"s ever hopeless," he said with conviction. He would get her out of this no matter what it took.
She sighed and s.h.i.+fted her bound hands in her lap. "I don"t know, Ewan. I"m thinking this is as hopeless as it gets."
"Look at me, Nora."
She did.
"If this is as hopeless as it gets, you and I are in good standing. I promise you. This, in the grand scheme of life, isn"t so bad."
She shook her head at him. "You"re a strange man, Ewan MacAllister. But I love you anyway."
His heart caught at her words. "What?"
"I love you," she repeated. Then she leaned forward and laid her head on his chest and snuggled up to him. "I"m so sorry I got you into this."
Happiness, disbelief and anger tore through him.
How could a woman like her have a single care for him?
And yet he knew she spoke the truth. She wasn"t Isobail to spread her lies and walk away. Nora would never be so cruel.
She loved him.
And he loved her even more now than he had before.
"I will not let them hurt you, Nora. Do you understand?"
Nora offered him a small smile that she didn"t really feel. She appreciated what he was trying to do, but she didn"t hold out any false hopes.
How she loved her big bear. She could almost believe him when he said that. "Aye."
Ewan nuzzled his face against hers. She could hear his intake of breath as if he were inhaling her. He pulled back ever so slightly and kissed her cheek.
She watched in awe as he moved away from her. He stood up slowly, turned to face the wall, and braced one leg against the old stones next to where the ring was embedded.
He took the ropes into his hands and used his leg to pull against the iron ring.
Every muscle in his body tightened as he tried to pull it free.
Nora was aghast at his actions as much for the fact that he might succeed as for the fact that what he was doing had to be excruciating for him.
"Hey!" Rufus shouted as he looked up to see Ewan on his feet.
Ewan didn"t stop.
The wall shook as Ewan panted and strained even more.
Nora pushed herself to her feet and moved away from the wall before her strong bear pulled it down on top of her.
She"d never seen anything like it.
An instant before the brothers reached him, Ewan pulled the ring free.
He turned on them with a vicious snarl.
Nora wanted to help him fight as the brothers attacked Ewan, but as long as she was there tied up, she was a liability to him and she knew it. If one of the brothers caught her, they would again threaten her life to control Ewan.
So she did the only thing she could.
She ran for the horses as the MacKaids ran for Ewan.
Her gamble worked. They were so intent on subduing Ewan that she was on Ewan"s horse before Graham realized she"d left the area.
Nora wasn"t used to riding bareback, but it didn"t matter. It was up to her to see them safely away from this, and she wouldn"t fail Ewan.
After pulling herself up on the horse"s back, she clamped her legs tight around the horse"s ribs and ran Ewan"s horse straight at the men.
The brothers scrambled away.
With a grunt, Ewan swung himself up behind her.
He brought his bound arms down over her head, placed them around her, and took the reins, then turned the horse about.
He ran it toward the other horses, scattering their mounts before he headed them into the dense forest.
She could hear the brothers cursing angrily as she and Ewan rode away from them while they tried to recapture their own horses.
Nora wanted to turn around and see if they were behind them, but couldn"t. Ewan"s hold on her was far too tight.
So instead she focused on remaining as still as possible so that Ewan could maneuver them.
Her entire body was tense and ready as they sped through the forest. His spirited horse flew through the trees easily, but she was terrified the MacKaid brothers would catch them.
After a time, Ewan reined to a stop and turned to look behind them.
"Did we escape?" she asked, her voice high-pitched from fear and trepidation.
"I think so." He hugged her close to him. "You were brilliant, Nora."
She laughed triumphantly. "The horse was the easy part. You did the hardest part, what with pulling the ring from the wall. Are you all right?"
"A bit sore, but d.a.m.ned glad you kept your wits about you." He kissed her quickly and soundly on the lips.
She smiled at his praise. "Were you expecting me to lose my wits, my lord?"
"Nay. I know you better than that."
She was warmed by his words and wanted desperately to kiss him for it. And that she would as soon as they stopped.
She would kiss the poor man blind for everything.
Ewan led them through the woods, farther away from the MacKaids.
"Shouldn"t we head back toward town?" she asked.
He shook his head. "They"ll be expecting us to do that. No doubt it"s where they pulled back, too, and they"re waiting for us. I say we go farther north, then west before he head back toward Lochlan"s."
It amazed her how much she trusted him.
How much she loved him.
He slowed the horse so that he could untie the belt from her hands and free her. Nora tried to return the favor, but his ropes were so tight that she couldn"t.
She gingerly touched the red welts on his wrists, some of which had already started bleeding. "It must hurt dreadfully."
"I"ll live until we find some way to cut it off."
"Do you not have the dagger in your boot?"
"Nay, I loaned it to Lysander earlier this morning and forget to get it back."
She sighed. " "Tis a pity," but even as she spoke those words, she frowned.
Ewan looked somewhat pale and he was perspiring quite a bit as if he"d been running for a while.
Attributing it to his exertion at the wall and their close escape, she leaned back against him and let him lead them to safety.
They didn"t stop until nightfall.
Ewan removed his arms from around her and helped her down as best he could.
It wasn"t until he slid from the back of the horse that she saw the bright red stain on his clothes. It looked like blood. Alot of blood.
Nora"s heart stopped at the sight. Surely he wasn"t injured. If he were, he would have mentioned it.
Wouldn"t he?
And yet there was a pinched paleness to his handsome features. He was still perspiring, and she noticed the uneasy way he moved. There was no sign of the lethal grace she was used to seeing from her giant.
"What"s that?" she asked, pointing to the stain.
"Nothing." He pulled the horse to a cleared area and secured it so that it could graze.
Nora frowned at his actions, and when she looked down to see that the side and the back of her own dress was also coated in red, her heart pounded even more.
"You"re hurt?" She rushed to him.
He wiped the sweat from his face with his arm and shook his head as if to clear it. "Graham stabbed me while we were fighting. The blade glanced off my rib."
She blinked in disbelief of his blase tone. How could he be so nonchalant about a stab wound?
"Ewan MacAllister, sit!"
He arched a brow at her as if he couldn"t believe her commanding tone.
"I can"t believe you," she muttered. "You play helpless when you have a minor fall out of a tree, but let you have a serious wound and you get all n.o.ble on me. "Oh, it doesn"t hurt. I"ll be all right." How dare you! Now you sit down and let me take a look at you."
He growled at her, then did as she said. "I"m not an infant, Nora, and I"ve no need to be coddled like one. I"ve suffered much worse wounds than this and I"m still here."
She didn"t even deign to respond to that, because if she did, his ears would be ringing with her insults until the world ended.
Nora took a deep breath and fought the urge to loose her tongue on him.
How could he do this?
The wound had to be excruciating.
She forced him to lie down so that she could lift his s.h.i.+rt up to see the injury. She felt the color drain from her cheeks as she saw it.
Graham had laid open a long gash. The evil-looking wound was still oozing blood.
"Oh, Ewan," she breathed. "I can"t believe you didn"t bleed to death. Why didn"t you tell me you were hurt?"
He reached up with his bound hands to touch her cheek with his fingers. The intensity of his crystal blue gaze made her hot and s.h.i.+very all at once.
"We couldn"t stop, Nora. Had I told you I was wounded, you would have made me stop so that you could tend it, and I didn"t want to see you retaken."
Her love for him tripled with those words. For her, he had suffered this for untold leagues without a single comment or complaint.
She took his hands into hers and kissed his fingers. "Thank you. Now lie still and let me see to you."
He nodded and pulled his hands away.