The only thing the rumors had in common was that Ewan had killed Kieran.
Personally, she didn"t believe those tales for one reason and one reason only. Had Ewan MacAllister taken the life of his older brother, his other brothers wouldn"t be so close to him now. Nor would they rally to his defense when others spoke harshly of him.
Everyone with an ounce of Scots in them knew the one law that governed the MacAllister clan. To threaten one brother was to threaten them all.
A kins.h.i.+p such as theirs would never tolerate, let alone protect, Ewan if he were guilty of killing Kieran.
And so she"d bet her life on her reasoning.
Luckily, so far she"d been right.
Ewan led her to a small stable that she hadn"t noticed on her arrival. Hidden behind a copse of trees, it had a good-sized corral that was made up of the mountain on all but one side of it.
She glanced around with a frown. She"d left her maid and one of her father"s retainers waiting close by, along with her mare.
Now only her horse was still present.
The other two people and horses were nowhere to be seen.
"Agnes? David?" she called out, looking about for them.
"What are you doing?" Ewan asked.
Nora frowned as she continued to look about. "My maid and one of my father"s men were here. I left them to travel alone to your..." She paused before she said something to offend him, then finished with "home."
He looked at her incredulously. "Your father"s man allowed that?"
"Well, aye. He didn"t question it when I said I would go up to your cave alone. He said they"d wait right here until I returned." Fear and concern knotted her stomach. "You don"t think anything happened to them, do you?"
Before he could answer, she caught sight of a folded piece of parchment tied to her saddle by a red ribbon.
Curious, she went over to it and pulled it free. She opened the letter and read it.
Nora stared at the words in disbelief.
"What is it?" Ewan asked, coming over to stand by her side.
"David says they have abandoned me," she said quietly.
How could they have done such a thing?
Nora read the words aloud. "It says that since they delivered me into your capable hands, they decided it would be best for them to return home before someone missed them and thought they were part of my conspiracy."
Ewan let out a disgusted sigh. ""Tis a good thing I was here then, otherwise you would have been left to your own defenses. Were I your father, I"d have some of that man"s skin for his carelessness. Such a dereliction warrants a beating and then some."
Spoken like a less than refined gentleman. True, David should have ascertained her welfare before leaving; still, it didn"t warrant a harsh beating.
David had always been a faithful servant to both her and her father. It didn"t make sense that he would leave without verifying her well-being.
Why had he done such a thing?
Turning his back to her, Ewan whistled for his horse, and to her amazement, the beast obeyed.
It trotted over to him like an old friend.
He clucked his tongue at the horse and patted it gently on the nose. "Hi there, laddie," he said softly.
"You ready for a ride?"
The horse nickered, then b.u.t.ted Ewan"s shoulder affectionately.
Without a word to her, Ewan released his horse and made his way into the small barn.
She followed behind him curiously.
Inside the makes.h.i.+ft storage area, she saw the hay and feed for the horse. Everything was very neat and well kept, much as his home had been.
Ewan pulled a bridle from its peg on the wall and grabbed the heavy saddle up as if it weighed nothing at all. Her eyes widened at the sight of him as he carried it out the door. The fabric of his s.h.i.+rt contoured against every deep crevice of the muscles on his back and ribs. Every masculine bulge was practically laid bare to her hungry gaze.
Her knees went weak.
Ewan was a heavenly feast for the eyes, no doubt whatsoever. His muscles fair rippled with every move he made, and though his hair was much too long, she found the texture of it strangely beckoning.
She remembered only too well what it had felt like to run her fingers through those thick, black waves.
And his eyelashes...
Surely no man should have a set so long. They made a perfect frame for his crystal blue eyes.
He was what her mother called a heavenly form of masculine perfection.
Nora remained perfectly silent while he saddled his mount. She found her throat far too dry to speak.
Especially when he bent over to fasten the saddle around the horse"s belly.
It was the first time in her life she"d ever noticed a man"s backside. His dark brown trewes were tight over his rear and showed her his manly proportions. Of course, it didn"t help that she had already seen that backside bare and knew firsthand just how well shaped it was.
Very disturbing.
But not nearly as much as the peculiar desire she had to walk up to him and run her hand along those lean hips, then up his back and over his chest.
Nora!
Where were these thoughts coming from? Her mother would die of shock, and she herself was mortified by the wayward drift of her attentions.
What was it about Ewan that made her long to do things with him that would have her spending the rest of her life in penance for them?
She"d always fas.h.i.+oned herself to be a moral and decent lady. Circ.u.mspect in all things.
Until now, she"d never really tasted decadent l.u.s.t.
But she tasted it now.
It was hot and demanding.
Frightening.
And all too alluring.
Ewan led his horse to hers and inspected her mare. An involuntary s.h.i.+ver ran over her as she noted the care he took with the animal. The way his long, tapered fingers stroked and soothed her horse.
Nay, he wasn"t a completely evil ogre. Such a man wouldn"t care for animals the way he did. And a true ogre would never have so tender a touch.
He turned toward her with a frown. "Do you intend to come over here and mount your horse, or are you wanting to stare at my backside for the rest of the day?"
Heat scalded her cheeks, though from anger at his words or embarra.s.sment from the fact that she was doing just that, she wasn"t sure.
"You, sir, have the manners of a stump."
He gave her a droll stare. "Since I"m as tall as a tree, that would be rather fitting, don"t you think?"
His humor caught her off-guard. Interesting that he could laugh at what, in all honesty, had been a very rude comment on her part. She really shouldn"t have said that. It wasn"t something she would normally do, but something about this man rather brought out the worst of her.
Most likely, it was the fact that he really did have the manners of a stump.
She went to her horse, then turned to look at him expectantly.
He moved to his own mount without so much as a backward glance at her.
"Well?" she asked when it became completely obvious that he had no intention of returning to her side.
He looked at her blankly, as if he had no idea what she wanted from him. "Well what?"
How dense could the man be? Surely he had more common decency than this?
"Are you not going to help me mount?" she asked.
"Can you not do it yourself?"
She was aghast. Did the man not have a mother? A sister? Anyone around him who was female?
"Well, no. I need your help."
He used his reins to scratch his bearded cheek as he stared at her speculatively. "Need my help...
what?"
"To mount."
He snorted at that. Dropping the reins, he folded his arms over his chest and pierced her with those icy eyes of his. "If you be needing my help to mount, it seems, my lady, that you are forgetting the one important word in that sentence."
Nora was stunned by his demand. The bear who lived in a cave was lecturingher on manners?
Was this some kind of jest?
"I"m waiting," he said impatiently.
She glared at him, and that arrogant stance that demanded manners from her and yet required none from him.
"Fine then," she said stubbornly, refusing to give him the satisfaction of correcting her, "I shall do it myself."
Or so she thought.
What she quickly learned after trying to mount was that her mare was wont to move away every time she started to climb onto the horse"s back.
She tried several times, and several times the horse danced away from her.
"Ow!" Nora snapped as her foot was wrenched by the stirrup and she again found herself standing by the horse"s side while the cursed beast stared at her with mirthful eyes.
"Having a wee bit of a problem there?" Ewan asked.
"Nay," she hastened to a.s.sure him as she gathered her skirt around her to prepare for another try. "No problem at all."
If she could just get the beast to hold still.
Nora tried again.
This time, her horse stepped away at the worst possible moment.
Unbalanced, she fell sprawling into the dust with her skirts flying up high over her legs, exposing her to his view. Och now! She was humiliated over this.
Ewan bolted to her side and forced her prancing mare away from her. "Are you harmed, la.s.s?"
She shoved her skirts down to cover herself. "Nothing more than my dignity, I a.s.sure you."
To her surprise, he helped her to her feet and gently brushed the dirt from her skirts.
"I dinna mean for my ill humor to cause you hurt, Nora. Here..." He picked her up as if she weighed nothing at all, and set her on the back of her horse.
Completely dumbstruck by the turnaround of his actions, she watched in silence as he walked to his own horse. He slung one long leg over his mount with an ease that truly made her envious.
Without a single care, he positioned himself on the horse"s back and leaned forward to take the dangling reins he"d dropped when he dashed to her aid.
Why did his horse stand there so patiently while hers felt the need to prance about and embarra.s.s her?
But what amazed her most was the way Ewan looked on top of his horse as he controlled the powerful, spirited steed with ease. He sat confidently in his saddle with a raw masculine aura that brought heat to her cheeks and a strange pounding to her chest.
Even ill-kept and half drunk, he was an incredibly handsome man, and she couldn"t help but wonder what he would look like with a bath, a shave and fresh clothes.