Gifts of Desire (2 page)

             
In
what could on
ly have been a few seconds,
her
senses,
heightened
by
caution
, took all
of
this in.  T
hen
there was
the soft
scuff of earth
under hoof
as the leader moved
forward from the others
on his
massive
black stallion
. 
She raised
her head and
boldly
met his eyes. 
He carried himself proudly, and an
almost palpable
aura of dangerous strength
and power swirled around him. 
It made her want to get closer, to
touch him, to see if she could feel it.
She did not know this
man;
she certainly
had
never met
with
him before this day
,
because
she sur
e
ly wo
uld have remembered that face.   H
e was beautiful, ruggedly handsome and achingly sensual at the same time.
And
since
she
knew him not at all, she
thought it strange that
she felt no fear
as she looked at him
.  N
one.  She
would have
expected it,
the fear.  A woman alone had better be wary of men; there were as many bad as good, and
despite everything
she was as vulnerable as any o
ther.  But it just wasn’t there; its absence nearly as alarming to her
as if she
had
actually
been
frightened.  But
she
knew
that this man
would not hurt her; it was not a vision,
which
unlike Malcolm,
she had only rarely,
but a calm certainty.

             
H
er
chin tilted up
higher
as she continued to study him
.  A wide, full mouth, strong dimpled chin, high cheekbones,
slightly
wavy
chestnut
brown hair tied back at his nape, and his eyes… a
fathomless
deep
blue
-green
. 
The color of the sea. 
She was still studying him when he
spok
e, his voice
deep and hard and demanding;
the voice of a
born
leader of men, she thought.
  He was used to being in charge.
 

             
“W
ho are you
, lass?”

             
“
Ella
”, she said simply
, not dropping her gaze from his steady glare
.

             
His eyes roamed
boldly and
unapologetically over her form before returning
at last
to her face.
             
“Where are your kin?”

             
She paused,
unsure
of how to answer
,
then said
truthfully,
for
she knew the best option when one had to be deceptive was to come as close to the truth as possible,
“I have
few
kin
to speak of, and none nearby
.
”

             
He narrowed his eyes a
t her, but she st
ood her ground
.
  She tilted her chin up just a little more, meeting his gaze
even more
boldly
than before
.
  He was trying to intimidate her with dark looks.  It doubtless worked well, on most people.  She, though, was on a mission, and a few dark looks would not get in her way.

             
“And why
w
ould
a lass be wandering
in
the forest alone
, with no
escort
?”
he asked calmly, but his eyes snapped with suspicion.

             
Wandering in the forest? 
He made her sound like some silly child! 
“I am not
wandering
in the forest
”
,
she said, “
I am following this path,
er…
road.   A
nd I
had
an escort, but they abandoned me some time ago”.
  She shrugged
slightly
, as if being abandoned was of no matter to her.
 

             
Actually
she had been left alone
only moments ago, but she
did not want these men chasing
down Malcolm a
nd Duncan
, as much as they might deserve it
for
deserting her with no explanation
.
Wait…
 
She drew a quick breath
as i
t
suddenly
dawned on her
that Malcolm
must have known
th
ese five men were ahead of them.
H
e had stayed with her until the last possible moment. 
The raven, the omen
. 

             
And then he had left her in their
hands.  It had all been planned!  It must have been.
  Carefully planned, how could she not have guessed?
 
The
scoundrels
!
  They could have told her
, she w
ould have gone willingly enough to do her duty.
  Men and their scheming!
Now she had no idea who had found her, or what she should do next.
  Was she meant to go with them?  Ask them the way?

             
The leader’s gaze snapped back to her at the small sound of her indrawn breath; he had been scanning the trees behind her.  She looked up at him, and he met her eyes for a moment before he spoke again.
  There was something about his eyes…
as if she should remember…
if she could only look long enough, deep enough.

             
“A
re you so much trouble
then, that your escort would leave you here unprotected?” 

             
Distracted
again
from her thoughts, s
he gave him a wry half-smile, she just couldn’t help
it. 
“Apparently, I am.”
 
She thought she saw a
brief flash of amusement in his remarkable
eyes, but she couldn’t be sure.

             
“
Perhaps
she’s a spy,” offered another of the men helpfully
, the first any of them had spoken
. 

             
She realized with a start that she had forgotten the other men were even there.
 
The leader shot him a look, but turned back
to
frown
at her
contemplatively
. 
She looked back at him.  She was finding his air of
darkly broodi
ng strength
strangely
intriguing.
And something more…
her mind struggled to bring it into focus.  There was something she should know, just beneath the surface.  It eluded her.  She stole glances at each of the other m
en, but there was nothing so remarkable about any of them
.
  Her eyes were drawn again back to
him
.

             
“S
earch the
forest”, the leader commanded, “S
he may not be as alone as she claims.
  And be on the look
out for an ambush.
” 

             
His men obeyed immediately, slipping off into the trees.  She knew they wouldn’t find anyone,
her friends and her horse were long-gone.  S
he really was alone
now
.  Except for the man who
was
scowling at her
as if she were
a problem he
hadn’t anticipated this day, and now
only
wished woul
d go away.  He looked fierce
,
so strong, more than a little dangerous
.
S
everal tattooed bands circled
his upper arms
; reminders of battles fought, and
no doubt
won.
  She took a
brazen
step closer to him,
unaccountably
curious now,
irresistibly drawn,
and he flinched
slightly
as if surprised
by her boldness
.
 
Turning slightly from his gaze, s
he
put
her upturned hand out to the stallion and the huge horse blew from his nostrils and nuzzled her palm.
She already missed Sindal, her lovely white stallion.  She hoped Malcolm would take good care of him while she was away.
He had better, or she would make him pay! 
Smiling, she reached up and rubbed
the
soft
black
muzzle
.  She looked up to see the warrior watching her, his eyes thoughtful, his mouth a grim line.
 

             
“
A beautiful horse.”  She said
, taking a step back so that she could see him better
.  “
You
know
my name
now, but
what may I call
you
?
”

             
His scowl deepened, if such was possible.
  “
Perhaps
you already
know
exactly who I am.”

             
“If
you
are implying that I am some sort
of
spy
”
,
she
replied
lightly,
turning her attention back to the horse,
“
then I am
certainly
not
a very good one, because I have no
idea
who you are.
  I told you, I was abandoned here.  For reasons I’d rather not discuss.
”

             
“
Aye, w
e’ll see about that,” he
said
.

             
S
he sighed
impatiently.
 
She really would be a horrible spy,
being sneaky and devious
was not her strong suit
. 
Anyone who knew her would see right through it. 
She was usually very good at reading the thoughts and feeling of others
though
, often understanding their motives better than even they themselves did. 
But she
wasn’t sure about this man, he hid his thoughts well,
and
no emotion showed on his
face, besides the obvious
irritation, of course.
S
he could guess
, however,
that he wasn’t about to let her
just
walk awa
y
, especially
since
he
w
as
clearly
suspicious of finding her
here
alone
.
 
S
he wouldn’t be
run
ning off into the woods.  Although she
knew she
had all of the skills to survive on her own indefinitely, she couldn’t outrun five men on horseback.
No, running wasn’t an option, especially
, she reminded herself,
when she was fairly certain Malcolm had intended her to meet
up with
these men, though why, she couldn’t imagine.
If she
went willingly
, they would probably at least feed her
.
   And she would have shelter from the
coming
rain,
most likely
.