Page 26 of A Highlander's Vow

Gregory shrugged. “With my parent’s marriage being not the best example and my da a difficult mon who dinna care how much he hurt my mam’s feelings, I thought I would avoid all that.”

Megan frowned. “Why would ye think ye would be the same?”

He hesitated. “There was a lass who I grew fond of, but before we were able to make any promises to each other she died from an ague. That’s when I decided Fate was reminding me that marriage was no’ in my future.”

“Yet here ye are telling people at the inn that we are married, and unless ye’ve changed yer mind, ye still plan to do yer duty to me.”

“Stop!” He pulled on his horse’s reins and twisted her so they faced each other.

She stared at him wide-eyed. He rested his hands on her shoulders and looked into those eyes. “Aye, maybe when I left Castle Leod to fetch ye I was doing my duty, but that is no’ why I plan to marry ye now.” With those words, he pulled her close to his body and took her mouth in a kiss of passion like she’d never felt before.

Megan jolted as something hard hit her in her upper arm. She felt herself begin to slump in Gregory’s arms and then everything went black.

*

Gregory’s warrior rolewent into immediate action. He gently laid Megon on the ground, straddled her and withdrew his bow from his shoulder. He loaded an arrow, looking around.

A loud whooping came from the direction behind him. He turned and prepared to shoot, then stopped as he recognized the Mackenzie warriors arriving from the north.

The men noticed Megan on the ground, bleeding, and silence followed their arrival. Expecting an attack, Gregory withdrew his sword as did his men while they slid from their horses. They formed a circle around Megan, their backs to each other.

The only sounds were those of small animals scurrying around. “Who the devil was that?” Francis asked, breathing hard, still holdinghis sword at the ready.

“I doona ken.” He waved at the men. “Four of ye circle the area and see what ye can find. The other two stay with us.” He turned his attention to Megan. An arrow stuck out of her upper arm. “I’m sorry, darlin’ but this is going to hurt.” Even though she was still passed out, he felt the need to reassure her.

He broke the end of the arrow off, leaving the rest of it in her flesh. If he pulled it out, she could bleed to death. “We have to get her somewhere we can get help. We’re no’ close enough to home.”

“We’re at the end of Ross land. We have an alliance with them. We can bring Lady Sinclair to Balnagown,” Alexander said.

Gregory nodded and the two who remained with him and Megan moved to their horses.

“One we arrive at Balnagown, ye two come back here and help the others find our attackers. Because nothing has happened since Megan was shot, I doona think it’s Gunn’s men. Unless this was the one who has been tracking us.”

Gregory lifted Megan into his arms and swung his leg over the horse. With the other two men surrounding them, he headed to Balnagown Castle.