Page 50 of A Highlander's Vow

She shut up the voice in her head that said it was true. What it came down to was—did she trust Gregory?

Yes.

Maybe.

They stopped for the night and she heard The Gunn and Anthony grousing to each other that all the stops Megan required had slowed them down.

She pretended to be asleep to hear what else they said, hoping they would mention the letter that Gregory supposedly signed was fake.

Tired from all the travel she was unused to, she fell into a restless slumber and heard no more until the sounds of the men rising and getting their horses ready told her it was time to go.

*

Gregory kicked oneof the warriors traveling with him in the foot. “Time to get up.”

John rolled over. “’Tis still dark.”

“Aye, and time to leave.”

The men slowly rose, stretching and relieving themselves at the end of the clearing where they had slept.

Once Gregory had shared what was left of the bannocks and cheese that Jemima had sent with him, each warrior drank from their own wineskin, draining the rest of the ale they’d carried. Then they were off to another day of hard riding.

To Gregory’s way of thinking they were still days away fromEdinburg. He just prayed that he and Daniel were correct and Sinclair and Gunn had dragged Megan there.

If he found she was there, he would tear the city apart to find her.

As the day wore on, the weather grew ominous. Gregory looked at the sky once they rode away from the two mountains that had blocked their view. “This doesna look good, lads.”

They all looked up and grimaced. Dark clouds had gathered quite a bit since they’d resumed their journey that morning.

“Looks to me as if we’re in for a good storm.”

Gregory sighed. “We’ll continue until the rain forces us to stop.” The last thing they needed was to be held up by bad weather. Although, if they were hampered so were Sinclair and his men.

Not wanting to travel in wet clothes, once the rain began they took cover under a grouping of trees. The men were silent, leaving Gregory with his own thoughts.

He smiled, thinking of how Megan had wanted a marriage of convenience when they first wed. He continued to be confused when Megan had said that Robert had criticized her for a lack of enthusiasm in the bedchamber. It had occurred to Gregory the first time they made love that Megan was merely a woman who needed more attention before her body was prepared for a man. ’Twas not a rare problem and he’d noticed that as time went on, she didn’t need as much time as she had in the beginning.

His wife.

Even thinking about her brought a smile to his face. She was sweet, kind, helpful and made him laugh. As a warrior, he had decided back when he and Robert made their vow that he would not take a wife. And the children who would follow. Leaving a family of his to fend for itself with all the difficulties of life scared him. But all that had changed when he met and married Megan.

He looked up at the sky which continued to bring the rain that hampered their journey. It truly didn’t matter to him if the kingdecided to break their marriage vows and give Megan to The Gunn.

Megan Mackenzie was his and she would remain his. If he had to burn down the Gunn castle to get her back, that was precisely what he would do.

And then take great pleasure in killing the man.

Slowly. And painfully.