Page 53 of Highlander’s Protector

He nodded, and she helped him stand. He was dizzy and wavered, but she pulled him close against her side and let him wrap his arm around her. They walked through the bushes up the stream until she found their horses. She gave him his cloak to wrap around himself and walked behind the bushes to strip off her shift and put on her dry dress.

Then she helped him climb onto Daisy, and they galloped away.

They kept going northwest, towards Stirling. The wind was picking up, and the trees and bushes swayed violently, bent to the ground as though by an invisible hand. Rain drizzled at first, then poured. It came from the sea in the west and chased them like an army. Thunder rolled louder and closer. Lightning flashed.

But David was feeling better and better, coming back to life. He kept reminding himself that he didn’t die. Thank God, he didn’t die. His whole body was tired but alive, sensitive to every blow of the wind, the rustle of leaves, the drum of Daisy’s hooves.

Soon, he saw a house to his left through the gray mist of rain.

“Look!” He turned to Anna and pointed. “Let’s ask for shelter there.”

They should avoid people, really. But what choice did they have with the storm on their heels and nothing but fields and woods and hills around them? At least they were a good distance from the village now.

As they came closer, he saw it was a farm, though the fields were overgrown with wild plants and flowers. There was no smoke rising from the smoke hole in the roof. They dismounted, completely drenched, and led the horses into the empty stables. The roof leaked in one place, but it was a decent enough shelter and the horses would be fine here. There was some hay and even tools to clean their hooves and coats.

“I’ll tend to them later,” Anna said. “We need to get warm, eat, and rest.”

He clapped Daisy’s back. “Thank you for saving me yet again, old friend,” he whispered to her, giving both horses hay and water.

David took his sleeping roll, his traveling purse, and his sword. He drew the weapon as they walked out. Even if there were no signs of life, it didn’t mean bandits weren’t hiding there. They crossed the small courtyard and David slowly opened the heavy door and peered inside the house. The shutters were drawn and there was little light. It was quiet and smelled dusty and a little moldy.

“I think it’s empty,” David said. “Wait here a minute.”

He stepped in and moved slowly through the house, his back to the wall. Rain drummed against the thatch above. The outline of a bed was visible against the wall to his left. There was a fireplace where people must have cooked and even a stack of wood. He heard the rhythmic sound of droplets hitting the wood and thought the roof must be leaking here, too.

It was empty.

He nodded to Anna, and she came in. He lit the fire in the fireplace, grateful for a dry, warm shelter. When there was light in the house, he looked around. Herbs and mushrooms hung on strings in the corner. Smoked fish was suspended high above the fire.

There was also a table where the family must have cooked and eaten, six chairs around it. Three chests stood open and empty. Given the state of the fields, they must have left months ago.

He wondered why. Maybe they couldn’t pay the rent anymore and the lord hadn’t found anyone to replace them. Life was tough in the Middle Ages.

He ached to remove his wet clothes—they were clingy and heavy and cold. Standing by the fire, he unfastened the cloak and pulled up his tunic. He hung it and the cloak on the backs of two chairs and pushed them closer to the fire. He wanted to dry his braies, too, but he turned to Anna to see what she thought of that. He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable.

He found her standing and staring at him, her eyes slowly walking up and down his naked torso.

“You like what you see?” he asked.

Her looking at him made blood rush to his cock. Not long ago, he’d been the one staring at her naked while she’d been bathing.

“Um…” she said and swallowed hard. “Aye. Ye’re…ye’re…” Her breath seemed to catch. “Ye’re very handsome, David.”

He grinned. “Thanks.”

Her red dress was wet from the rain, but it wasn’t soaked through. Her cheeks glowing, she turned away from him. “Ye must eat,” she said as she busied herself with retrieving the rest of the bread they had in their travel pouch. “The MacDowells even had a small horn flask of uisge.”

He had forgotten about the uisge…

To his surprise, he realized he still didn’t want any, even after being nearly drowned. He didn’t want oblivion. But he didn’t know why.

Maybe it had something to do with the Highland princess who had saved his life twice already.

She put the loaf of bread on the table and the remnants of the cheese. They sat and ate, throwing smiles at each other. Thunder was roaring above them. Rain battered against the house, and wind wailed through the gaps around the door and the window shutters.

But all he could see was how the fire was reflected in Anna’s glossy, wet hair and how her eyes shone when she looked at him. And how dimples formed in her cheeks when she smiled at him shyly.

When they had eaten, he stretched his hand out to her over the table and she took it.