Chapter 19

However, she never got the chance. A split second later Tearlach's lips descended on hers and kissed her fiercely as he pulled her so tightly into his embrace that she could hardly breathe. She felt again the familiar sensations inside her that she only felt when she was with him. Her nipples were tingling and sensitive, there was a sweet ache and moisture in her core, and she had the consuming urge to rub her hips against his and feel the hard ridge of his arousal. As his tongue stroked hers, Norah thrust her hands into the thick mass of hair at the back of his head and heard him give a low growl of satisfaction.

Tearlach was lost in her. He had kissed many women in his time, but not like this. Her mouth tasted of the rough ale she had been drinking, but there was a sweeter, more elusive flavor that was all her own. He could have spent his life standing here holding her with his arms wrapped around her tender body, her breasts pressing against his chest.

Her warm, earthy, womanly scent was invading his senses and driving him almost to madness as he shifted his body against her instinctively, driven by an impulse that was too primitive for him to understand. He was becoming consumed by Norah. She filled every one of his senses, and when they finally drew apart, he was breathing heavily and staring at her in disbelief. No woman had ever made him feel this way before. It was intoxicating.

He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. They stood together, motionless for a moment. "Thank you," he said at last.

"What for?" Norah was puzzled.

"For saving me," he whispered. "And for everythin' else."

Norah had opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment they were interrupted by Tommy, who was dashing towards them furiously. "Hey, you two! Get a move on!" he yelled, with a face like an approaching thunderstorm. "Ye cannae stan' there cuddlin' all day!

We might have got rid o' this lot but there are dozens more o' them filthy redcoats out there, an' when they find out what's happened to their pals they will no' be happy. No' happy at all." He pointed at them to emphasize his point. "So you two had better get movin' because we need to go an' get the horses."

"How far away are they from here?" Norah asked anxiously as she looked at Tearlach.

"No' far," Tommy replied. "But we need to get out o' here quick, Norah, so let Murdo an' I take Tearlach between us. You have done your bit now."

"I think ye had better leave this to the menfolk, Norah," Tearlach advised. "I saw how it tired ye out last time."

Even though she was tempted to protest, Norah was glad, since she had helped to carry Tearlach before and it had almost broken her back. She nodded and smiled, but just as they were about to set off, Tearlach looked at her mischievously. "Just one more," he said, and his lips swooped down on hers for a blistering kiss that left Norah trembling.

He smiled at her wickedly as Tommy and Murdo put their arms around him and once more began to help him along the broad path. While they were walking, to distract him, Norah began to recite aloud from ‘Gulliver's Travels' from the beginning of the book, and despite his discomfort, Tearlach began to find himself absorbed in the tale.

The distance to the place where the horses were grazing was about a quarter of a mile from where they had ambushed the redcoats. Tearlach listened to the mellow sound of Norah's voice as they moved along, and for a while he forgot his pain, but as they drew near to the horses, he was stabbed by another pang of heartache.

"If only Rory was here," he said miserably. "I miss him so much. I wonder what the redcoats did wi' him."

Norah said nothing, but as soon as they reached the clearing where the horses were grazing she excused herself.

Thinking that she was obeying the call of nature, Tearlach allowed himself to be escorted in beside the other men and the horses, and sighed as he ran his hands over their smooth flanks and kissed their velvet noses. He knew every one of them by name, since he had been around them for a long while, but no horse had ever been as dear to him as Rory.

To add to their problems, with Rory missing, there were not enough horses to go around. Two men would have to double up, which meant traveling very slowly.

"Tearlach, look who I found," Norah said from behind him, hardly able to stop herself from laughing out loud as she watched his face.

Tearlach turned around and his heart skipped a beat as he saw his own beloved horse for the first time in weeks. A rush of joy overwhelmed him, and he struggled forward to greet his friend, cursing his own weakness.

However, Rory had no such problems as he trotted up to Tearlach to rub his soft nose against his hair, whickering softly. Rory might not have been able to speak, but he danced around his master for a few moments, expressing his gladness to see Tearlach with every movement of his body.

Tearlach hugged the big animal's neck and laughed with sheer happiness at being reunited with him. In fact, he could have wept for joy, and only just held himself back from doing so. "Where did ye find him?" he asked as Rory continued to mess up his already unruly red mop.

"The redcoats had him," Murdo answered. "They were all very pleased wi' themselves, an' they couldnae wait to put a Sassenach in his saddle! Well, we couldnae let that happen, could we? A good Scottish horse fightin' his own countrymen - it would have been treason!" He laughed and stroked the big animal's neck, but Rory ignored him. He only had eyes for Tearlach.

Tearlach looked his horse up and down carefully. "Well, at least they took good care o' ye, Rory," he observed, grinning. "An' ye still remember me! I am that glad to see ye again!" He hugged Rory's neck and looked him over from his nose to the tip of his tail, making sure that all was well with the animal he loved more than all people - except one.

Norah felt joy welling up in her as she watched Tearlach's reunion with his oldest friend. "I am glad to see you so happy," she said warmly, as she stroked the big horse's neck.

"Rory is my favorite person," Tearlach said as he kissed Rory's nose. "Except for you, Norah."

"A horse is not a person," she pointed out, laughing as she climbed into the saddle.

"This one is!" he protested as he mounted behind her.

Both of them were laughing as they rode away.

The McMillans owned an estate ‘half the size o' Scotland' as Tearlach had remarked enviously when Norah asked about it.

"Why does Laird McMillan have so much land?" she asked, puzzled.

"Because his grandfather was a very clever man," he answered. "He did it through marriages. His grandparents had nine children an' they were a' married off to young Lairds an' ladies in the area. Since most o' them were sons they ended up ownin' their estates. The McMillans are no' so much a clan as an empire."

"And are you sure we will be safe there?" Norah asked. She was doubtful that any part of Scotland was out of reach of the English now.

Tearlach kissed the top of her head, Norah was sitting in front of him holding the reins, since he was still finding it difficult to ride by himself. This suited him very well, since he needed to put his arms around her waist for support, and this also kept him warm. However it was uncomfortable in another way. He was a man in his prime and he found the contact with her soft, pliant body extremely arousing.

"We will be," he assured her. "There are patrols all around the boundaries of his estate, an' any stranger they find is stopped. If they cannae prove they are there wi' the permission o' the Laird, they are taken to him or his steward for questionin', and dependin' on their answer they might be detained. Aye, Norah, we will be safe there."

"But where will we live?" she asked.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it, hen," he replied soothingly. "But I have heard tell that Laird McMillan always provides well for his people."

Norah sighed and smiled. It sounded like paradise, but she was a realist; she knew that there was no such thing as heaven on earth.

Halfway through the day, they stopped at a burn to rest and eat, after having made sure that the redcoats were no longer on their trail. After they had eaten the meager remains of their food, Tearlach took Norah's hand and sat her down on a patch of grass under some pine trees well away from the others.

He looked lovingly into her silver grey eyes for a moment before placing another soft kiss on her lips. "Ye know, Norah," he said huskily. "Ye are the best person I have ever met, but I have treated ye like a piece o' rubbish. I deceived ye because I wanted to find ye, no' because it would dae ye any good, but because I was only thinkin' o' myself.

I could just have asked about ye and watched ye from a distance, but instead I got myself tangled up in your life an' made a mess o' it. As well as that, I am a fugitive an' now I have made you into one too. I should never have come near ye, but as soon as I knew ye were within reach I had to see ye. Please forgive me, Norah." He dropped his gaze from hers and released her hands from his grasp.

However, Norah was not ready for Tearlach to let go of her, and much to his surprise she snatched his hands back again and held onto them firmly. "Look at these hands." Her voice was firm. "I remember when these hands pulled me out of Loch Binnie the day I fell in and almost drowned. I remember the day they pulled me out of the way of a horse that had escaped from Dunnaird Castle stables. These hands have protected me far more times than they have put me in danger."

She tilted his face up to hers so that he was looking at him again, then she said softly, "Tearlach, I lived in a big, lavish house all my life, and I had every single thing a lass could ever want. I had lovely clothes, more toys than I could count, a governess, but that big house was never my home. I did not have a home. A home has love in it, and there was none in the place where I lived. I never really felt that I belonged anywhere.

My father used me to further his own ambitions, and he was just waiting to marry me off to someone who could enhance his standing in society. He never treated me with the kind of affection your parents showed to you, and even to me when I visited you. I used to envy you and your family, because you had brothers and sisters, and you never had to worry about who you married. You could wed the person you loved.

I don't care if I'm in trouble now, because it is trouble of my own choosing." Her voice was earnest. "If I had stayed I would have had to marry a man I hated, and I think I might have run away or killed myself if I had done that."

"Dinnae say that!" Tearlach cried, his eyes widening in alarm. "No' even in jest, Norah!"

"I am only speaking the truth," Norah said sadly. "You have no idea how repulsive Archie Patterson is." She shuddered, then suddenly her mood seemed to change and she smiled. "But here I am, as free as a bird, and by your side, and despite the circumstances, I would rather be here, free, than back at my father's house. I must admit it is not exactly where I thought I would be a few months ago, but it's certainly better than the alternative!" She looked at the bandage on his wound. "Are you still in pain?" she asked anxiously.

Tearlach sighed and smiled into her eyes. "Not any more," he answered, then he kissed her again.