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“Aye…” mumbled Anna as she nestled against his thigh. “What else would the lass do?”
David chuckled. He ached to touch her smooth cheek, to run his fingers through her hair. “But she never stopped loving Tristan, and he never stopped loving her.”
Anna’s breathing was even and heavy now. “Didna Tristan die?”
David swallowed a hard knot as he watched the flames. “Yes, he died. To him, it was a better fate than loving a woman he could never have.”
CHAPTER 9
The lightening sky was visible in a space between the mouth of the cave and the boulders hiding the entrance. Anna stirred on David’s lap, bringing tingling over his thigh. His leg was numb from reduced blood circulation, but he hadn’t dared to move, not wanting to disturb Anna’s sleep. She needed it.
She turned her head, one black-lashed eye squinting up at him. Her cheeks were flushed from sleep and her full lips were relaxed.
He grinned at her. “How did you sleep?”
She wiped her mouth and sat up by his side and stretched her arms, arching her torso. He looked away as her breasts protruded through the fabric. “Well,” she said, looking around. “I havena slept much since MacDowell put me in the oubliette. It was always so cold and so wet I could barely sleep at all. Any sign of Colum and Iàcob?”
He felt his face fall. “Not yet.”
She sighed and threw a long, worried gaze at the mouth of the cave. Thoughtfully, she gathered her long, wavy hair, which was now dry, and brushed it with her fingers. She looked more rested and healthier and even more stunning, with her shiny eyes the color of dark honey and some color to her cheeks.
David stood and stretched; his legs were tired from sitting in one position for hours, but seeing her rested was well worth it.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll go and check on Daisy. My horse…” he added when she looked at him with a puzzled expression. “We’ll need more firewood to cook breakfast.”
She nodded. “Aye, thanks. I’ll get dressed; my gown must be at least somewhat dry by now.”
David picked up his sword in the sheath and put it around his waist, then made his way between the boulders and down the small, steep path. Before he could step off the path, he froze.
Only five feet away, spread between the trees, was a camp. It was so close, David could see the seams on the field tents, the scars on the faces and hands of the men sleeping under them. He could hear the crackling of a small campfire. The horses were grazing thirty steps away, Daisy among them…
Right in front of David, three steps away, with his back to him, a single man sat at the campfire. He was sleeping, his head hanging between his shoulders. Birds chirped cheerfully in the green canopy high above. The scent of woodsmoke reached his nostrils, mixed with the scents of decaying wood, plants, and morning dew.
David stopped breathing, frozen like a statue, praying Anna wouldn’t make a sound or decide to come down. A woodpecker tapped somewhere nearby.
As soundlessly as he could, his eyes never leaving the sleeping sentry, he backed up the path to Anna. This must be the search party. They had probably stopped until light to keep looking.
If David and Anna didn’t leave now, they would find them.
When he was out of sight of the camp, he ran up the path and into the cave. Anna was in her red princess dress. The long, angel sleeves were draped with fur, and now that it was clean, he saw crimson flower patterns. It was torn in places and faded stains still remained, but it suited her so well, and highlighted her proud stature.
Their eyes locked and she didn’t move, either. Color reddened her cheeks. She was a true princess, this one. Something about her seemed otherworldly, like Liv Tyler in The Lord of the Rings… Damned Sìneag. Did she have to put the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in front of him? If Sìneag thought Anna was the woman destined for him, she was probably right. And perhaps now, after meeting Anna, the time traveling rocks would finally work.
He’d avoided any relationships here, even though he’d met pretty young women in this age. Drunken, he’d allowed himself to be seduced by a willing farmer’s daughter, but made sure to keep to only oral sex as he didn’t want to get anyone pregnant. Apparently, many medieval women weren’t used to receiving oral sex, and after he’d brought them pleasure, many didn’t want to let him go.
But never with any woman had he felt this flutter, this pull at his very soul, that he had when he looked at Anna. Like the world was brighter, and the ground under his feet was shifting and light.
He’d bet this was exactly what Sìneag had wanted. Bringing him to the woman he could fall for.
Well, he wouldn’t let himself do that. He could admire her, but he wouldn’t touch her.
“We must leave,” he said as he bent down and started to hastily put things into his bedroll. “The enemy is camping right under our doorstep.”
Anna gasped and jumped to gather the field cauldron and the utensils into the traveling sack.
“And they have my horse.”
“Nae!”
