The Saint Page 6

  ‘I’m here.’

  His voice was so much closer. She stepped toward the sound. ‘Callum—’

  ‘I’ve got you.’

  A band of steel snatched about her middle, pulling her to one side and into a solid wall of muscle. Heat scented with herbs and Callum wrapped about her. Isla didn’t move, instead savouring the feel of his powerful form holding her and knowing he hadn’t left her. His heart pounded, belying his stillness.

  She flattened her palm against the soft hide of his leather vest and lifted her cheek and ear from his chest. ‘Are ye well? Yer heart’s knocking on yer chest as if ye’ve been running.’

  * * *

  Callum was fully aware of how rapidly his heart was beating. Watching a blind woman walking toward a hollow crater left after the ground had relinquished its hold on a giant Scots pine was torment enough. But the jagged pike, thicker than her swan-like neck, jutting up from the bottom of the hole, ready and waiting to impale anyone unfortunate enough to fall in, turned his gut and doubled his pulse again.

  He opened his eyes and looked into the face turned up to his. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks a shade of rose he hadn’t seen before and her soft lips tilted up a little at each corner. God above. He’d only just reached her in time.

  His heart thundered and he fought the powerful urge to pull her tighter against him, feel her cheek resting over his heart once more. There and then, peering down into her trusting face, he vowed to keep a closer watch over her. While keeping his distance.

  ‘Callum?’ Two faint lines appeared between her brows.

  ‘All is well.’ How would she feel knowing how close she’d come to a painful death? She didn’t need to know. ‘We still have a few hours to wait until darkness falls. Come and sit. We need to talk.’

  Cal withdrew his arm from around her and settled his hand at her elbow to guide her back to where he’d left her. Holding her thus was a necessity. He glanced across at his mount and found Mungo watching him. With a slow blink of his large brown eyes, his horse lowered his head and resumed nibbling the sprigs of grass that were more plentiful on that particular side of the fallen pine.

  He settled her on the log in the same place as before, noticing in her haste to find him she’d left her sack of belongings behind. Did she think he’d abandoned her? Taken his horse and gone? Even after he’d told her he’d return? Even after he’d said he was a man of his word?

  She didn’t know him, and he could only guess as to what Dalziel and any other men of her acquaintance had told her and then proven to be untrue.

  Cal turned in a circle and scanned their surroundings. Assured they were alone, he sat on the trunk a short distance from Isla. Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees and looked sideways at the woman he barely knew, but for some reason felt it was important for her to know him.

  She clutched her sack in her lap. Her chin was level, her eyes closed, but there was nothing at peace about her. She was waiting for him to speak, but feared what he was going to say.

  ‘You thought I’d left you.’ She didn’t know he’d never abandon anyone.

  ‘I was searching for Mungo.’

  Her chin tipped upward and Callum’s brows rose high on his forehead. ‘Whom you wouldn’t have found if I had left.’

  She made no reply, only tilted her chin upward a mite more. Stubborn woman.

  ‘I said I’d take you to Restenneth Priory.’

  ‘Aye.’ Her head lowered. She looked to be fighting something. ‘But that was before I spoke of yer … parents.’ She turned her face in his direction. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know that … I didn’t know about...’

  ‘How could you know?’

  She tipped her head to one side. ‘Yer right. I couldn’t have known.’ She licked her lips. ‘I’m sorry for hurting ye.’

  He lifted his elbows from his knees and rested his fisted hands in their place. ‘You didn’t hurt me.’

  ‘Aye, I did.’ She nodded slowly as if to confirm what she said was true. ‘Unintentional though it may have been. I couldn’t see the hurt on yer face, but I heard it in yer voice.’

  Cal straightened where he sat and frowned at her, at a loss as to what she meant.

  ‘When ye speak, there’s something warm in yer voice that makes me feel … safe.’ She licked her lips and peered down into her lap. ‘But yer voice rang cold when ye said ye’d return after ye checked the perimeter. I thought … maybe ye’d gone.’ Cal heard her swallow. ‘I’m pleased I was wrong.’

  His voice wasn’t something he thought about, not since he was eleven summers and finally spoke with a tone deeper than Davina, the kitchen lass. He stood and took two long strides forward, turned and looked at the woman he made feel safe just by talking to her. The woman who made him feel a lightness in his chest, yet a heaviness all over.

  ‘I’ve given the apology I owed ye, but I still have to answer yer question. I havenae always been blind.’ Cal had forgotten he’d asked. ‘I was blessed with my sight until my vision began to blur and waver when I was six summers.’ Cal returned to his seat on the log. ‘By sixteen summers I could barely make out the shape of anything.’

  ‘And now?’ Cal watched the subtle changes of her features as she contemplated how to answer. Her finely shaped brows bunched, but only for a moment. Her lips thinned as if she didn’t like that particular thought and then they softened.

  ‘Now, at nineteen summers,’ she released a breath that sounded more like a weary sigh. ‘I see nothing but bright flashes of light, like the flames from last night’s fire.’ Her long lashes fluttered open and she peered ahead. ‘’Tis strange, but light that is glaring and bright hurts my eyes to look upon. The darkness and shadows are kinder.’

  Cal knew no one who was blind so young. There were one or two elderly Elliot clansmen whose eyes had eventually failed them, but he’d never talked to them about it. He’d seen their eventual blindness as part of their aging, whereas Isla’s had been part of her life.

  He looked at the trees all about them, the sight, his sight, something he took for granted. He couldn’t imagine opening his eyes and not seeing anything. ‘It must be difficult.’

  ‘At times. More so now when I dinnae know where I am or what my surroundings are like.’

  The sight of her hurrying toward the shallow crater and the broken stump swept back into his mind. Cal stood, reminding himself he’d reached her in time and the image was gone. He looked up through a small opening in the wood’s canopy to see the sky beginning to dim.

  He turned about and peered down at Isla. ‘We will eat, prepare and leave.’

  The journey wasn’t so far, and the sooner they reached the priory she would be safe and someone else’s responsibility. While he, he would be free to meet Duff and Adair in Braemar, and be free of all the forbidden things she made him feel.

  Chapter 6

  A boom of thunder woke Isla from a deep sleep she’d never have believed she could fall into while riding a horse. The swaying motion beneath her had lulled her back against the warmth of Callum’s chest and the security within his powerful arms. Another boom and a crack of white lightning momentarily breached the darkness behind her eyes.

  ‘You’re safe, but the storm is almost upon us.’

  Had she jumped or made a sound? Whatever the reason, the warmth of his tone and his surrounding heat made her feel safe. Had she slept long? Had they travelled far? ‘Where are we?’

  ‘We’re still riding the Causey Mounth, but I’ve never travelled this way and have nae clue as to where we are or how long the road continues.’

  Isla heard the frustration in his tone. She’d never travelled this path either. ‘Have we passed any other travellers?’

  ‘Thankfully, nae. ’Tis likely the coming storm has kept many indoors this night.’

  The first fat drop of cold rain splashed her forehead. ‘A blessing for us, then.’ They needed to reach their destination as quickly as possible and without being seen. Another raindrop found
her knee. The next her bottom lip. She licked the droplet with her tongue. The air about them grew heavy and thickened and she smelled the rain’s freshening scent before it fell. ‘Here it comes.’

  Isla huddled closer into the solid wall of heat moulded against her back. The sky opened and released its deluge. Gone were the single drops. Instead, the rain fell as if poured from a giant bucket, whipped and tossed sideways by the sudden powerful gusts of wind. She ducked her head to stop the slashing rain from stinging her face, but no matter how low she tipped her chin, the teeming rain stung her cheeks and battered the top of her head.

  The arm circling her middle pulled her further back into his body until there was no space between them. His other hand draped something warm and soft over her head, and cupping her exposed cheek, he tucked her head under his chin.

  The wind howled and buffeted the man holding her. She could feel his body harden, each muscle firm and strong against every lashing wind gust he fought off and won. Time was lost to Isla. She had no clue as to how long they kept going, but it seemed they were soaked through in a matter of moments.

  A shiver racked her body. She wanted to draw her bare knees up under the shelter of the leather vest shielding her head, but she was too afraid to let go and too cold to move.

  * * *

  Cal drew Mungo to a halt and waited for the next flash of lightning to streak across the turbulent sky. He didn’t have long to wait. As he searched their surroundings for some form of shelter, he wondered if they should return to the bridge they’d ridden over when the dark clouds had scuttled overhead, blocking out the stars and the moon’s glow. He’d pushed on knowing a storm was brewing, knowing their chances of being seen were less.

  He didn’t know how much cover they’d have under the bridge and the river they’d crossed was full and fast-flowing before the rain had started to fall in torrents. If they did go back, it also meant they’d lose ground they’d then have to make up for the following night. He decided against turning back.

  Mungo’s right front hoof slid on the moss-covered stones. Cal tightened his hold about Isla and braced for the fall that thankfully never came. Narrowing his eyes against the downpour, he scoured the lands to his left and glimpsed a pinprick of light amongst the sea of darkness. Another barrage of lightning turned the night to day for an instant and Cal caught sight of several dark shapes around the tiny spot of light that continued to glow.

  With a gentle tug on the reins to the left, he turned Mungo off the road and down the soggy grassy slope toward what he hoped proved to be a form of shelter until the storm passed. The wind whipped the rain in every direction. Cal checked his vest still fully covered Isla’s head. It wouldn’t keep her completely dry, but at least the streaks of lightning arcing across the heavens wouldn’t hurt her eyes.

  She hadn’t moved or spoken since the storm had started. But the ferocity of the sky ripping apart overhead failed to distract him from the feel of Isla’s feminine softness pressed against him. Washed awake by the rain, he smelled the scent of lavender on her skin.

  He firmed and swelled beneath his plaid. Precisely where her bottom wedged snuggly between his thighs. Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes and clenched his teeth and wished his body’s weakness to the Devil. The rain pelted his cheeks, his forehead, his mouth and the finer flesh of his closed lids like a thousand needles but did naught to dim his growing desire.

  Could she feel him harden or was she too caught up in her shivering to notice? Dear God, let it be so. Shame crashed over him. You are your mother’s son.

  In that instant, his desire ebbed. He released a shuddering breath, lowered his chin and opened his eyes. The rain continued to pound the top of his head and he welcomed it. The next bolt of lightning lit up several cottages all clustered together. The faint point of light that had snared his attention from the road came from one in the centre of them all. The next flashed over the darkened shadow of a single outbuilding a small distance away from the others. Cal steered Mungo toward the last.

  They skirted the lone building and Cal drew his horse to a halt. A streak of lightning lit up a partial wall on this side of the building, but the roof was whole.

  Leaning down, keeping his voice low, he said, ‘Hold still. I’ll help you dismount.’

  He felt her nod and sit forward away from his body. He dismounted, and reaching for her waist, lifted her from the saddle. He didn’t set her down; instead he swung her legs to one side and caught them behind her knees, his other arm cradling her back. He heard her gasp, muffled by the vest still draping her head and the top portion of her body. Cold rain rushed from her skirts and ran down his arm. Her next shiver travelled from her into his linen-soaked chest.

  Cal stopped when he stood in front of the missing wall and waited. Lightning lit the night behind him, casting their joined shadow on the internal wall, and showing several stacks of peat squares piled high in the furthest corner. He stepped inside out of the wind and rain that pulled and knocked his sodden plaid about his knees in every direction. Inside, the quiet stillness was almost deafening, then a bolt of lightning flashed once more and the wind’s howl and the driving rain beating against the earthen walls broke the momentary silence.

  The woman in his arms shivered again. He carried her deeper within and to the right and set her down on top of one of the peat stacks. The pungent odour of aged soil and grasses and dead flowers from the bricks the locals had cut from the peat bogs stole the freshness from the air. At least they could dry off a little and rest for a time.

  ‘Wait here. I’ll fetch Mungo.’

  Cal ducked his head and dashed outside into the tempest once more. He grasped the reins and coaxed his horse into the open side of the peat house. The roof was intact here too, only part of the wall was missing. Lightning lit up everything outside of their crude shelter. Cal peered over Mungo’s back in time to catch a glimpse of where it looked like the dark shape of the land fell away into the sea. They were closer to the coast than he’d believed. He shifted his attention to his task and removed their sacks that he’d draped with the thick hide Mungo wore between his back and the saddle. He set them aside and lifted the saddle, placing it on top of another peat stack, just as Isla shivered out a breath.

  White light lit up the dark space where she sat. ‘Your skirts are soaked through. You need to remove your gown.’ He’d give her his spare shirt. It would swamp her slender form but better that than have her sitting in wet clothes.

  ‘I have one other gown, but I doubt it will be any drier than this one.’ She pinched a portion of the wet garment and lifted its sodden fabric away from her knee.

  Cal was grateful she’d come prepared and he’d had the forethought to cover their belongings. He retrieved her sack. Lightning flashed and he stepped closer. ‘Give me your hand.’ Another pulsing flash showed her releasing the edges of his vest and reaching forward. Her fingers were as cold as the snow in deep winter. He pressed the neck of her sack into her icy palm and closed her fingers. ‘I’ll turn my back. Let me know when you’re done.’

  Cal turned, and in the flickering light found Mungo watching him from the other side of the outbuilding. The woman behind him shivered out another breath not even the noise from the raging storm without could drown out. Guilt for not providing better shelter swept inside on the next flurry of heat-stealing wind that tangled his sodden plaid about his legs. He clenched his jaw.

  It was too dangerous to light a fire.

  They had peat aplenty.

  Someone might see the smoke.

  Anyone with an ounce of sense would be inside, warm and dry and sleeping at this late hour. And the cluster of cottages was positioned behind them.

  He drew a long, deep breath and the cold linen of his shirt lifted and settled in another place on his back. Gritting his teeth against the sudden chill down his spine, he heard Isla’s teeth begin to chatter.

  God above.

  ‘I … I am ready.’

  The moment she spoke
, Cal retrieved his belongings and a square of peat from the closest stack. Crouching low, he cleared a space free of any grass or clay on the earthen floor near to where the broken wall ended, and removed a small bound bundle from the sack he’d carried from the Borders. He unwrapped the dry, hide-bound flint and set to lighting the peat.

  ‘Is it safe … to light a fire?’

  Cal heard Isla pause to shiver mid-question. He didn’t look up from his task. ‘For as long as the storm lasts.’ A tiny spark took hold of one corner of the peat. Cal cupped his hand around it to shield it from the swirling drafts, then leaning forward, with gentle breaths, encouraged the small flame to spread. Puffs of smoke smelling of ancient foliage and earth filled the once-upon-a-time cottage, but constant small gusts of wind swept inside and stole much of the smoke away.

  He reached for another peat brick, and after crumbling one corner to feed the flames, he added the remainder to the first. The moment it caught fully alight, he stood and fetched his saddle, placing it on the earthen floor at a safe distance to the budding fire. ‘I will lift you closer to the fire.’ He scooped her up, but held her away from his wet shirt. The smell of smoke from last night’s fire lingered in her hair and mingled with the peat. In two steps he lowered her onto the soft, well-worn leather of his saddle.

  ‘Thank ye.’

  Cal straightened and searched about for a place near the fire to hang the wet clothes she’d wrung out once she’d removed them, along with his vest. A peat iron, a long wooden-handled tool with a sharp iron blade used for cutting the peat from the bogs, hung from one of several hooks in the centre of the half wall, while nets and fishing poles hung from others.

  ‘Thank ye for the use of yer vest. I hope ye didn’t get too wet.’

  ‘I’m fine.’ He’d soon change into his spare linen shirt.

  ‘Do ye think the storm will continue all night?’

  He stepped over toward the opening and peered out through the missing half wall as another crack of thunder shook the night, quickly followed by a jagged bolt of lightning overhead. ‘Only for some of it.’ He hoped it eased before morning so they could move on. ‘Does the firelight hurt your eyes?’