Part 13 (1/2)

The wagon lurched as Viktor climbed up on it. She heard the others mounting and tying her mare and Ewan's stallion to the wagon.

Kidnapped. The word rang in her head as she turned back toward Ewan.

Her irritable companion would be even more so once he awoke and learned of this new fix.

It was all her fault, she was sure of it. No doubt the group had recognized her as the niece of the queen of England and had sought to use her for ransom.

Nowwhat was she going to do?

Chapter 5.

Ewan came awake to a pounding in his skull so fierce that for a moment he wondered if he'd been kicked by his own horse. But as he tried to move and realized his hands and legs were tied, he began to suspect something much worse than that.

Blinking his eyes open, he found Nora sitting beside him. Her face pale in the dim light of the wagon, she was staring at the door as if wis.h.i.+ng she could splinter it with her thoughts.

The wagon lurched, slamming his ribs hard into the floor. Ewan ground his teeth against the pain.

”Where are we?” he growled.

His question startled her. She jumped and turned around to face him. Relief was etched into her delicate features as she met his heated gaze. ”You're awake.”

”Aye. Why am I tied? Did you do this?” he asked, even though he knew the very idea was preposterous.

Then again, with her, almost anything was possible.

She looked offended by that. ”It was our friends. I think they drugged you during the meal, then they brought you inside and trussed you up.”

”And what were you doing while they did this to me?”

”I thought you were ill.” He noted the way she avoided answering his question.

”Didn't you find it strange that they sought to tie an ill man?”

She s.h.i.+fted about as if agitated. ”I didn't know about that until I got inside the wagon myself and saw you lying on the floor of it.”

”Then what did you do?”

”I tried to leave.”

”Then?”

She held up a small piece of cloth that had been lying beside him. ”I ungagged you.”

That was not what he wanted to hear. Surely she had done something other than blithely submit to their capture.

”How wonderfully considerate of you. Did you not think to remove the rest of my bindings?”

”Aye, but they are too tight. I would need a dagger to loosen them.”

Ewan took a deep breath and tried not to be angry at her. After all, there were four men out there, and had she fought them, she most likely would have been hurt. At least this way, she was unharmed and able to help.

It was his own fault he'd let his guard down and been duped. There was no need to take his anger out on Nora.

”Look inside my right boot.”

She arched a brow at that. ”You have a dagger on you?”

”Aye. Always.”

She reached for his knee and felt along his s.h.i.+n.

”The inside of my leg, Nora.”

She hesitated as if dreading to touch him in so personal a manner. Her face blus.h.i.+ng, she did as he told her.

Ewan held his breath as her cool hand brushed against his inner calf. Her fingers felt wonderful as they carefully slid inside the leather, seeking his dagger that was hidden in a specially designed sheath.

Her touch was like silk against his skin, and it raised chills all over him.

Not to mention other things.

”Pull it out slowly,” he cautioned as she found it. ”I've no wish to be maimed.”

She did, and her slow, careful movements only made him harden more as desire burned through him. It was all he could do not to moan at the sensation.

What he wouldn't give to have her soft, delicate hands on his back while he held her beneath him.

She bit her lip, making his body jerk with pleasure.

Once she had the dagger free, she cut the ropes that bound his hands.

Ewan let out a deep breath as he relaxed a degree and fought the urge to touch himself to help alleviate some of the discomfort from his erection. At the rate he was going, he was beginning to feel like Priapus, and if he didn't find a way to ease his body, he was sure his health would be compromised by his unspent l.u.s.t.

He took the dagger from her hand, cut the bonds on his feet, then returned it to his boot. ”How long have I been unconscious?”

”It's hard to say, but it feels like quite a few hours. We've been traveling at a steady pace the whole time.”

”Any idea why we've been taken?”

She s.h.i.+fted uncomfortably.

His stomach drew tight. ”What did you do, Nora?”

”Nothing,” she said defensively. ”I can't help being who I am anymore than you can.”

”What do you mean?”