Torr’s heart pounded with anger, though he kept himself calm. He released her chin and once again urged, “Tell me the rest.”
“I cannot repeat the wicked thing he said to me, though I will tell you that he ordered me to be naked and on my knees when he returned.”
Anger continued to pound at him, though relief that Owen had not touched her pushed some of the anger aside. Owen was going to suffer for what he had done to her and suffer even more for what he had planned to do to her. He would see to it himself and enjoy every minute of it. But at the moment Wintra was more important to him.
“Your quick thinking saved us both. You are a courageous woman.”
“Stubborn,” she corrected with a smile. “I knew my only chance of escape and survival was to get to you.”
Torr leaned closer, his lips not far from hers. “I will always be there for you, Princess, and I promise I will always protect and keep you safe.”
Now that she gave it thought, Owen had never spoken about keeping her safe. And recalling what he had said to her about not allowing her head to be in the clouds was just unimaginable to her. Her mind had wandered since she was young. It was a way for her to learn and work things out. She did not know what she would do if that was taken from her.
Why she asked the question of Torr, she did not know. It just spilled out, which seemed to be the way when she was with him. “Do you mind that my head is in the clouds so much?”
“Your deep thoughts,” he clarified with a smile.
She nodded and smiled as well, preferring the way he phrased it compared to Owen.
“Owen accused you of having your head in the clouds?”
She nodded again.
“Owen is a worthless excuse of a man.”
“And what am I for not realizing that?”
“An inexperienced, young woman, which is why there are arranged marriages.”
She shook her head. “But I do not want someone choosing who I will wed. Do you?”
“Sometimes we have no choice.”
She tapped her chest. “I want a choice. I want to love the man I wed.”
“And hopefully you shall.” He stood and held his hand out to her. “We need to be on our way.”
“Where do we go?” She took hold of his hand, and he helped her to her feet.
“We are heading for your brother’s land, though a different route than my horse has taken. Once my horse arrives there, they will know something is wrong and come look for us. Hopefully, we will run into them along the way. The problem is that Owen will either backtrack once he realizes he tracks a riderless horse or he will continue to blindly follow the tracks, in which case we will cross paths somewhere along the way. Either way we are bound to run into one another at some point.”
“There isn’t any way we can avoid him?”
“There is but it would mean going in a completely different direction. Your brother would no doubt worry when he couldn’t find us, but—”
“Owen would not be able to find us either and would tire of his search and give up.”
“There would be a very good chance of that.”
“But what if Owen went to Cree and convinced him my reputation was shattered and that he would wed me regardless?” Wintra cringed and shivered simultaneously.
“Cree would never believe that of me, though I imagine he would believe it of Owen. Then the fool would be in for a whole lot of suffering. Besides, Cree would never decide anything until he has spoken with you.”
“Where would we go?” she asked, the idea tempting, but then so was Torr and that could prove a problem.
“There is a vacated croft that would suit our purpose about two or three days from here. No one would think to look there since it is off any well-traveled paths. It is completely isolated.”
The two of them completely isolated for a few weeks, possibly a month? The thought sent the tingles racing through her. This was not a wise idea. She should go straight home to her brother even though there was a chance they would run into Owen. If she stayed alone with Torr, there was no telling what would happen. One thing was sure though, she would be doing a lot of praying. No. She needed to be wiser this time. She needed to get home as fast as possible and see this problem settled.
She looked to Torr and her response was much different than she intended. “Take me to the croft.”
Chapter Eight
By the morning of the third day, Wintra was certain she was completely and utterly insane. She had no idea what had made her tell Torr to take her to the croft when her mind had been settled on going home to Cree. No matter how she dissected her decision, she could not come up with a sensible answer. Though when she had laid nestled in Torr’s arms the last couple of nights in front of the fire he had built to help keep them warm, she knew it was where she wanted to be. The strength of his arms wrapped so securely around her, and the way he had tightly tucked his fur-lined cloak around them both had made her feel safe and…