“I am goin’ tae see Laird Mackay,” he answered. “But ye are goin’ home.”
Greta bristled. “Do nae tell me what tae do!” she growled. “Ye are hurt. Ye need protection.”
“Greta,” he said patiently, “ye are a wonderful lass, but how do ye think ye can protect me?” He leaned forward to take her hands, looking earnestly into her eyes. Immediately he felt his body responding in the most primitive way a man’s could, and he swallowed nervously. God, those hazel eyes could steal a man’s soul. “Ye are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, but it would be better for us if we parted an’ ye went yer own way.”
“Oh, aye?” Greta’s eyebrows almost reached her hairline. “An’ how far do ye suppose I could go without anybody robbin’, rapin’, or murderin’ me, a wee woman on her own?”
Finn sighed, realizing the truth of her words. “Ye are right,” he conceded. “Then ye must come wi’ me, an’ I will drop ye off at the nearest safe place.”
Greta laughed. “Finn, ye are an outlaw! Ye must know that no place is safe from ye, an’ now that ye are on the wrong side o’ yer gang, they will kill ye as soon as look at ye!”
“I am sorry, Greta.” His voice was miserable. “I should never have got ye intae this.” He sighed in exasperation. “I have a dream, ye know. I know of a house—more of a ruin, really—and nobody knows o’ it except me. Liam has no idea it exists. One day I will fix it up and live there. Maybe I will even be married, who knows?” Then he shook his head. “It is likely no more than a dream, but I like tae think it will happen someday.”
“Why should it not, if ye want it enough?” Greta asked.
He smiled at her. “Because life is no’ as easy as that. It is nice tae have a dream even if it never comes true,” he said wistfully. Then he shook himself back to reality. “Let us stay in the trees an’ try tae be as quiet as we can. We will have tae move in the twilight so the rest of them don’t catch sight o’ us. I have my sword an’ my dagger here, an’ ye have yer knife an’ yer catapult. I am sure ye will be fine, but I might die o’ hunger if ye don’t catch some more rabbits soon.”
“How far is Laird Mackay’s estate?” she asked. “Are ye sure he will give us a hearing? Will he let ye in the gate?” She gave a humorless laugh. “I am no’ so sure that he will entertain the idea o’ lettin’ the pair o’ us near him.”
“It is two miles or so,” he answered. “We should be able tae get there in a few hours, but I think we should wait ’til it is nearly dark, then there is less chance o’ bein’ seen.” A spasm of anguish crossed his face, and he pressed his hand to his side again.
“I wish I had somethin’ tae ease the pain,” she said regretfully.
“Ye have,” he replied, cupping her face in his hands. “Ye have, Greta.” Then his mouth swooped down on hers, and he kissed her hungrily, caressing her lips with his, then sweeping his tongue around them before thrusting it into her mouth to tangle with hers. She clung to him tightly and moaned her satisfaction into his mouth. Her knees were becoming weak as he pressed her close to his body, and she felt the hard ridge of his arousal against her and the immediate response of her own body.
At last, they drew apart, and Finn smiled. “I care for ye very much,” he whispered.
“I care for ye too,” Greta whispered, running her palm across his face. Then she laughed. “Ye need tae shave!”
He laughed. “When I have a moment tae call my own, I promise I will,” he replied. “Now, I think we need tae try an’ collect some food.”
“How is yer skill wi’ a catapult?” Greta asked.
“I am a better swordsman,” he answered, laughing. “But I might be able tae do some fishin’.”
Greta frowned. “Ye have no rod,” she observed.
“I have ye,” he said, chuckling. “What more do I need?”
17
They mounted up, and although Finn winced with pain, he said no more about his injury, merely soldiered on as best he could. The day passed uneventfully, mostly in silence, and when they bedded down for the night, they slept close together, as they had the previous evening. Greta had managed to shoot a squirrel, which they ate with more mushrooms, and Finn made a fishing rod with a tree branch, a piece of twine, and a worm he had dug out of the ground. They caught a small trout and had a passable meal.
“We are a clever couple, are we no’?” Finn asked, grinning. “But mostly ye, Greta. Ye can make catapults an’ needles, sew people’s cuts up, find branches for fishin’ rods, an’ make food out o’ nothin’. Is there anythin’ ye cannae do?”
Greta laughed. “Ye said a’ that before, Finn,” she reminded him. “But we are in this together, ye an’ me. So no more praise. Ye are embarrassin’ me.”
Finn smiled, then his face grew solemn. “I want justice more than anythin’, Greta,” he said grimly. “Laird Donaldson, who hired us at first, is a vicious, vengeful man who only wants gold an’ does no’ care how he gets it, but I knew that when I got intae this, so I am just as much tae blame, if no’ more, because I could have said no.” He frowned and shook his head in self-recrimination.
Greta thought for a moment. “I will no’ disagree wi’ ye, Finn,” she concurred. “But ye have the chance to make things, if no’ right, then better.”
“Aye, ye are right, Greta,” he sighed. “An’ if that means I have tae die for it, then so be it.”
She did not wish to contemplate that possibility. “Go to sleep,” she told him. “We must be up at dawn.”
* * *
Later that day, they were standing a few hundred yards away from the castle, wondering how to enter it. It was surrounded by guards. “Damn!” he growled. “How do we get in without bein’ seen?”