“Tell me who hurt ye, and I swear tae ye he will have both his hands cut off.”
Jane gulped, and the blade slipped from her grasp. Darach's anger was palpable—it was so intense that he trembled against her while grabbing her body. Sharp waves of pain swept through her, and her heart hammered in her chest, washing her with memories of how the scars had formed.
“Tell me, Jane,” Darach shouted.
Jane couldn't speak. Quick, painful breaths got caught in her throat, making her choke. Slowly, her legs began to quiver, and she would have fallen had he not been holding her.
She gasped, and a tear slipped down her face.
“Nay!” Darach muttered. “Nae tears, my lady, nae tears.”
Jane couldn't stop as another tear trickled down her face.
“Shhh, lass,” he crooned.
“I-I!”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I'm so sorry for whatever happened tae ye, Jane. It doesnae matter if ye cannae find yer words.” He moved tentatively, wrapping his arms around her. He withdrew and looked at her face.
“Be still a moment. The pain will go away.”
His lips moved over her face, kissing away her tears, and then suddenly, his mouth found hers, catching it in a flaming kiss that stole her breath away. Her lips fell open in surprise, and he slid his tongue sensuously inside her mouth. He probed and stroked her mouth and tongue with delicate preciseness until her senses scattered in the wind.
For a moment, Jane quite forgot everything but the fact that Darach Robertson had his tongue inside her mouth.
Each stroke incited a response from deep within her. She could feel her breasts harden at his kiss. Why were innumerable parts of her body tingling and swelling with so much pleasure that felt near pain? He evoked a restless, cagey feeling that made her want to squirm right out of her skin. His hands moved across her, sliding up her arms, causing her to shiver and tremble all the way down to her toes.
Jane couldn't think. She could barely breathe. In her mind, she had come to the simple conclusion that his kisses reduced her to a mass of surrendered pleasure.
“Ah, lass, what ye do tae me,” he whispered against her mouth.
She smiled against his mouth and tried kissing him back, emboldened by the thought that she was delivering this kind of feeling she had to someone else also.
A shout in the hallway made her go rigid. Darach cursed and stopped kissing her. When he pulled away, she was dazed, and she stared at him in absolute confusion. She blinked rapidly as she attempted to gather herself, but she barely had time before Wiley rushed in through the door of the abbey.
“Laird, laird!”
He stopped short when he saw them through the open door, but after a moment, he hurried toward him. Darach stepped forward to meet him, his hand automatically going to Jane's shoulder in a protective gesture.
Wiley was clearly out of breath when he came to a halting stop a mere foot from where Darach stood.
“What's the news?”
The lad glanced at Jane and back to his laird. Darach nodded at him before he started talking.
“An army approaches, my laird. I received word but a moment ago. They carry the banner of the lady's faither. They come from the south and were two hours from our border at last report.”
Jane felt Darach go hard as steel as he nodded.
“Tell the commanders to ready the battalions. I would join ye on the raft soon.”
He turned back to Jane and saw the fear in her eyes.
“I swear tae ye, my lady, I go tae make peace and nae war. And naething will happen tae yer faither. I’ll ensure it.”
Jane nodded, unsure of what to say, her mind burning with confusion.
“Now, I need ye tae stay in yer chamber. That's all I ask for in return.”