Highlander Unmasked Read online

  His question seemed to snap her back to the present. Her face lit with joy. She lifted her hand to cradle one side of his face, rubbing her palm across his stubbled jaw. “Alex, you’re alive…I was so scared.”

  He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose and smiled, his eyes growing suspiciously damp. Emotion locked in his throat. Everything was going to be all right. “Aye, lass, I was scared, too.” More scared than I’ve ever been in my life.

  Her adorable little nose wrinkled. “All I remember is running and the dirk…” She looked down at her side and blanched. “Oh.”

  “Why did you do it, love? God, Meg, you could have been killed.” The full force of what might have happened hit him hard again.

  “I didn’t stop to think, I just reacted.” She gave him an adorable little shy smile. “I love you, Alex. I couldn’t let him kill you because of me.” The smile broadened as she remembered something else. “And you love me.”

  “Aye, you heard that, did you?”

  She nodded.

  “More than my life.”

  She squeezed his hand, tears glistening in her eyes. “Say it. Please.”

  Alex looked deep into her eyes. “I love you, Margaret Mackinnon. With all my heart.”

  He pressed his mouth gently against hers, needing to taste her, even if briefly. He felt her immediate response as she opened her mouth for him, melting against him in sweet surrender.

  Hearing Ruaidri approach with Robbie, Alex broke the kiss. How the lad had managed to find him so fast, Alex didn’t know, but he was grateful. He moved aside to allow the older man to examine Meg, though he held her hand the entire time. Needing the connection. He couldn’t stop touching her, assuring himself that she was going to be all right. That she wasn’t going to die.

  After a few minutes, Ruaidri stood up. “It will need to be stitched, and I suspect she’ll be weak for a few days, but with a proper poultice the lass will be fine.”

  Alex sighed with relief. It was the first relaxed breath he’d taken since Dougal had appeared with Meg.

  When he thought of what she’d done, risking her life for his, he was moved beyond words. Humbled, awed, and now that he knew she would be all right, not a little bit angered. But that discussion, he would save for later. Now, he just wanted to carry her away from here.

  Meg was floating on a wave of pure euphoria, feeling nothing but the strength of Alex’s love. The searing pain in her side seemed strangely detached, almost not her own. Everything was going to be all right. Alex was safe. Dougal was dead, and she…well, she had everything she ever wanted. The perfect man for her and her clan.

  Alex slid his arm under her back and started to lift her. She winced at the sharp reminder of her injury.

  “I’m sorry, love. This might hurt, but I need to lift you up to get you on my horse, all right?” When she nodded, he added, “Put pressure on it like this.” He moved her hand over the pad he’d fashioned as a bandage. “It has stopped bleeding for now, but tell me immediately if it starts bleeding again.”

  “I think I can stand,” she offered.

  “No.”

  He looked so charmingly worried, she decided not to argue. It was too wonderful being cared for so lovingly. Gently, Alex lifted her and bundled her in his arms. She pressed her cheek against his thick quilted cotun, the tiny plates of metal cool against her cheek. She wanted to stay in his arms forever. And she could when…

  All of a sudden it hit her.

  “Alex! The battle. Is it over?”

  He shook his head. “’Tis just begun, love.”

  Her stomach lurched. Her own need to have him near her, holding her, warred with the knowledge of what she had to do. She knew how important this was to him. Knew precisely what was at stake. Knew the men who were relying on him. It wasn’t over. No matter how tight she wanted to hold on to him, no matter how much she needed him, he wasn’t hers—yet. Her chest squeezed as she forced the words from her mouth, releasing him. “You must go to them. Your men need you. Jamie can take me to the village.”

  “My men are well trained. I’ll not leave you. Not until I see you to safety.”

  “But it might be too late—”

  His expression turned obstinate and forbidding. “Don’t argue with me, Meg. Not about this. You could have died.”

  Something in his eyes stopped her. The raw emotion. The hint of lingering fear.

  “But I didn’t,” she said softly. “Promise me you’ll go—”

  “I will. As soon as I am assured of your safety.” They’d reached the area where his horse was tethered. Meg listened proudly as Alex gave orders to his men. His quick decisiveness and utter command never ceased to impress her. Most of the men he sent to help those battling the castle guards. A few of her father’s men who’d accompanied her on the birlinn were to keep watch over the MacDonalds, and Robbie would ride to Neil and explain what had happened.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Jamie asked.

  Alex nodded. “Ride ahead. Find a healer and have her come at once to the inn.”

  Carefully, he handed her to Robbie while he mounted his horse. She felt a fresh stab of pain at her side but smothered her cry, not wanting to alarm Alex. Soon, she was settled before him, happily ensconced against the protective wall of his chest.

  The ride to the village did not take long, but Meg wasn’t feeling so well. She felt queasy and unbearably weak. But she forced herself to be strong and fought the nausea rising in her throat. She realized that her wound had opened and blood was seeping from her side, thankfully well hidden under her arisaidh.

  It was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open. She was so tired, so horribly tired. Her eyelids felt so heavy. Her dreams beckoned, tempted. No, there was something she had to do. One more thing before she slept.

  She felt a prickle of alarm, knowing she was losing too much blood. But she dared not say anything to Alex. If she did, he would never leave her. And he needed to do this. Needed to help his kin, or the past would always haunt him.

  “How are you feeling, my love?”

  Awful. “Fine. I’m sure it looks worse than it is,” she said, nearly exhausting what little strength she had left to make her voice sound normal.

  “We’re almost there.”

  A few minutes later, they found the inn and an available room. Alex had just finished laying her down on the bed when Jamie followed with the healer, a short, roundish woman of indiscriminate age with graying hair and a pleasant face. Meg relaxed immediately. The woman gave off an indisputable air of capability.

  Alex relayed what had happened, and the woman, Mairi, bent over Meg to begin her examination. Meg was starting to panic, which the woman obviously mistook for embarrassment, and she quickly shooed the men out of the room.

  Meg flinched as she started to peel back the sticky layers of clothing, using a knife where necessary to cut the seams.

  Mairi gave her a hard look. “Why did you say nothing? You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

  “Please,” Meg begged. “You must do something for me.” She knew she sounded desperate, bordering on hysterical. “You must tell him that everything looks fine. He’ll never leave…please.”

  The woman frowned disapprovingly and shook her head. “If you are sure that is what you want?”

  Meg nodded furiously. “Yes. Please. It is very important.”

  “Very well.” The healer opened the door, and Alex immediately entered the room.

  “I will stitch the wound to stop the bleeding. All she needs is rest,” Mairi assured him.

  “See?” Meg said brightly. The relief in his eyes gave her a burst of strength, and she managed a smile. “I’ll be fine. Go now.”

  He bent over her and kissed her hard. Meg drank in the taste of him, wanting to grab on to him and never let him go. Did he sense her desperation in the fervor of her response?

  “You’re sure?” he asked, looking uncertain.

  “Of course I’m sure. I’ll be here when you retu