Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
He coughed as if clearing his throat. “Nay. But thank you.”
She did not know what else to say to him, never having spoken to any of Slayer’s warriors. She had been foolish to try and speak with him, learn something he had told Slayer. His warriors would never reveal anything to her.
She smiled. “Stay safe, Clyde.”
He looked at oddly at her.
“Do I have your name wrong? I thought I heard Slayer call you Clyde.”
“Aye, that is my name and again, thank you.”
Slayer called out to him.
Clyde went to walk away but stopped briefly to say, “Lord Slayer will keep you safe, Sky.”
She smiled as he walked away, the warrior having acknowledged her by her name as someone who did not fear her would do, and it pleased her.
She turned and felt a catch in her chest as she stared at the cottage. She had left the window and door open to let in an oddly sunny and warm spring day. She was not prone to constant tears, having learned they did little to help a situation, but she felt them now pooling in her eyes. She had found a spark of happiness here with Slayer, something she had never expected to find. Something she did not want to lose. But there was the worry of the danger she and her sisters still faced and concern for Slayer’s safety as well with his brother having been killed and his father poisoned. And there was her husband, a feared Gallowglass leader she needed to come to know more about, love even more, and fear even less.
“Sky.”
She brushed away the tears before they could fall and turned to face Slayer with a smile.
Slayer went to her, his hand hurrying to grip the back of her neck as concern filled his eyes. “Why do your eyes glisten with tears? Are you in pain? Did you hurt yourself in the garden?”
She gave no thought to making an excuse. She spoke the truth to him. “Nay, I realized that our time here will end soon and I will miss being here alone with you. I have very much enjoyed our time together and I will always cherish the memories we made here.”
“Our memories don’t end here,” Slayer said, her words sounding as if their time together was coming to an end, something he would never allow to happen. “We have the rest of our lives to fill with memories and I look forward to making them with you.”
His remark touched her heart since to her it said that he cared for her and that gave her hope that someday he might come to more than just care for her.
“As do I with you,” she said.
He kissed her, a more demanding than gentle one, and she felt the tension in it. Something disturbed him.
“What’s wrong, Slayer?” she asked when she managed to break the kiss.
“Nothing,” he snapped and claimed her lips again so forcefully that her bottom lip caught on one of her teeth and she gasped in pain.
Slayer pulled his lips off hers.
“That hurt,” she said, her hand going to her mouth.
“Bloody hell,” Slayer mumbled, angry with himself and left the cottage.
Sky tasted blood in her mouth and fear sent a shiver through her. Slayer, the Gallowglass warrior, had returned, and she was not sure how to deal with him. She shook her head. How could she love part of him and fear the other? It was like the animals in the woods. She loved them but she also knew that they could be dangerous when cornered or hungry. Those times she avoided them or approached them differently.
Then she recalled how he had given his word to her that he would never harm her, that she was safe with him. And if anything, her husband was a man of his word. She told herself to always remember his pledge to her and went in search of him.
He hadn’t gone far. He stood under a large oak tree, his back braced against it.
His hand shot up to ward her off. “Leave me be! Anger invades me and I will not have it touch you.” He shook his head. “I did not mean to hurt you.”
“I know,” she said and smiled as she walked toward him. “You are troubled. We should talk before we kiss again.” She quickly licked her lip to stop the blood she felt in her mouth from reaching her lips.
Slayer pushed himself off the tree and had his hand at her chin so fast that it caused Sky to gasp.
“Is that blood? Did I cause you to bleed?” he demanded, his fingers tugging gently at her lip to have a look. “Bloody hell!”
He shut his eyes briefly trying to contain his anger at seeing the blood in her mouth. He knew the calm he had known with Sky these past few weeks would not last, that the powerful warrior within him would rise and take command again. But he never intended to visit that fierceness upon Sky.