Hugh glanced over his shoulder, and Ilysa shrieked as he teetered backward. Connor's heart stopped beating until the man regained his balance.
"For God's sake, Hugh, get away from the edge," Connor said and started toward them.
"Stay back, or I'll toss her over right now," Hugh said.
"Let her go," Connor said. "Ye have no grudge against her."
"No, but I'll take my revenge against you the same way I did your father."
"I know what ye did to Lachlan's mother." Connor caught Ilysa's eye and inched forward. Somehow he would get to her in time. "But ye can't do that this time and save yourself."
"I admit," Hugh said with a laugh, "I'll enjoy this less than sending your father's lover over the cliff alone."
"My father had lots of women," Connor said. "Ye were a fool to think ye could hurt him that way."
"Oh, I did have my revenge," Hugh said. "He had a mindless passion for your mother, and he never recovered from her death."
"What do ye know about that?" Connor said, trying to divert Hugh as he moved forward a bit more.
"It was me she ran off with," Hugh said.
Connor maintained his focus, though he was shocked by the revelation. A few more steps, and he would be close enough to lunge for Ilysa.
"Ye didn't know that, did ye?" Hugh said. "I was eighteen, half my brother's age, with the good looks he used to have, when she chose me."
"My mother didn't give a damn about ye," Connor said.
"We loved each other!" Hugh shouted.
"She only used ye to punish my father," Connor said, easing forward. "Ye were nothing next to him."
"No, she wanted me," Hugh said, his eyes wild.
"She couldn't love a coward like you," Connor spat out. "Why didn't ye die in that storm, Hugh?"
"I - I - "
"You were too afraid of my father to meet her yourself," Connor said, cutting him off. "Ye sent someone else to fetch her."
Sweat trickled down his back. He was almost close enough now. He could not risk shifting his gaze from Hugh to signal Ilysa.
"I did love her," Hugh said. "I just wasn't willing to die for her."
"Then ye don't know what love is."
"I understand it well enough to know how much this is going to make you suffer," Hugh said, his eyes gleaming.
Connor's dirk was already flying through the air when Hugh stepped backward off the cliff, clutching Ilysa. Thunk! The blade struck Hugh through the eye. His arms jerked out, releasing Ilysa, as the two toppled backward.
Connor lunged for her and caught her wrist. With a sudden jerk, he fell flat and was pulled forward until his head and shoulders went over the edge, but he held on.
Ilysa screamed as she dangled from his hand while Hugh fell spread-eagle down the two-hundred-foot cliff.
"Don't look down," he shouted. "I've got ye."
Ilysa fixed her gaze on him and nodded.
Connor's hand was slippery with sweat. He died a thousand deaths as she started sliding from his grasp. Nay, I will not lose her. He dug his toes into the dirt and stretched still farther over the cliff until he caught her forearm with his other hand. He swallowed as he watched her body sway with nothing but the distant sea below her. Then, with all his strength, he hoisted her over the edge to safety. They fell backward tangled together with her lying on top of him.
"That was far too close." He brushed her windblown hair out of her eyes with a shaking hand. His heart was beating so hard he feared he might never recover. "Dear God, I almost lost ye."
"No, ye didn't." Ilysa looked down at him with her sweet smile. "I knew ye would never let me fall."
Chapter 47
Two Weeks Later
Hold still!" Connor commanded as he spread the lily-scented salve over the cut on her shoulder. "Don't make me tie ye to this chair, mo r霉in."
"'Tis a wee scratch," Ilysa complained.
A wee scratch? He shuddered as he remembered feeling the damp stickiness on her back while he held her on the cliff. When he looked at his hand and saw blood, fear struck his heart like a shard of ice.
"'Twas lucky Lachlan was there to show us where Hugh had taken ye," he said.
"Luck had no part in it," she said, tilting her head back to smile at him. "Lachlan was there because you're a leader who engenders loyalty. That's why ye prevailed over Hugh and why you'll be one of the great chieftains of