so they could listen for any evidence of what was upsetting the animals.
The sound of hoofbeats carried to them, the number large enough for Alex to announce, “’Tis a full garrison of soldiers, probably English. Dismount and get down.”
He no sooner finished his sentence than the sound of thunder of the approaching horses grew louder, as if the garrison was headed directly for them. They reined in their horses and raced into a copse of trees for cover.
Derric stayed behind Dyna, who tried to climb into a tree but was stopped by her bellowing grandfather. “Dyna, we cannot take on a cavalry that large. On the ground!”
She raced to a hiding spot, and Derric was about to do the same when Alex stopped him mid-step. “Corbett, you’ll protect my granddaughter.”
Derric switched his direction and followed Dyna into a well-hidden spot behind a clump of bushes. She went flat on her belly and he lowered himself next to her.
“What the hell? You need not protect me.”
“I don’t argue with your grandsire. Do you?” he growled through clenched teeth. “Especially when we’re about to be set upon by a mass of Englishmen.”
She snarled and mumbled incomprehensible words until he reached over and placed his hand over her mouth. “Quiet. You can curse me later.”
Her glance was one of fury, that fiery look of hers that he loved, but neither of them said anything because the horses’ hooves were now booming all around them. Their copse had to be in the middle of the cavalry’s path.
Her fury changed to a brief look of fear that unmanned him. So he did the only thing he could think to do. He cupped her face and moved closer, his lips meeting hers with an urgency and a need that he couldn’t hide.
Bloody hell, but the lass did things to him he couldn’t comprehend. He thought she’d push him away, but instead she nipped his lower lip, something that drove him mad. He grabbed her shoulders and maneuvered her underneath him, ravaging her lips until she arched against him, then she wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him closer.
It was a duel of tongues he didn’t care if he ever won, her assault on his lips as powerful as his own on hers. Hellfire, what would the lass be like in bed?
Explosive. If their kissing was any indication of what their lovemaking would be, it would be beyond anything he’d ever experienced. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. “Are you trying to kill me, lass?”
“’Tis a far sight better than listening to the English cavalry come closer. I’d rather die wrapped in your arms than alone.”
He set his finger to her lips, doing his best to listen between the panting breaths coming from both of them.
The sounds had decreased, indicating the English had passed their location and were no longer a threat. Derric sat up from the ground cover that had concealed them, keeping his hand on her shoulder to keep her down until he checked the area.
As if that would work.
She bolted up next to him, her hair in disarray around her face, pulled out of her plait from their tumble. The others stood up, so Derric grabbed Dyna’s hand and helped her to her feet.
“Grandsire, you are hale?” she asked in a low tone.
“Aye, I’m fine.” She rushed over to help him, but he waved her off. “I can get myself up.”
She stepped back, and the other guards went to retrieve their horses.
“Did you see them, Grandsire?”
“Nay, and I’m sure you two didn’t see a thing.” He cast them a knowing look and went after Midnight.
Dyna blushed and froze. Derric waited until Alex had retrieved his mount before he went after their horses, bringing Dyna’s beast along with his own. When he reached her side, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Hellfire, does the man miss naught?”
Dyna just arched a brow at him with a snort.
“I have to learn to be more careful,” he said, saying it for others to hear, hoping he’d convince himself of the importance of that creed. He was too lax from spending most of his life around camp men and warriors.
One of the guards said, “They were definitely English. Where do you think they’re headed?”
“No idea.” Alex mounted his horse and made his way out to the trampled meadow. “At least a hundred.” He glanced over at Derric and said, “Mayhap they’re headed toward wherever they think King Robert is.”
Derric lifted Dyna up