Authors: Carmella Jones
Her thoughts kept wandering back to the stranger who had saved her in the woods. She brushed the thoughts aside. She’d just been alone too long she told herself. Just because he had helped her was no reason to build it up into something it wasn’t. Never mind the fact that she more than likely would never see him again.
She finished her work in the kitchen and went to her father’s side.
“Da,” she said, giving his shoulder a gentle shake. “Da, wake up.”
He opened his eyes and looked up at her blearily.
“I’m goin’ into the forest to gather wood for the fire,” she told him.
“Ye already gathered wood for the fire,” he said confusedly.
Rhona shifted uncomfortably. The last time she had been into the forest the fire wood she’d gathered had been dropped when she was attacked. But she didn’t want him to know about that.
“We need more again already?” he asked.
“Aye,” she told him.
He studied her face for a moment.
“Very well,” he finally said with a smile.
She kissed his cheek and made her way outside, heading for the tree line. She slowed as she entered the shadow of the trees. A tightness crept over her chest as she picked her way through the woods. She chided herself for being foolish.
These woods had been like a second home to her since childhood. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment and then opened them again, studying the patterns of dappled sunlight on the forest floor as she tried to slow her breathing.
But she couldn’t shake the memory of the cold wind on her bare shoulders and rough hands on her bare breasts. The forest no longer felt safe to her. With a shudder she turned and made her way back to the cottage. It was all she could do to keep from running.
She knew that she would have to brave the woods again, and soon, if they were to have enough wood for the fire. But today she simply couldn’t do it.
Tomorrow, she told herself. She would try again tomorrow.
*****
Aidan sat on a large rock near the edge of the forest sharpening his sword in the wan, gray light of predawn. Strider stood patiently, tethered to a nearby tree. Soon the sun would show its face over the edge of the horizon. And, he had no doubt, Graeme would be making his way up the hillside shortly after.
He seemed to have made it his mission to find the girl and finish what he had started. Aidan felt largely responsible for that. He was fairly certain that if he had looked the other way and let Graeme run his filthy mouth he probably wouldn’t have set out on this vendetta, but there was nothing to be done for it now. He ground his teeth as he recalled Graeme’s words. He knew with a certainty that even if he had it to do over again he would be unable to react any differently.
He knew that he was shirking his responsibilities at the camp. But this had to be dealt with first. He tested the edge of his blade and, finding to his satisfaction, slid it back into its sheath. His intention was merely to warn Graeme away. But if it did come to blows he intended to be ready.
He waited patiently as the sky began to blush with the first hints of dawn. The sun had just peeked over the horizon when, just as he had anticipated, Graeme came riding in from the direction of the camp. He pulled up short when he saw Aidan.
Aidan could tell by his expression that he had not been expecting to find him here. He stood slowly and crossed his arms, never breaking eye contact. Graeme glared at him. The two men regarded each other in silence for a long moment.
Finally, without a word, Graeme spat on the ground and with a final sneer in Aidan’s direction, turned his horse around and rode back to the camp. Aidan watched him go. He knew that this wasn’t over yet.
He mounted Strider and rode into the woods. He needed to find the girl and warn her to stay out of the forest.
*****
Rhona stood at the edge of the woods gathering her nerve. The woods looked as calm and as peaceful as they always had. But she knew she could no longer trust them. She cursed the war that had brought these rough men who made the forest,
her
forest, a place of danger and uncertainty. She missed the sense of peace and comfort that the embrace of its branches and shadows had once brought her.
She felt her heart begin to race as she stepped into the trees. She had to fight the urge to turn and run for the safety of the cottage. She set her jaw and strode forward determinedly, fingering the handle of the knife that she had brought with her. She had never wielded a weapon against anyone, wasn’t even sure that she could. But it made her feel safer to have it.
She picked her way through the woods as quickly as she could. Her heart hammered in her chest as she neared the place where she had been attacked. It was the last place she wanted to go, but she knew that the wood she had gathered before was probably still there. It would be the fastest way to get what she needed and get back out of the woods.
Sure enough, the wood lay scattered in a pile where she had dropped it. She made her way to it and was about to bend over to gather it up when a voice spoke from behind her.
“Lass—“
She didn’t let him get any further than that. She pulled out her knife more quickly than she would have thought, spun around, and brought it down in a sweeping arc. But a firm hand grabbed her wrist and the blade stopped inches from his face. He studied the blade with wide eyes for a long moment before turning his gaze to her face. As recognition dawned on her, she was glad that he had had such quick reflexes.
“I remember you,” she said. She felt foolish as soon as the words had left her lips. How could she
not
remember him?
“Aye,” he said, cautiously releasing her wrist. “I’m sorry that I frightened ye.”
She felt her cheeks grow hot as she put the knife away.
“My name is Aidan,” he told her.
“Aidan,” she said, trying the name out. She had spent so much time thinking of him as just ‘the stranger’ that she had given little to no thought to what his name might be. She found that she quite liked having a name to put to the face. Her cheeks grew hot again as she realized that she must sound like a fool standing there and repeating his own name back to him.
“I am Rhona,” she said quickly, looking down and brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face.
“Well, Rhona,” he said with a smile, “I am glad to have made yer acquaintance.”
But the smile quickly dropped from his face. He glanced through woods as though scanning for enemies. Rhona immediately felt uneasy again.
“I came to warn ye,” he said, “Ye must stay out of the forest. ‘Tisn’t safe here.”
Rhona did not reply. She knew all too well how unsafe the woods were these days. She bent and collected her firewood in silence, stuffing into the bag she had fashioned for just that purpose, before facing him again.
“I should be going,” she said. She turned and started making her way back toward home.
“Aye,” he agreed, falling into step beside her. This time she did not object, though she did tense when he took her elbow and guided her in a different direction. He quickly noticed and removed his hand. “We’ll take my horse he said,” nodding in the direction he had been trying to guide her.
She relaxed slightly when she saw the animal tethered to a nearby tree, though she did chide herself for not noticing it sooner. She had been so caught up in her fear and trying to get her wood and get out of the forest that she had barely even noticed her surroundings. She was lucky, she reflected, that it had been Aidan who had found her.
She forgot her uneasiness momentarily when they reached the animal. She reached up and touched the side of its face. Aidan seemed about to object, but he held his peace as she stroked the animal. He was a beautiful creature, she thought. He had a pure black coat, and he was finely built, with intelligent eyes. He butted her shoulder gently in objection when she withdrew her hand. She laughed softly and gave him a few more strokes.
“What is he called?” she asked.
“Strider,” Aidan replied, giving her a peculiar look.
“What?,” she asked, noticing the look. “What is it?”
“Nothin’” he said with a shake of his head. “We should go.”
“Aye,” she agreed, her fear returning to her as abruptly as it had left her.
Aidan mounted Strider and then offered his hand to Rhona. She climbed up and settled herself behind him, wrapping her arms securely around his waist, her bundle of wood secured against her back, as Strider set off through the forest at a walk. It took her by surprise how right it felt to be pressed against him. She found that she felt safe again this close to him.
She didn’t bother to question the feeling. She had spent too much time trying to stave off fear to want to question it. She closed her eyes as she breathed in the scent of him.
“Which way?” he asked her.
“Hmm?”
“Which way?” he repeated.
“That way,” she said, pointing in the direction of the cottage. They rode in silence until they reached the clearing where the cottage stood. Aidan dismounted and then helped her down. There was a long silence between them.
“Thank ye,” Rhona finally said, turning to make her way across the clearing. She had made it halfway to the cottage when she turned to find Aidan still watching her. Something in the way he looked at her made her heart suddenly ache at the possibility of never seeing him again.
“Will I see you again?” she called.
“Aye,” he said simply.
“Good,” she said with a small smile. She turned and made her way to the cottage, knowing that he was still watching her, waiting until he was sure she was safe. Once she was inside she lingered at the door, listening to the sound of Strider’s hoof beats retreating until she could no longer hear them.
*****
Aidan reflected on his encounter with Rhona as he made his way back to camp. It had caught him off guard, in more ways than one. For one thing, her beauty had struck him in a way that he had not expected. At their first meeting he had seen her only as someone in trouble, someone who needed his help. In his mind she had remained the disheveled frightened woman that he had freed from Graeme’s grasp. The reality of her had taken him very much by surprise.
The other thing that had surprised him had been Strider’s reaction to her. The animal could be described, at best, as very…spirited. At worst, he was downright mean. As far as Aidan had known, he himself was the only person that the horse would tolerate. He hadn’t been entirely sure that the animal would allow her on his back. But he had seemed to like her on sight.
He shook his head and tried to put the thought of her out of his mind as he came in sight of the camp. But the memory of her hovered about him, an almost physical presence, as he went about his duties. It followed him throughout the day and accompanied him still as he laid his head down to sleep.
He had intended only to warn her away from the forest, no more. But something about the feeling of her against him, the sound of her laugh, had filled an emptiness in him that he had not realized was there until she filled it. He drifted into sleep wishing that he held her in his arms.
*****
Rhona hummed softly to herself as she went about her work.
“He’s a good man, ye know.”
She jumped at the sound of her father’s voice. He had been dozing by the fire again and she hadn’t realized that he had awakened.
“Who’s a good man, da?” she asked.
He waved his hand absently at the door before drifting back to sleep.
Rhona went to the door and peered curiously outside. But there was no one there. Shaking her head, she once again busied herself with her work. She had almost dismissed her father’s words as nonsense, just ramblings of a mind still cloaked in dreams, when she heard the sound of hoof beats approaching. She set her work aside and listened as they drew closer and finally stopped just outside the door.
She opened the door to find Aidan on the other side, one arm wrapped around some fire wood, the other hand raised to knock. He lowered his hand slowly as she stepped outside and closed the door.
“I brought ye this,” he said, indicating the fire wood he held. “So ye wouldn’t have to go into the woods.”
“Thank ye,” she said. Her heart fluttered as she watched him set the wood down. The vague sense of disquiet, of something missing that had accompanied her since she had last seen him left her now that he stood before her again.
Without a thought, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. She had to stand on tiptoe to do it. He froze momentarily in surprise before wrapping her in his arms. Neither of them wanted to break the kiss, instead deepening it. Rhona stiffened as Aidan’s hand brushed against her breast. He drew away immediately when he felt her tense, but it was already too late.
Something cold and dark and heavy had already taken root in the pit of her stomach. Her breath came in shorted, panicked gasps as she fought to keep it from swallowing her whole. Aidan was not Graeme. She knew that. But to the cold darkness inside of her it made no difference.
“Rhona,” Aidan said hesitantly. He wanted to comfort her, but he was reluctant to touch her again. He knew exactly what had set off her panic attack.