Jain wrapped her arms around Alan’s waist as they rode his horse through the twisted roads of Elign. She didn’t know what possessed Alan to take her and run, but at the time it seemed like a prudent decision. Tensions were high and the way things were going it didn’t feel safe for her anymore. Her body swayed with the movement of the animal, repositioning herself on the saddle so that she wouldn’t fall.

Alan didn’t look back even when they left the village, he seemed focused on the road ahead. The land dipped down a steep slope and then spanned out in a rich even stretch of earth, which was bordered by the forest. “We are we going?” she asked him nervously.

He snapped the reins to pick up the horse’s pace and led them down the glen, following a goat path through the shrubbery. It was off the beaten path and brought them all the way to the river’s edge. “I’m not sure,” he told her honestly. “We’ll follow the river until we can find a place to rest.”

It was not the answer she was hoping for, but Jain knew he would keep her safe and they would find a solution to the problem together. She rested her head against his back and held on to him for comfort. All they had now was each other.

She wasn’t sure how long they rode, but the sun was high above them beyond the canopy of trees. Alan led the horse to follow the river – it was the only way they could find a way back.

For all Jain knew, they might not even be on Gordon soil any more – they might have crossed over into a different clan’s territory. After a while the horse was getting tired and Alan suggested they dismount to have a rest. It was a quiet and secluded stretch of earth along that bank perfect for setting up camp. 

They spent the afternoon collecting supplies and catching fish out of the river before settling down to eat. The sky grew dark overhead and Alan crouched over the open flames to spin the trout cooking on the spit. “That’s starting to smell delicious,” Jain commented. “Will they be done soon?”

Alan grinned, looking up at her sitting on the fabric of her cloak as a makeshift blanket. Her long red hair was unbound and hung down low across her shoulders.

“Aye, they should be cooked through.”

Jain sighed and laid back against the ground, resting her head on the wool fabric so her hair spilled out around it in a halo. She was so beautiful, looking up at him with a dreamy sort of smile. 

Alan took the fish off the fire and brought them over to where Jain was, offering one to her. He sat down and rolled his neck to relieve some tension. 

“This is all my fault,” she told him sadly when she started eating.

“No, it isn’t,” he told her soothingly. “What do they want from ye? Who are those Norsemen?”

She sighed, knowing she couldn’t keep the truth from him any longer. “I can only guess Leif and Ragnar are in their number.”

“Who?”

“They’re my brothers.”

“Yer brothers!” Alan repeated in astonishment. “How is that possible?”

“Years ago, when I was very small, my family and a few others came to the northern shore to start a new life fer ourselves. One day, men came riding over the hill and burned our settlement to the ground. I hid in one of the buildings, but everyone else was killed except a few that managed to escape. I dinnae ken what to do at the time, I was so scared. Then Eamon and the others came, he took me back with them. We dinnae think anyone would come back fer me after all this time, but now…I’m not so sure.”

“Ye said that two of them were yer brothers?”

Jain shrugged. “I’m not sure, but if they were on that boat that escaped it’s possible – I never saw their bodies.”

Alan exhaled heavily through his nose and cast his eyes towards the fire. “Fer yer sake, I hope they managed to survive.”

“I as well, but if Ragnar has reason to believe that he can find me, they’ll keep sending ships until they do. He’s a hunter, Alan. He doesn’t give up easily. They’ll kill ye if ye try to hide me from them.”

“I won’t let them,” he told her calmly. “Why dinnae ye tell me sooner?”

“How could I? Ye ken how the village feels about the Norsemen. Just look at what happened to us at the mere suggestion I could be one of them. I ken they’d never accept me once they found out, so I lied.”

“Ye could have told me,” he whispered.

Jain sighed. “I wasn’t sure if ye would turn on me as well. Oh, Alan! What are we going to do? I cannae go back to Elign, but if my brothers come looking fer me and I’m not there it could be a disaster. My brothers can be vicious killers when it suits them.”

“What do ye ken they’d do if they actually found ye?”

“First, they would destroy the village fer keeping me from them in the first place. Then they’d take me with them across the sea. I’d never see ye again. I cannae leave…this is my home now. With ye.”

Alan took her in his arms and wiped the tear from her cheek before kissing her softly on the mouth. As she tasted the salt clinging to his lips, Jain melted into him. Her lips danced against his, drinking in every moment of his touch and begging for more. All this time she’d been denying herself the taste of him and now that she’d experienced it Jain didn’t know if she could ever stop.

Just when she thought she’d had enough, Alan slid his hand down the length of her body and she moaned against his lips.

Her heart fluttered when Alan knotted his fingers in her hair, deepening their kiss with wanton yearning. With his body against her she could feel his arousal, bringing her ever closer to losing self-control.

She couldn’t think clearly; every sense was engulfed with Alan’s ragged breathing and the feel of his lips against her skin.

When he pulled away, it was only to shift slightly to the left and trail a line of kisses down her neck. Jain gasped, throwing her head back at the delicious new feeling. Warmth flooded deep into her stomach and she knew if they didn’t stop they would lose control completely.

Jain pulled away, running her fingers through his hair and tried to regain control of her beating heart.

Alan hung his head and placed a delicate kiss against her collar bone. “Now is not the time,” he whispered.

She nodded breathlessly.

“Soon,” he promised. “I want ye more than anything.”

Jain grinned. “Almost as much as I want ye.”

Alan took her face and cradled it gently in his hands before kissing her on the lips, sweeter this time and more innocent. Alan pulled away and rested his chin against her forehead. “When all this is over, Jain, I’ll come back fer ye. I would take ye as my wife.”

Jain smiled, letting out a haggard laugh. “And I would give myself to ye, but we have to deal with Leif and Ragnar first.”

“Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together,” he promised. “Even if we have to run away.”

She nodded, taking him by the hand. “My parents are still back in Elign. I cannae abandon them.”

“We won’t,” he assured her. “But we need to come up with a plan first. Conrad is trying to position himself in a seat of authority, and some of them might fall fer it. Yer da is a good man though and I’m sure in the end he will prevail.”

“What if he doesn’t?” she asked him quietly. “What if Conrad wins?”

“Then we will fight him. I cannae accept that a man like Conrad will ever be chieftain. We’ll give it a few days fer the chaos to calm down, then we’ll go back and deal with him once and fer all.”

The sun was starting to set beyond the hills and the evening chill fell upon them. Alan rolled over on the grass, so he was looking at her properly. Jain quirked an eyebrow at him. “Why are ye looking at me like that?”

“I was just thinking how lucky I am to have such a strong, beautiful woman agree to be my wife.”

“Funny. I was just thinking how lucky I am to have a lad as loyal and good as ye to want me in the first place. Who else would have stood by me after they found out the truth about my past?”

Alan reached out and took her by the hand and said, “I guess we're both pretty lucky then.”

“I guess we are.”

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and she pulled it up beneath her chin, kissing the tips of his fingers one by one. He watched her do this with clear intent, looking up at him. She took the last one in her mouth and sucked it lightly on the pad on his finger. Alan cursed aloud at she released it with an impish smile and looked up at him in wanting. “Ye’re a right vixen, ye ken that?” he teased playfully.

“Mmmm,” she hummed in agreement. “Are ye going to do anything about it?”

Alan growled, climbing over to the bed of hay that she had made and kissed her roughly on the mouth. She met him eagerly, wrapping her arms around his back when he climbed on top of her and dragging her nails down the back of his shirt.

“Ahh…Jain. What ye do to me,” he sighed. Jain smiled and lifted her head to kiss him deeply. When they parted slightly, Alan dipped his tongue inside and slid one of his hands down her waist until cresting the prominent curve of her hip.

To Jain’s disappointment, he pulled away suddenly and broke the kiss.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking up at him confused.

Alan chuckled through his raspy breathing and told her, “Nothing. Ye’re perfect. I just…I need a minute to think.”

He sat up on the grass beside her and breathed in the cool night air. Jain reached up to touch him and grazed her fingers across his back.

Jain looked to the horizon and sighed. “What about the cold?” she asked, leaning in to brush her lips across his. “I might need ye to keep warm.”

Alan sighed as Jain pressed her lips to his and kissed him deeply on the mouth. She slid one of her hands around his waist and pressed her body up against him. Her movements were slow but pleading while she tried to bring him onto the blanket of her cloak. Her tongue traced his bottom lip and she felt a low rubble in his chest as he deepened their connection.

Jain’s entire body became alive as his hands explored the curves of her waist and breasts, kneading them with his fingers. She broke their kiss and gasped. He hitched her skirts up higher on her waist and ran a hand down the sensitive flesh of her upper thigh. “Alan!”

“Ungh, Jain,” he moaned, trailing a line of kisses up her throat. “Ye have nae idea how long I’ve wanted ye.”

His lips came to hers again and Alan’s breathing grew ragged. The intensity of their kiss escalated quickly. She reached up to put her arms around his neck when Alan stopped her suddenly. His lips broke from hers and she sighed in disappointment. “Ah!”

Jain was surprised at first when he caught her by the wrist, but he chucked lightly and placed a feather light kiss against her neck.

“I love ye, Jain. I promise to have ye soon,” he said. “But not tonight. Tonight, we need to sleep. We’ll need to have our wits about us on the morrow.”

~ * ~

The next morning, Jain woke up on the ground with her cloak wrapped snuggly around her. Her back was sore from sleeping on the bank of the river. She sat up on the grass and saw Alan knee deep in the water trying to catch some fish.

“Are ye having any luck there, Alan?”

He turned at the sound of her voice and smiled. “Good morrow, Jain. I wasn’t sure how long ye would need to rest, so I thought I would catch some breakfast. Unfortunately, there’s been nae luck thus far.”

“Thank ye, that was very kind.”

Alan slowly waded out from the water and walked onto the bank beside her. “What do ye think, lass? Shall we stay here another night or go in search of another campsite?”

“I dinnae ken. What would ye do?”

Alan sighed. “I think we should keep moving. This place is not as secure as I would like. We should guide the horse on foot until we find some place better.”

Jain nodded and rose to her feet, saying, “Then that’s what we will do. And on the way we can search for berries or something else to eat.”

He dried off his hands on the edge of his tunic and untied the horse from where it was resting against a tree. Together, they headed off into the trees and Jain smiled at him.

After a while, there appeared a tiny cottage on the edge of the water. It looked abandoned and worn down compared to the other dwellings she had seen. The roof was in poor repair and the stone around the walls had begun to crumble. From a distance, it looked like the perfect place to hide out until they decided on the next stage of their plan, but a knot formed in her stomach at the sight of it and she couldn’t explain why. It was far enough from the village that she doubted anyone would come looking for them.

They approached it slowly, walking hand in hand and seeking any signs of life or habitation. The stone walls were in bad repair and parts of the thatching on the roof had fallen in. When they found the front door, Alan carefully nudged it in and led Jain inside behind him. There was a fireplace against the wall, but nae kindling for it to burn. He sighed, kissing her on the hand and then going back out through the doorway.

“Where are ye going?”

“I’m going to fetch some kindling fer a fire,” he told her. “It will get mighty cold here after dark and we have nae other way to keep warm.”

“I’ll come with ye.”

He sighed disapprovingly and glanced back the way they came. There was no sign of them being followed so he gave a gentle nod. “Aye, but ye’ll keep a wary eye out.”

They stepped out into the grass, picking up fallen branches and bringing them back to the cottage door. “That’ll do,” he told her. “It should keep us warm at least. We’ll wait till after dark to light it, otherwise they could see the smoke and find us.”

Alan knelt down in front of the fireplace and built a small campfire with some of the branches they had brought. Jain watched him for a moment and cast her eyes around the building.

“Does something about this place seem odd to ye?” she asked.

He looked back at her, then glanced around himself. “What do ye mean?”

Her eyes narrowed, standing up to look around more fully. “I dunno…it seems strange to me. Something about it is not quite right.”

Alan nodded, standing back once he’d caught a spark to ignite the campfire he’d been working on. “I suppose it is. It’s difficult to say without looking around a bit. Would ye like to search a bit in the morning?”

Jain bit down on her bottom lip. “Aye. I have this strange feeling in my stomach.”

“Try not to think about it,” he suggested. “We need to get some rest. Ye can have the bed yerself. I wouldn’t have ye thinking I’d take advantage. I’ll make a bed on the floor.”

“Nonsense, ye’ll sleep up here with me,” she told him. “I won’t hear another word about it.”

Alan eyed her, his eyes filled with desire. He glanced back and forth between her and the feather mattress. “Jain…”

“Alan,” she responded in a challenge. “We’re betrothed, aren’t we?”

“Aye, but still not married yet. I appreciate what ye’re trying to do, but it isn’t right. I will share yer bed when ye’ve agreed to be my wife and not before.”

Her lip twitched as she gazed back at him trying not to smile. “Ye really place such high value on a woman’s virtue?”

“On yer virtue, aye,” he responded instantly. “But it’s not about that. It’s about respect. It’s about what’s right and proper.”

Jain sighed, returning to the bed. Alan laid out a blanket on the floor and exhaled a tired sigh before settling down herself. She watched him longingly and wished he would reconsider the offer of joining her on the bed, but knew that he was right, they would have to wait for that until later. 

“Could I ask ye something?” she asked him quietly.

“Of course.”

“Sometimes when we go walking ye'll sing fer me on the road...”

“Aye,” he confirmed, not really sure where she was going with their conversation.

“I ken that ye won't share a bed with me till we're married, but it might help me get my mind off other things. I like it when ye sing fer me,” she whispered. “Would ye do it fer me now?”

He smiled at the request and said, “Anything fer ye, my dear.”