They had been traveling for three days. With the two wagons filled with pirate treasure that Elise had brought with her, as well as the wagon containing the body of mac Uurguist, the pace was painfully slow. Cam was only surprised that MacAllister hadn’t complained.

As he and his four compatriots rode back to the main train from their scouting trip, he could imagine the other man’s reaction to what Cam was about to tell him. The men he’d ridden on ahead with, to check the lay of the land, had seen nothing wrong with their intended path.

But they weren’t responsible for the princess’ safety. And he was.

“Well?” MacAllister spared him a fleeting glance as Cam rode up beside him.

“We need to change direction due west. The river will be easier to cross nearer its source.”

This time MacAllister favored him with a longer look. “We can’t ford it directly ahead?”

Without Elise, it wouldn’t be an issue. With any other woman, royal or not, it wouldn’t be an issue.

But he had witnessed the look on her face when she’d seen how the storm had caused the stream to rise. Compared to that, the river ahead raged.

“Not with the princess.” Cam stared at MacAllister, daring him to contradict him. He knew ultimately the final word would be MacAllister’s. There was little Cam could do if the other man ignored his warning. He also knew that every time he crossed swords with MacAllister he risked putting his future in jeopardy.

MacAllister, after all, was the king’s right hand man.

But Cam had never been good at politics.

MacAllister was silent for several minutes. Finally he appeared to come to a decision. “How long will this diversion delay us?”

“At a guess, two days.”

“Very well.” MacAllister shot him a smile Cam didn’t care for at all. “Anything to ensure the princess’ comfort, MacNeil.”

Cam watched him ride off to give the change in orders but instead of relief that MacAllister had taken heed of his words, unease seethed through his gut. MacAllister was, in Cam’s opinion, taking far too much interest in Elise’s wellbeing. He asked after her health every morning, as though he expected Cam to have intimate knowledge of her habits.

But he hadn’t spent the night with her since they had left Ce. Eyes were everywhere and he trusted none of them. Not even Connor’s own men when it came to the reputation of Elise.

He galloped down the flank of the train until he reached Elise. She had brought four ladies with her, a small contingent of Pict warriors and her bodyguard.

“Cameron MacNeil. How delightful to see you once again.” She smiled at him, as though they were flirting at a great feast and not traversing the countryside beneath a cloudy sky. She leaned toward him and her voice dropped to a sultry whisper. “I had hoped to see you last night in my tent. You are altogether too circumspect.”

“I will not compromise your honor.” But God, how his body burned for her at night. It didn’t help knowing that he could see her tent from outside his own.

“Then perhaps I should disguise myself and visit you at night instead.”

Sometimes he couldn’t tell whether she was jesting or not. “There are too few men here I trust.” Fuck, what had possessed him to tell her that? Except it was the truth. And he wanted to tell her the truth whenever he could, because there was so much he had to conceal from her.

The mocking smile slid from her face and she sighed. “I’m sorry for that, Cam.” Somehow she had continued to call him by his shortened name since the night they’d shared. Neither of them had remarked on it, but a strange warm glow curled through his chest every time she said it. “I know only too well how it feels to be surrounded by those you can’t confide in.” A pensive look crossed her face as she stared into the distance.

Was she referring to her marriage?

“Do you not trust your ladies?”

Her eyes widened. “But of course. Except… that’s not what I meant. Some things can never be discussed, no matter how dearly one might wish it.”

Her blue eyes were so beautiful, so trusting. She continued to gaze at him, almost as though she was trying to convey a hidden meaning.

He cleared his throat and tore his besotted gaze from her. There was no hidden meaning in her words. Elise said what she meant, and she wanted him in her bed. But he couldn’t see how it was possible. Her ladies shared her tent at night and he shared his with three other warriors.

But her artless comment ate into his heart. She would never know how dearly he wished to confide in her as to their true destination. He could only hope that before they went their separate ways she would forgive him for the deception and understand why he had done it.

“We’re traveling upriver to find a shallower fording point. It could add two days to our journey.”

“That will take us closer to Dal Riada.” Her tone was casual and yet there was a strange undertone of excitement. He must have imagined it. There was no reason why Elise should sound excited at the thought of being two days nearer Dal Riada.

“The distance is nominal.” But it did take them farther away from the kingdom of Circinn. He knew the queen of Ce had sent a messenger to the queen of Circinn informing her of the death of mac Uurguist. But he found it strange that, despite how their travels took them close to the borders of Circinn, Elise had not once expressed the desire to visit her kin.

Was it because she suspected MacAllister wouldn’t grant her request? But Cam was no longer certain what MacAllister might agree to when it came to Elise.

He could no longer contain himself. “Do you not wish to visit your family, Elise?”

She lowered her lashes, then appeared to reconsider and looked him fully in the face. “My mother would never allow me to leave Circinn once I entered the palace. She would have Ferelei’s body returned to his hill fort in Fib and I would remain under her dominion until a new husband was found for me. I choose another path, Cam.”

“You would rather live in Fib, away from your blood kin?” He had no idea what rights Elise might have to her dead husband’s estate. Would Pict law allow his children to inherit his goods? Why did she not simply keep the treasure the bastard had brought back from his final travels and set up her own household?

A Scots noblewoman might not be permitted to do such a thing. But Elise was a princess of Pictland, and the Picts’ ways were not the Scots’.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you.” She bit her lip, as if she wasn’t entirely sure what his reaction might be. “I would dearly love to see my cousin Aila. Instead of continuing onto Fib, which I know takes you many days out of your way, I want to return with you to Dal Riada.”

He stared at her, speechless. Before his frozen thoughts could find some order, she reached across and briefly squeezed his hand. “I have it all planned.” Her voice was breathless. “The mercenaries will accompany Ferelei’s body back to Fib and ensure he is accorded every honor he deserves. I can afford to pay them well for this service. Would you speak to MacAllister about my wishes? I cannot see how he will object as I’m saving him a great diversion.”

He gritted his teeth against the suicidal urge to tell her the truth. It would get neither of them anywhere. All he could do was promise to relay her request to MacAllister.

“Aye.” It was a bitter growl and he couldn’t look her in the eyes as he made her a promise that was little better than a blatant lie. When Elise reached over and laid her hand on top of his once again, shame burned through him at the trust she so freely bestowed on him.

“Don’t look so fierce.” There was a note of laughter in her whisper. “It means we have more time together. Unless you’re tired of me already and wish nothing but to see the back of me?”

He shot her a glare. She cocked her head to one side and gave him a mocking smile. Obviously she was once again jesting. But he saw nothing amusing in the situation. Not least because he couldn’t even begin to fathom the day when he ever tired of Elise and wished never to see her again.

The day when he and Elise parted forever would come. Only too soon. He shoved the knowledge into the darkest recess of his mind.

“I’ll speak to him when we make camp.”

***

Elise sat on a stool as one of her ladies meticulously combed through her hair. They had made camp some time ago, eaten and retired to their tent while the warriors went about their business.

Was Cam speaking to MacAllister about her request? She couldn’t see where there would be a problem. But she had learned it was never wise to assume anything.

Idly she trailed her fingers over her belly. Had Bride blessed her during the few times she and Cam had been together? She’d let Cam believe she was protected and for that she grieved. But she knew what he was like. So noble and honor bound, he would never risk leaving her with child.

But she wanted his child. A child she could lavish with all the love in her heart. She didn’t care for scandal. No one would dare slander her in any case. For all anyone would know a baby she conceived during this magical time could be Ferelei’s.

Only she would know the truth for sure. And in time so would her child. Because her child deserved to know its father was the finest man she had ever met.

She sighed softly. It was too soon to tell. But aside from that, Cam was being most obstinate. She had imagined they would spend every night of this journey in each other’s arms. It wasn’t because he didn’t want her. She knew that.

His insistence on protecting her good name was endearing. But also dreadfully frustrating. He might think she was jesting about taking on a disguise in order to seduce him, but she was perilously close to carrying through with her threat.

It wasn’t only because she wanted to take advantage of her fertile moon time. She wanted his arms around her. Wanted to breathe in his wonderful, wild scent that made her think of freedom and every girlish dream she’d ever had.

They had only spent one night together, but she wanted that again. Wanted to see him smile at her with no shadows darkening his eyes. To hear him laugh and feel his heartbeat beneath her palm. To lay her head on his shoulder and hold him close while they spoke of everything and nothing.

She wanted to store a thousand memories of him. Memories that would have to last her a lifetime without him.

“Madam.” One of her ladies approached. “The Scot, Cameron MacNeil, requests audience with you.”

She blinked, and her bittersweet dreams faded. “Cameron MacNeil is here?”

“Yes. He waits in the outer entrance.”

The tent she shared with her ladies was divided into two sections. This section, where they slept, and an outer section separated by a flimsy wall of material where her bodyguard slept.

She took a deep breath to calm the fluttering of her pulses. But of course they didn’t calm. She didn’t really want them to.

“Then send him in. I will speak with him alone.”

Elise stood as Cam marched inside, and her ladies discreetly retreated to the outer section of the tent.

His hair was windswept and his familiar scowl darkened his features. Did he never smile when away from her? The thought that he endured an existence without laughter tugged at her heart. She stepped toward him and held out her hand.

He took her hand. But instead of bowing and brushing a chaste kiss across her knuckles as another warrior might have done, he roughly pulled her into his arms.

She gave a breathless laugh as she looked up into his grim face. “And it’s good to see you too, Cameron MacNeil.”

His forbidding expression didn’t alter. Concern fluttered through her breast and she cradled his jaw, his stubble grazing her palm. “Is something amiss?”

It was absurd to feel indignation that another Scot might have slighted Cam. But he wasn’t one of MacAllister’s men, and she agreed with her aunt and grandmother. MacAllister was a creature of MacAlpin’s and couldn’t be trusted. It wouldn’t surprise her at all if the king’s man attempted to undermine Cam. Or worse.

She couldn’t bring herself to dwell on the worst. And surely she was overreacting. MacAllister might not approve of Cam—she knew that much from the little she had seen of them together—but he wouldn’t murder him. They were, after all, both Scots.

But the thought lingered, nevertheless.

For answer, he raked his fingers through her hair, forcing her head back. Her shawl slid from her shoulders to pool, forgotten, at her feet. She caught her breath at the fierce look in his eyes, at the determination she could feel emanating from him.

“Will we be disturbed?” His voice was low, rough with need. It sent a shiver of anticipation along her naked arms.

“Not unless I scream for assistance.” It was true her ladies would likely hear everything, but they would never interrupt unless she called for them. She dug her fingers into his shoulders to keep her balance. “But I cannot promise not to scream in ecstasy.”

His lips tugged in what looked like the beginnings of a reluctant smile. “I promised myself I wouldn’t come to you. But I fear I can’t stay away.”

“I don’t want you to stay away,” she whispered. How had she ever imagined he had looked on her with contempt? He kept his passion so tightly leashed it was a wild beast roaring beneath the surface, desperate for escape.

Was she the only woman who affected him so profoundly? How dearly she would love that. To affect a man such as Cameron MacNeil so deeply was something to cherish.

His mouth claimed hers. A savage kiss of possession that sent hot sparks of desire from her breast to her core. She clung onto his shoulders as he wound her hair around his fist and thrust his tongue inside her.

There was no gentleness, no finesse as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pinned her to his body. Before she realized his intention, he lifted her from the ground and backed her toward the makeshift bed.

She gasped and he broke their kiss, panting into her face. She laughed, a breathless sound, delighting in the notion that he could pick her up in one arm as though she weighed no more than a feather.

“You find me amusing?” His low growl caused wet heat to trickle from her pussy. She wanted to pull off her under gown, rip off his plaid and feel his hard warrior body against hers.

But she was his captive. The thought sent hot arrows of need between her thighs.

“I find you endlessly amusing.” He would never know how often she thought of him when they were not together. Or how the memory of him warmed her heart, as though his mere existence was enough to erase the years of torment she’d endured at the hands of Ferelei.

A tortured expression crossed his face. How strange he was, to find it so hard to accept a compliment. She tried to kiss him but his grip on her hair was brutal and allowed her no quarter.

His gaze raked over her. His eyes were so dark they appeared black in the glow from the lanterns. Anyone could be mistaken in thinking he was a foreign savage from a barbarous land, but she knew better.

Beneath that harsh exterior, he was truly the kindest man she had ever met.

Not that she would ever tell him. She would never tell anyone. No man wished to be thought of as kind. It wasn’t a trait a warrior would boast of.

But it was all she had dreamed of finding in a man for too many years.

He lowered her to her feet and loosened his grip in her hair as he tugged her down to the bed. Roughly he pulled her gown up and kneed her thighs apart.

“Goddess, Cam. No one will disturb us, I promise you.” Not that she didn’t enjoy his haste. It was thrilling to know he could scarcely contain his lust. But she didn’t want him thinking speed was necessary.

“I need you, Elise.” He poised over her with such an agonized look on his face her heart melted. She speared her fingers through his hair and hooked her ankles over his hips.

“You have me.” Her whisper meant so much more than he would ever know. He would take a vital part of her with him when this liaison ended. She could only pray to Bride that her goddess would allow a part of Cam to stay forever with her, too.

“My beautiful princess.” He stared at her for a moment as though he couldn’t quite believe she was in his arms. It should have delighted her but a strange sense of unease haunted her mind. He was so intense, as though he was imprinting her image on his soul. Yet there was despair in his voice, so deeply buried she wondered if he even knew it existed. But why would looking at her bring him despair? What did he truly mean by his words?

He braced his weight on his forearms and cradled her face as though she was something precious and fragile. His eyes enslaved her and her disquiet fled.

Of course there was no hidden meaning in his words. Why did she look for shadows when there were none?

His breath was ragged as he tore one hand from her face and hiked up his plaid. The head of his cock nudged her wet folds, a teasing caress. She lifted her hips, desperate to feel him inside her, and with a smothered groan he complied.

His thick shaft stretched her, filling her so completely. Her eyes fluttered shut so she could savor every tiny sensation. He didn’t move, and neither did she. It was a timeless moment. A fragment of eternity she would treasure forever.

“Look at me.” His harsh command tore through her mind and she opened her eyes. He gazed at her, a look of fearsome agony on his face. But his dark eyes transfixed her with their burning passion.

Once again, he cupped her face as his fingers tangled in her hair. His focus was absolute. It was breathtakingly arousing.

Slowly he withdrew, and she felt every inch of his length drag against her sensitized sheath. She dug her heels into him, a silent demand. He didn’t immediately obey and she shifted beneath him, but his control was formidable.

“Do you wish me to beg?” She smoothed her palms over his roughened jaw, backward and forward, loving the abrasive scrape against her flesh. Lightning sharp tingles raced through her blood and collided low in her womb. How much longer would he keep her hovering on the precipice? “Goddess, Cam. I want you.”

He gritted his jaw and pushed into her, stealing every coherent thought she possessed. Her eyes closed and her mouth opened. Her breath rasped and her heart pounded, and a frantic beat filled her head.

His fingers bit into her and his thrusts became frenzied. He pounded her into the furs, his jagged breath feathering her face. She dragged her eyelids open and he was still looking at her. His intensity was as potent as the feel of his hard body inside her.

Her pussy quivered around his cock. He gave a muffled groan and drove deeper. She gasped, couldn’t breathe, and clung onto his hair as he rode her.

With a final savage thrust, he spilled his seed. She could feel him pumping inside her, filling her womb, filling her soul. Her legs gripped him, holding him tight. And still he came, his fierce concentration never wavering.

Her tight channel convulsed around him, demanding everything he had. His mouth crashed down on hers, swallowing her mindless gasps of pleasure. He possessed her strangled cries as her orgasm claimed her, his teeth grazing her lips.

Even as her breathing eased and her legs slid from his back, he didn’t collapse onto her. She smiled up at him, exhausted and sated. He didn’t smile back, but continued to gaze at her with the same fierce concentration and finally she could ignore the sliver of doubt no longer.

“Cam.” Her voice was low and she battled the urge to merely pull him onto the furs beside her and wrap herself around him. Something was wrong, and if it affected Cam then, no matter how illogical in reality, it also affected her. “Tell me what has happened.”