Page 62 of Taken By the Ruthless Highlander

“I daenae ken what happened, one minute…” Morgana said as she trailed off. Her heart raced and pounded violently against her chest.

“Aye, it’s over now,” Ryder said. “But yer goin’ to have to get back up in the saddle. We’ve still got some ways to go and I doubt ye’ll want to walk.”

“Wait, we’re nae goin’ back to the castle?” Morgana asked.

The shock on her face made Ryder chuckle as he helped her back into the saddle.

“We’ve come this far, I dinnae see why we cannae keep goin’,” Ryder answered with a playful smirk.

If only she knew where he planned to take her. Of course, getting there wasn’t supposed to be so treacherous. He’d come down this same path for years and never once had such issues. Yet, as he mounted behind her, he understood she was the snare for trouble with her maddening, sweet floral scent.

Morgana shifted. The way her body moved between his thighs stirred more than just desire; she had woken something far more carnal.

“I had come to this place in my youth,” Ryder explained as he tried not to focus on the warmth of her body.

She was like the sun, scorching his flesh and bringing both pleasure and pain. His manhood throbbed to attention.

“Is that right?” Morgana said.

He couldn’t help but wonder if she knew how wild she was making him. With every sway of her body, all he could think of was how she would look like moving above him.

“Aye, there was a time I’d run away. Of course, I never got far. That was until I found this place,” Ryder said as he guided the horse back to the trail and up the hill. “We passed the trail comin’ down this way; we’ll have to backtrack some.”

“Why would ye run away? And where did ye think ye’d go to?” Morgana asked.

Ryder shrugged as he steered the horse to the path on the left hidden behind boulders.

Morgana’s body twitched. “I never would have spotted this trail,” she conceded. “Ye really must have wanted to get away.”

“Aye, well,” Ryder muttered, flashes of his father’s brutality flickering into his mind. Before they could take root, he pushed them away. “I suppose that’s what happens when ye have a faither like mine. But ye’d ken all about that, wouldnae ye? Or did it nae get that far with ye?”

“Nay, yer faither never raised a hand to me. Although there were times he wanted to, I’m sure,” Morgana answered. “But I can tell ye this much—if he had, I would’ve had nay issue endin’ his life.”

“Aye,” Ryder said, her words sinking into his heart.

She had just spoken the very words he had been holding back since he buried his mother.

“And I’d have been glad to dance the gallows jig,” she continued with such conviction that it left no doubt in his mind.

It never failed to amaze Ryder just how fierce Morgana was. Her warrior spirit spoke volumes and drummed out the same tune that played for him.

“So ye’d leave yer family just like that? What of the twins and yer braithers? What of Feya?” Ryder questioned.

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her. It was the stern conviction in her voice that he needed to hear.

Morgana paused for a moment. “If my siblings found out that a man violated me in such a manner, ye better believe they’d understand why I was swingin’.”

“How do ye live yer life with such conviction? I’ve never met a woman who speaks like ye do.”

“I dinnae think many women have been through what I’ve been through,” Morgana answered. “Or at least I would hope nae, as it wasnae a very pleasant journey.”

Ryder nodded in agreement, just as the path before them narrowed. A gasp escaped Morgana’s lips as they crossed the stone bridge.

“Where are ye takin’ me again?” she asked.

“Ye’ll see,” Ryder said, pleased to find the roadway dry. “The place fills up when it rains. Always best to come here in the dusk when the sun hits the terrain just right. It’s like the land turns into gold.”

“That’s lovely,” Morgana answered.