The Highlander's Bride(22)

In a way, the strange pair had helped each other much like she and Cullen did now. They would give each other what was needed and then part ways.

“Tell me more about your childhood,” she asked curiously.

“Nothing much to tell.”

“I’ll tell you about mine,” she offered, and in minutes she had Cullen laughing with tales of a rambunctious girl who forever was off doing what she pleased.

Near noon, they found a secluded spot by a stream where the horses could rest and quench their thirsts and they could feast on dried meat and cheese.

“You chatter endlessly,” Cullen said, brushing crumbs off his hands. “I don’t think you’ve been silent once since we left the cottage.”

“What do you expect? I’ve been in an abbey for two years.”

Cullen grinned and shook his head. “Somehow I don’t see that stopping you from chatting.”

Sara shook her head. “How do you get to know anything if you don’t talk with people? It makes no sense to sit idly by and not partake of life. You didn’t, and either did Alaina. I respect her for going against her father and loving whom she chose to love. If she hadn’t, she would have never tasted love at its finest.”

“Yet you admonished me for not loving her enough to leave her so that she would be safe.”

Sara shrugged. “I believe true love can never separate couples. They will always find a way back to each other against all odds. Therefore, even had you left Alaina, she would have found her way back to you. Love would not have permitted your separation, and of course, it didn’t. Even with you in prison and Alaina imprisoned by her father, love found a way to reunite you both. I merely wanted to know if you had given the question thought. I never believed it was a viable solution.”

Cullen rubbed mindlessly at his chin.

“You did give it thought, didn’t you?”

His hand fisted tightly as it fell to his side. “How could I not? I was responsible for her protection, and yet I was putting her in harm’s way. What kind of man was I?”

“A man in love. In love enough to let her go, and she in love enough to refuse to let you go.”

Cullen shook his head. “You truly are perceptive.”

“It’s more logic than anything.”

“On the contrary, nothing is logical.”

“Love displaces logic, or so it seems from what I’ve observed,” she said, dropping her head back and allowing the sun’s warmth to toast her face.

“I need to be logical now,” he said quite firmly.

Sara turned to look at him. His handsome face had taken on a worried appearance. “But you are being logical. You wed me so you could find your son.”

“Some would believe that stupid.”

Sara frowned. “Someone who cared naught for their child. Only an unselfish parent would sacrifice so much for their child. I admire your courage.” A sudden smile quickly swallowed her frown. “Of course, I also admire your surrender for the greater good.”

Cullen burst into laughter. “You so amuse me.”

“Good, surrender will be that much easier for you.” She chuckled like a young lass teasing a young lad.

“That, you can count on,” he said, and grabbed quick hold of her shoulders to tumble her back on the blanket while his mouth came down on hers.

Sara gasped, leaving her mouth open, vulnerable, and he took full advantage, hitting his target dead on. His tongue mated with hers in frenzied madness before slowing to an erotic pace that had her panting and writhing beneath him.

Damn, if the man wasn’t a great marksman. One shot and he had her.

His hand explored along her waist, up to her breast, without ever growing too intimate. He simply teased her into thinking he’d touch her intimately, damn him!

Trouble. She was definitely in trouble.

Pinch! Pinch! She screamed silently to herself, reached out to pinch her arm and caught his neck.

“Ow!” he yelled, pulling away from her while rubbing his neck. “Don’t tell me you meant to pinch yourself again?”

She had, but actually it worked a whole lot better pinching him. “We should be going.”

“You didn’t have to pinch me to tell me that.” He grinned smugly after standing and offering his hand to her. “Enjoyed that little plunge into intimacy, did you?”

Sara ignored his hand and stood on her own, gathering up the blanket that had thankfully rested on a dry spot of grass. “It had its moment.”

Cullen’s grin vanished in a flash. “What do you mean by that?”

She made a fuss of folding the blanket, a necessary diversion since her heart was beating madly and her trembling legs were sure to give way at any moment. “It was adequate.”