Free Forever Her Champion by Suzan Tisdale Page B

death more often than any boy of that age should.
    Were it not for all his mother had taught him, for his life before those dark, ugly times, he would not have survived.
    His mind however, was not in accord with his heart. His heart relished the thought of someone thinking more of him than he thought of himself. He wanted some semblance of a normal life. A wife, bairns of his own, a wee farm somewhere far away from who he had been. ’Twas his heart that desired nothing more than to tell her the truth of his past, of where he’d been and all the evil things he’d done. Fear of seeing the horror in her eyes at learning the truth kept him from uttering a word. Of all the nightmarish things done to him as a child and young man, having Rianna look at him with disgust would have been his undoing.
    Never had he felt more a coward.
    “Ye’ll be with yer father soon,” he said. “Then I recommend ye forget ye e’er met me.”

    * * *
    F orget ? How could she forget the one person she had considered her truest and dearest friend? Regardless of the time that had passed since last they’d seen one another, Rianna still considered him her friend. That friendship meant the world to her.
    Left to wonder what horrible thing had happened to him to make him say such things, she could not believe he meant them.
    Suddenly, she felt the strongest urge to protect him. From what, she didn’t know, didn’t care. She only knew that he needed someone, mayhap someone who was more than just a friend from his youth. He needed her now, as much as she had needed him all those years ago. Rianna believed that with as much conviction as she believed her father hadn’t truly cast her aside. Unable to explain even to her own heart why she felt so strongly about either notion, she pushed any lingering doubts aside.
    “I will ne’er forget ye, Aiden Macgullane.” She spoke with such conviction and determination as to leave him with little doubt. “Ye were my friend in our youth and I will ne’er cast that friendship aside. No matter how badly ye try to convince me ye are a pig-headed and unlikable man, I will nae change my mind.”
    The gauntlet had been thrown. She simply didn’t realize it.

    * * *
    H ours passed and he still refused to speak to her. As determined as she was to break through his stone exterior and empty heart, he was just as determined to see she failed.
    They were on the road to Allistair Castle. Rianna sat before him while he kept the horse at a slow walk. He told himself ’twas only out of kindness for his mount that he traveled so slowly.
    As the road meandered through trees, the sky to the east turned to shades of lavender and violet behind the darkening woods. Night would soon be upon them and he wondered if she would sleep snuggled against him once again. Nay, he told himself, he could not allow her to be that close to him under a starry sky, beside to a roaring fire. The temptation to explore every inch of her was too great. He’d sleep in a bloody tree if he must, in order to keep that temptation at bay.
    If he were honest with himself, he was glad to see she had not ridden herself of the tenacity she possessed as a child. Like a feral dog refusing to give up a bone, she refused to give up in her quest to break him down.
    “Do ye remember the gift ye gave me when I turned seven?” she asked.
    He did, but he was not about to admit to it. He met her question with deafening silence.
    Ignoring him, she smiled at the memory. “’Twas a crown of flowers, with a few tiny shells tucked into it,” she said. “Do ye ken yer gift was the only one I’ve e’er received from anyone? Nae even my own mother e’er gave me a gift.”
    Inexplicably, his chest tightened. His mum had always given him a gift, no matter how small, to observe the day of his birth. Even his father took part in those small celebrations. But after his mum died, there was nothing left to celebrate.
    Aiden knew Ronna was never the best of mothers,