Free His Conquest by Diana Cosby Page B

letting go of you.”
    He nodded. “I will be right behind you. I will not let you fall.”
    Her lips curved in a wry smile. “It is not me that I am concerned about.”
    “I need not the worry of a milk-fed lass.” Irritation flashed in her eyes as he’d expected. She made to speak, but he gave her a shove. “On with you.”
    “Stubborn you are.”
    He grunted. “I doubt I hold a candle to you.”
    She muttered something unintelligible. With the flash of anger blazing in her eyes, he suspected the telling would not be flattering. A pang of remorse shot through him. He grimaced. ’Twas a sad day indeed when his mind weakened for a woman whose life was spun in secrets. His thoughts should be on his brothers’ safety and his country’s freedom.
    “Move,” he ordered.
    With a disapproving frown, Linet grabbed a thatch of long grass above her. She shoved her foot into the soft earth as she pulled. Her arm trembled.
    With his right hand, Seathan pressed his palm against her shoulder, pushed.
    She moved up an inch.
    “Again,” he commanded.
    This time as she pulled herself, he braced himself against the boulder, wrapped both hands around her waist, and lifted.
    Linet caught another hunk of grass closer to the top.
    “You are almost there,” he urged.
    She caught another handful of grass, pulled herself up. Inch by inch, she tugged until at last she disappeared into the wash of green rimming the cliff above.
    Blades of grass shifted. Linet’s head reappeared, her face flushed from exertion. “Now you.”
    He gritted his teeth, reached up, and pulled. Pain tore through his side, his injury throbbing as if salt-stung. Sweat broke out on his brow as he reached up and caught a nearby bush. His fingers shook, his body trembled, but he worked himself up farther.
    And collapsed.
    Limp, he gasped for breath as he lay facedown against the water-slicked grass. He glanced behind him, blew out a deep breath. He’d made it but a hand’s width.
    “Can you make it?”
    The fear in her voice had him looking up. “Aye.” He’d suffered far worse than the injuries he’d sustained now. Gritting his teeth, Seathan twisted the long blades within his palm. This time, he wedged his boot against the boulder as he struggled up. Though his arm screamed with agony and his body rebelled, he shoved harder.
    Blackness threatened. Mud and grass whipped by as he slid back.
    “Seathan!” Linet’s voice echoed from far away in his mind.
    The edge of a stone dug into his injured shoulder. He jerked to consciousness, clasped the base of a knotted bramble, looked down. Christ’s blade. His boots were hanging off the ledge!
    Mud squished as Linet slid down the decline toward him. She laced one hand within his, grabbed the boulder with the other, and held tight.
    “I thought I had lost you.”
    He heard the fear in her voice, the desperation as well. His head buzzed. Aches stormed his body. “I—I told you to stay back.”
    “And I told you not to leave the cave. ’Twould seem we each have a problem listening to orders.” She looked above them, grimaced. “We have to get you up.”
    In his weakened state, he doubted he would reach the top anytime soon.
    “Return to the cave. I will follow once I am able.”
    “I will not go without you.”
    From her determined expression, she wasn’t going to budge. Fine then. “Where you found the earlier supplies in the cave, there is a hemp rope. Retrieve it.”
    She nodded. “Do not move.”
    “As if I have an option?” he asked, his voice pained.
    Linet shot him a warning look, turned, and with Seathan’s help, started up.
    “When you return,” Seathan called, “do not climb down.”
    Frustration poured through Linet as she glanced back. “One would believe you would have learned that I do not follow orders well—especially from you.”
    Green eyes narrowed.
    She ignored him. Anger fueled her as she inched up the steep slope, her body still shaking at the memory of him sliding back,