Winning the Highlander's Heart (13 page)

He mounted his horse, then kicked it to a gallop, reaching the lady who cantered down the road within a few minutes.  Mai dropped back and Dougald hurried past them to take the lead.  Why couldn’t the woman have argued with him further?  He would have agreed with her eventually.  Why did she have to bolt out of the castle on her own?  The lass needed a laird who could keep her harnessed.

Still fuming, Malcolm’s stomach tied in knots, but he was unsure of how to break the silence.  He wanted to thrash her for rashly leaving.  The laird who wed her would be in for a battle.  Not one, but many.  And he could see who’d come out on top.

The woman was bewitching, her cheeks still crimson, but the fire in her eyes had simmered to a manageable glow.  What had happened to her earlier in life to make her run off whenever she didn’t get her way, or felt threatened?  He’d never known a woman who would leave the safety of a castle on a whim.  Why had no one ever counseled the lass better while she was growing up?

Anice said over the horses’ clip-clops, “You did not have to give up the hunt for us.  I am sure you would have caught up with us along the way.”

He gritted his teeth.  She knew damned well he couldn’t let her and her lady-in-waiting travel alone.

“I thank you for saying what you did on my behalf when Wulfric was interested in seeking my hand.  And I thank you for interrupting the gentleman so many times.  I do not think I have ever seen a man’s face so red.  Mayhap I am wrong, but I do not think he likes you.”

Malcolm couldn’t help but smile.  Wulfric would do battle with him if they ever met sometime on a deserted road, he was certain.

“I am sorry you missed the hunt, Malcolm.”

He stared at her, not believing she had called him by his name in such a manner.  Was it a slip of the tongue?

She faced front again.  “I know how important the hunt is to most men, but we cannot afford losing a day when we know not what has happened at Brecken.”

He took a deep breath.  “Aye, milady.  I do not know what came over me.”

She turned to smile at him, and the sight of her sweet face melted any hard feelings he had.  “You are a good man, milaird.  If it were not that we have many days travel ahead of us, and the worry as to what we shall find when we arrive, I would have agreed to stay.  Mai could have rested up, I could have had a bath, and—”

“Wulfric would have tried to befriend you further.”

“Aye, another verra good reason not to stay, do not you agree?”

He chuckled.  “Aye, milady.  A verra good reason indeed.”  The lady was a treasure.

Before the light faded from the sky, they reached Theinge Village.  Anice pointed to the chapel at the end of the road.  “’Twas an ancient temple of Tew, the Anglo-Saxon word meaning God of War.  But William destroyed it when he conquered the land, then he rebuilt it.  They built it here because it sits so close to the River Mimram.”  She turned to Malcolm.  “Mayhap we can find lodging here in a byre or such.”  She rubbed her arms.  “Though the day warmed up considerably, the chill is again slipping into my bones.”

Dougald motioned from a distance.

“It appears my brother has found a place for us to sleep for the night.  I imagine it will not be what you are used to, milady, but will have to do.”

“I have slept in a cave before, milaird.  And on the bare grass with the wind at my cheek and the stars overhead.”

Malcolm stared at her.  She smiled.  She was not so delicate that she could not sleep somewhere other than a straw-filled mattress in a castle keep.

“You will have to tell me more about this, milady.  You have me intrigued.”

Again, she was surprised he’d be interested.  No laird would express interest in such an unimportant thing.

Dougald pointed to a wattle and daub croft.  Attached to this was a byre where the occupants of the home could attend to their livestock during the winter.

Anice thought having made the trip to Arundel not so very long ago, she would be more used to it.  But riding all day long made her ache all over.  The next few days would test her resolve to get home all in one piece.

“There is a hunting lodge,” Dougald said as they drew close, “but ‘tis occupied with more of the king’s men as they are on their way to Arundel to meet with him on the morrow.  We will have to use the byre.”

Malcolm helped Anice down from her horse.  “The lady said she has had poorer accommodations than this.”

Disbelief flittered across Dougald’s face.  She patted his arm.  “’Tis true.  I was an unruly child and once ran away from Brecken and hid in a cave.”

She headed for the byre.

The three brothers burst out laughing.

Mai groaned as one of them helped her from her horse.  “Aye, she was always a stubborn lass.  The one who wives her will have to be verra brave.”

More laughter ensued and Anice smiled to herself.  ‘Twas true.  She crossed the hard-packed clay floor littered with straw to the ladder leading to the loft.  The farmer’s sheep slept in the corral while the weather was mild and the byre had been swept clean.

“Is there enough room for all of us up there, think you, milady?” Malcolm asked, drawing close, so close his warm breath tickled her cheek.  Her whole body warmed despite the chill in the air, and she wondered if he had the same affect on all women.

“You and the other gentlemen will have to sleep elsewhere,” Mai said.  “The lady is a maid and cannot sleep with ye.”

Anice smiled and Malcolm copied her expression.  “Under the circumstances, I think we can allow it for the next few nights, Mai.  Besides you can protect me.”

Malcolm’s smile broadened, and his brown eyes darkened with a sinful wickedness.  Mayhap she best sleep at one end of the loft with Mai betwixt her and the gentlemen.

Gunnolf motioned outside.  “I will sleep with the wagon to guard our goods.”

She wondered if Malcolm’s brothers would choose another place to sleep for the night.

If Malcolm hoped he’d have the loft with her alone—she shook her head at the notion.  Though, deep inside the idea intrigued her.  She lifted her bliaut and climbed the ladder.  Malcolm grabbed the ladder to steady it.

“I have to take care of business and shall return, milady.  Will you be all right?”  Mai wrung her hands, no doubt worried what people would think of Anice being alone without a proper chaperone.

“Aye.  I have three strong Highlanders to protect me.  By the time you return, I shall be asleep, nay doubt.”

“I will not be gone
that
long, milady.”  Mai gave Malcolm a rather pointed look.

“I will see to the horses.”  Dougald headed out of the byre with Mai.

“I will help him.”  Angus dashed after his brother.

Anice peered down at Malcolm as she removed her veils and wimple, then began to unwind her braids.

“I should really look after the horses, too,” Malcolm said.

“Aye, that you should.”

“But then you would be alone,” he quickly added.

She smiled.  “Mai would be mortified.”

He grabbed the ladder and hurried to the top.

Anice unplaited the rest of her hair while Malcolm sat bedside her on the straw bed, his gaze fixed on her hair as she separated the woven strands.  She realized how much a woman’s hair fascinated a man.  No wonder women had hidden their hair for the last hundred years.  Only more recently had the women given up the veils.  Yet for travel, she felt more comfortable keeping her hair covered.

“You act as though you have never seen a woman’s hair unbound before.”

He reached out to touch it.  “Silky as the tassel of corn and just as golden with touches of fiery red.”  He pressed the lock to his face and breathed in the fragrance.  “Kissed by lavender.”

“You have a romantic side, milaird.”

“’Tis you who inspire it.”  He leaned closer and ran his hands through her hair.  “Before your lady-in-waiting returns did you wish to thank me again?”

“Thank you?”

“Aye, you said you wished to kiss me.”

“But my lady should be here with me.”

He nodded.  “You are right.  Think naught of what I said.  ‘Tis folly.”

He leaned back.  As soon as he did, she leaned forward and kissed him, intending only the same as before, a light brush of her mouth against his.  Nothing more.  Not that she did not want more, but she feared she could not handle it...not the way his eyes had darkened, and his voice had turned deeper and huskier.  Was it her hair that had excited him so?

He reached for her face, and before she could pull away, he kissed her, not in the same manner she had kissed him, but with enthusiasm, heat and passion the likes of which she’d never experienced. 

She melted to his touch.  If she hadn’t already been sitting, her knees would have weakened, and she would have collapsed on the floor.  But now she wished his calloused hands to touch her breasts, to lift her bliaut and shift and touch her naked thighs like...

“Milady?” Mai called out.  “I fetched ye a pail of fresh water so you may wash.”

Anice tried to pull free from Malcolm to reply to her lady-in-waiting, but he deepened his kiss.  Before she realized what he was doing, he slipped his tongue between her lips, the most unbelievable thing anyone had ever done to her and the most wickedly exciting.  She touched her tongue to his, cautiously, not sure what she was supposed to do.

He groaned low, and pressed his lips against hers again, as if reassuring her actions suited him fine.  He gripped her shoulders like he never wanted to let go.  The heat of his fingers burned through the wool of her gown, while moist heat pooled between her legs.

“Milady?” Mai said, more hushed this time.

Malcolm leaned over the railing of the loft.  “Shhh, she’s sound asleep.”

Anice poked Malcolm in the rib.

“Aye, she can clean up on the morrow, then.”  Mai set the bucket aside, then crossed the floor to the ladder, her gait slow and stiff.

Malcolm kissed Anice again before Mai caught them.  His hands dropped lower on her arms, his thumbs brushing against her breasts.  She sucked in her breath, wanting him to move his fingers from her arms and take her breasts in his large capable hands.  Already the nipples felt tight and tingly, as did the rest of her.  How she wished he’d touch every bit of her, as she wanted to touch his naked skin.

“After riding all day, I am no’ sure I can make it up this ladder,” Mai grumbled.  The first wrung on the ladder creaked with the slight woman’s weight.

If Anice could have lain all night alone in Malcolm’s arms...  What was she thinking?  He wished an English bride.  She was only a distraction.

But
she
wanted a Highlander.  One just like him.  But what about the curse?  It didn’t matter about the others, but Malcolm, she would not wish anything horrible to befall him.

Again, he tangled his tongue with hers.  The ache between her legs commenced and she pulled away, not wanting Mai to catch them, nor wanting the Highlander to stir her so with a thirst she couldn’t quench. 

“Sleep well, Anice,” Malcolm whispered in her ear, then he peered over the railing of the loft.  “Are you going to make it, lass?”

 “Aye, but you may have to toss me down in the morning, as I am sure I will be too stiff to climb the ladder.”

He reached down and gave her a hand up.  In the fading light of the byre, she looked past Malcolm.  “Where are your kinfolk, milaird?”