Page 39 of A Highland Bride Taken
“Aunt Mabel is well now,” the Laird interjected, coming to kneel beside her.
He pulled the crying child away and took him in his arms.
“Ollie, help Aunt Mabel up, will ye?” he called to the other boy, who still held on to her skirt, tears rolling down his cheeks.
At his command, Ollie stood up, wiped his face with the back of his hand, and offered her his hand.
The gesture brought a proud smile to Mabel’s lips, and while she knew he could not bear her weight, she made a show of taking his hand while the Laird wrapped a strong arm around her waist and lifted her.
She must have misjudged her balance because she swayed when she stood. The Laird caught her against his hard chest while adjusting Connor in his other arm.
Even with the child between them, Mabel could not ignore the delicious shiver that ran through her when she touched his chest. The man was pure muscle, and with his wet clothes clinging to his body, she could appreciate his virility even more.
She looked up guiltily to find that her husband was not unaffected by their proximity. His eyes roved down her body, sparking heat where it touched, reminding her that the dress she had worn was now transparent and perfectly outlined her body.
Connor suddenly started squirming to be let down, feeling restless. His writhing managed to break the tension.
The Laird cleared his throat loudly and bent to let Connor down. Not for the first time, he was grateful for the presence of the children. A bit more time spent with his wife’s delectable body pressed to his, and he might have given in to the desire that had plagued him mercilessly for days.
“It is time to return to the castle, lads,” he called. “Come help me pack this up.” He gestured to their forgotten picnic.
In no time, the picnic was packed, and they strolled back to the castle. The boys were skipping up ahead, and once again, he was left alone with Mabel, who was doing her best to avoid his gaze.
“Mabel,” he said in an amused tone.
“Aye, Me Laird?” she answered, looking everywhere but at his face.
She shivered at the sound of her name on his lips, only adding further to her mortification. Why did he have to be so darn handsome?
She was still struggling to compose herself after being so close to his warm, hard body, and she hoped he would attribute the red hue on her cheeks to the chill she had caught from the dip in the loch.
“Ye seem to be avoiding me gaze. Dinnae tell me ye are embarrassed that I had to save ye from drowning?”
Mabel only replied with a rueful smile, her eyes downcast.
“There is nay need to be bashful. Ye can learn to swim if ye wish. Besides, ye are me wife; it is me duty to protect ye,” he said reassuringly.
Mabel nodded mutely.
Perhaps it was better that he thought her embarrassed by her poor swimming skills than find out how mortified she felt for being caught lusting after him.
16
Campbell smiled as he watched his wife’s shapely form saunter ahead of him. It did not escape his notice that she was trying to mask her embarrassment. She was visibly mortified to have been caught almost drowning, but it was also something else he saw on her cheeks and in her eyes.
He had seen her look at his chest, and his heart had thudded so loudly he hoped she didn’t hear it. It was only because the children were present that he had kept his lust at bay.
The boys were happily running about after a good day. They had taken a longer route to the castle, as they wanted to roam the heather fields and chase every bird and butterfly they found.
The setting sun cast his lands in such a beautiful golden glow that if he were an artist, he would have captured it in paint.
Mabel also looked enraptured by the beauty around them. She was beautiful in the middle of the field, with her lovely red hair unbound and fluttering in the wind.
She was very beautiful, and it was startling how she had stumbled into his life and relieved him of his greatest challenge. He had worried so much about how he would care for the boys, who could barely look at him without shivering in fear. But now he had that, and he couldn’t be more grateful.
“Ye like her, dinnae ye?” Connor asked quietly, startling him.
Campbell looked at the boy, who looked back with a much more serious look on his face than one would expect from a five-year-old.
