Page 14 of A Forbidden Night with a Scot
“I’d like tae swim,” she said. “Since we’re here already, we may as well.”
Before she could stand on both legs, though, Samuel grabbed her arm and stilled her. “Nay,” he said firmly, the command so harsh and sudden than Alicia promptly sat back down, surprised by the outburst.
Samuel’s eyes were wide and fearful when Alicia looked at him, but slowly, the grip on her arm relaxed, though it never released her entirely.
“Nay,” he said again, this time sounding calmer. “I think it’s best if ye stay on land. The water…”
Once again, his voice trailed off and for a few moments, Alicia was left to wonder why he was so strongly against it, before she remembered his fear of the sea—or rather the fear that the sea would take another of his loved ones. She had never thought itextended to all kinds of water, though, even a small lake whose waters were mostly shallow.
“Alright,” she said, nodding reassuringly. “I willnae go in the loch, I promise. Perhaps… perhaps we can go back tae the castle an’ ye can show me how tae shoot a bow? I loved it when ye taught me as a bairn but I cannae dae it anymore.”
Her easy acceptance seemed to calm Samuel even further and he smiled at Alicia as he stood, offering her his hand to help her up. “How did ye forget? I spent hours teachin’ ye how tae shoot.”
“It’s been a long time!” Alicia protested. “An’ Faither didnae want me tae shoot bows. He says it doesnae become a lady an’ I should spend me time embroiderin’ or paintin’.”
“Well, yer faither doesnae ken anythin’,” Samuel teased. “Dinnae listen tae him. Lasses should ken how tae fight. Maybe if ye kent, then ye wouldnae have been in that situation at the tavern.”
“Ach but then how would ye come tae save me?” Alicia teased right back. “I wouldnae deprive ye o’ the opportunity tae act like a hero, since ye seem tae enjoy it so much.”
“I should have left ye there,” said Samuel and Alicia stuck her tongue out childishly at him before she jumped on her horse, riding ahead of him just to make him chase her. Just as she expected, Samuel rushed after her, the hooves of his horse thundering against the ground, before he fell into step next to her. “Or maybe I should have told yer faither.”
“Ye willnae tell him now,” said Alicia with the kind of confidence that came with years of experience. Whenever Samuel promised her something, he always delivered. “If ye wished tae tell him the truth, ye would have already done so.”
“Ye sound very certain.”
“I am.”
Next to her, Samuel laughed, but he didn’t try to claim she was wrong. Instead, he fell silent, and the two of them rode like that up the path, Alicia keeping a slow pace for the sake of the horses.
It was only when they were reaching the top of the hill that Alicia saw something from the corner of her eye that made her freeze, instinctively tightening her grip on the reins and bringing her horse to a halt. Samuel, noticing she had come to a stop, stilled his horse a few steps away, turning around to look at her in concern.
It’s a bee. I ken it’s a bee. I saw it.
It had been little more than a shadow in her field of vision, but Alicia knew a bee when she saw one. She could hear its buzz, too, so loud in her ears that she was certain it had to be somewhere close, but she was too fearful to turn her head and look.
Slowly, Samuel approached her, but Alicia was quick to shout, “Stay back!”
“What’s wrong?” he asked. He didn’t listen to her at all and despite her warning, he approached until he was right next to her once more. “What happened?”
“There’s a… a bee,” said Alicia, voice trembling with fear just as her whole body did. “Dinnae move. It’s still here.”
“It’s alright,” Samuel assured her. “It’s alright, Alicia. It’s only a bee.”
That did nothing to help with her panic. If anything, the lack of panic in Samuel, the lack of urgency, only served to strengthen her fear. If Samuel didn’t see the bee as a threat at all, then they were both in danger. What if it stung him? What if Alicia managed to escape it, fleeing fast enough from the area, only for the bee to attack Samuel?
Would she lose him, too?
Before she could insist that they had to leave, the bee buzzed by her once more, this time heading for Samuel, and Alicia didn’t think at all before she threw herself at him, pulling him away from its flight path. In her panic, though, she neglected to hold onto the saddle and slipped from her horse, dragging Samuel down to the ground with her as her fingers clawed at his clothes, tangling into the fabric of his shirt.
Their backs collided with the earth, a dull thud echoing around them. Spooked, the horses ran off a little farther down the path, but Alicia couldn’t pay them any mind when all the airhad been knocked out of her lungs from the impact and—more importantly—she could still hear the bee.
Next to her, Samuel groaned, pushing himself upright with some effort before dusting his hands. “Are ye alright?” he asked. “Are ye hurt?”
“I’m nae hurt but I’m nae alright either!” said Alicia, frantically looking left and right to search for the bee. “Where is it? Dae ye see it?”
“Calm down,” Samuel urged her, once again offering her his hand to help her up. Alicia took it, this time a little apprehensively, still searching for the threat in the air around them. “It’s only a bee, Alicia,onebee. Even if it stings ye, it willnae hurt ye too badly.”
“Ye dinnae ken that!”
