Page 64 of The Highlander's Auctioned Bride
Harris laughed. “Am I that transparent, m’lady?”
“A little,” she said fondly.
James turned, and his eyes were all concerned as he spotted her; Harris and James quickly shifted positions, and Harris began barking orders at the guards.
James took her arm gently and led her around the side of the castle slowly to keep the weight from her leg. They walked past the hedge maze and out through a low arch she had not seen before.
Inside, she found herself in a fairy garden, with roses and peonies bobbing in the evening light, the green grass and high walls making it soft and quiet and secluded.
She sighed as James led her to a bench for her to rest.
“What’s all this about a dinner in me honor?” she asked.
“I thought we should celebrate yer recovery,” he said, a little too quickly.
Maisie raised her eyebrows. “Ye should be better at lyin’ than that, James. I could have seen that one in me sleep.”
James shook his head, his jaw clenching again and she took his hand gently in hers.
“I ken ye are worried, but ye can talk to me. Ye cannae dae it all yerself.”
He relaxed a fraction and sat beside her, stroking her palm.
“It is someone close to me,” he said angrily. “I am sure of it. The man who attacked ye confirmed as much. The dinner will weed him out where I can observe them all together. I’ll find the blaggard and we can be rid of him, and dae as we planned.”
Living separate lives and making a bairn together but nothin’ else.
Maisie pursed her lips, not willing to bring up her unhappiness with their original agreement just now. She didn’t want the fragile alliance between them to shatter in the face of yet another argument.
More than anything, she wanted to remove the heavy frown from his face and give some lightness to his day. He had shaved that morning, and the stubble on his jaw had disappeared. He looked impossibly handsome, and she examined his face greedily.
He glanced over at her, smirking as he caught her staring.
“What is it, lass?”
“Ye are very concerned for me wellbeing, and angry that I was hurt, but now I am sat beside ye, yer attention is elsewhere.”
“Och,” he said, his lips kicking up at the corners again. “I am sorry, lass.”
“Will I be allowed to sleep in yer rooms again tonight?” she asked. She almost confessed that she liked having his arms around her but stopped herself at the last moment.
His thumb moved from her palm to her wrist.
“Is this ye tellin’ me ye will dispense with yer foolish rule?”
“Ye mean that we must sleep in separate rooms?”
“Aye,” he said, leaning toward her. “That one.”
She shuddered in his arms as he began to kiss her neck, her eyes darting back to the entrance to their little garden.
“Someone will see!” she said in a scandalized whisper.
“No one disturbs the laird and lady unless they are invited, and there are high walls about us,me lady.All ye’ll have to dae is nae scream too much. I hear it is very pleasurable to have grass against yer skin.”
“Och, ye are a wicked man,” she said with a sigh as he gently pulled her from the bench, lowering her down to the floor as she stared up at him.
He slowly came down to rest over her. He kept one hand at her waist while the other worked into her hair. Her hands cupped his head, bringing him closer as they kissed urgently. There was no longer any uncertainty for Maisie. She wanted him and he was going to claim her just as he promised.
