Page 53 of The Highlander's Auctioned Wife
She was silent for a while, but he could practically hear the cogs clanking in her mind as she decided what to ask. Indeed, he would have been somewhat disappointed if the game had ended down there on the beach.
“Where did ye learn to do…that?” she said, at last, in a hushed voice, like she didn’t wish to make the cliffside blush.
It took all the willpower he possessed not to chuckle, for he couldn’t afford to loosen the reins on his discipline again. Already, he was worried that she had put a crack in his armor, where mirth might spill out if he wasn’t careful.
Most of the castle will think I’ve gone mad if I suddenly start laughin’ and smilin’ all the time.
“Dinnae ask questions ye daenae actually want the answer to,” he replied gruffly.
He had never experienced it himself, but David had warned him that brides had a tendency to get jealous. Not that there was anything for Anna to be jealous of, when his past experiences had merely been the education and she, as it turned out, was the purpose of it.
Her grip tightened around his neck, her head appearing over his shoulder. “I wouldnae ask if I dinnae want to ken the answer. I’m curious. As me betrothed, ye ought to reward me curiosity.” She hesitated. “I promise, I willnae mind.”
He was spared from testing David’s theory of bridal jealousy by the man himself, shouting down from the top of the cliff.
“M’Laird! Is that ye?”
“Who else would it be?” Gordon shouted back.
A soft, startled gasp escaped Anna, a ripple of shock moving through her body; Gordon felt the vibration of it, shivering through him. The sensation made him consider taking his betrothed straight to his study, or to his chambers, to begin their second ‘engagement.’
“Do ye think he saw?” she whispered.
Gordon tutted under his breath. “Ye have such little faith in me. Nay one could see, even if they were lookin’ for us.”
“But how can ye be certain of that?” she pressed. “Have ye… taken other lasses there before?”
He heard the faint note of jealousy, just for a second. “I ken because I sat there for an entire winter’s day once, with a fire goin’ an’ all, and nay one of the castle guards could find me.” He readjusted his grip on her thighs. “When I returned, I showed ‘em where I was… only to realize ye cannae see that spot from above.”
A quiet sigh, carrying the essence of relief, whispered against his cheek. “I think that’s the most ye’ve ever said to me at once.” Something like triumph fortified her voice. “See, yearedifferent below the cliff edge than ye are above it.”
He didn’t want to agree, so he said nothing, but he couldn’t deny that heading back up to the real world was akin to donning a waterlogged woolen cloak after blissfully being permitted a moment to shed it.
“What is it, David?” Gordon said instead, looking up to where his m an-at-a rms still waited.
“I dinnae want to interrupt, M’Laird, but ye have visitors,” the man replied with a grimace.
“Visitors? What manner?”
David pointed his thumb back in the direction of the castle. “Quite a lot, M’Laird.” He hesitated. “It seems news has spreadof our new Lady—sorry, ourpotentialnew Lady—and everyone wants a peek. After everythin’ that happened, I think they just want to see for themselves that their Laird is well and?—”
“I’ll be in the council chamber in twenty minutes,” Gordon interrupted with a bark, silently cursing his m an-at-a rms.
He hadn’t just spent the majority of the chess game avoiding the details of what had befallen his family and his eye, only for David to let them freely trip off his tongue. Indeed, the last thing Gordon needed was for Anna to be reminded of what she had asked, and the vague answers she’d received; it would only begin her interrogation afresh.
Tapping him gently on the shoulder, Gordon braced for more questioning, but Anna merely whispered, “May I join ye?” Holding him a little tighter, she added, “After all, yedidsay ye wanted a Lady who would stand at yer side.”
She had a keen memory; he would have to be cautious of that, especially if he was going to continue to keep the gory details of his personal history from her. Not to deceive her, but so she would not worry needlessly about her own safety.
“Aye,” he replied. “I daenae see why nae.”
Me faither could never dream of bein’ such a leader…
Gordon in his role as Laird Lyall was a revelation. True, she had never been permitted to stay in the council chamber to observe her father fulfill his lairdly duties, but she had seen him interact with enough of his clan to know that it was probably nothing like this.
Anna’s betrothed had full command of the room, meeting each visitor with the same courtesy and intense attention, whether they were a merchant, a shepherd, a landlord, an oysterman, or anything in between.
He listened to their complaints, if they had them, and dealt with each matter fairly. If anyone protested his decision—such as a baker who wasn’t happy that a young boy had stolen three loaves of discarded bread—a single look silenced them into acceptance.
