Page 39 of Lost with a Scot
“Bloody hell!” Brock leapt up from his chair, clutching his hand.
The newspaper dropped, covering the hedgehog entirely. Brock peeled up one corner of the paper to reveal Prissy still eating. She paused when she realized Brock was glaring down at her. She snuffled loudly, then sneezed on the kippers.
“Aiden,” Brock growled, “remove this beastie now!”
Aiden was already moving to rescue Prissy from the Highland lord.
“I told ye no beasts on the table,” Brock warned him.
Aiden grinned, as if knowing full well this wouldn’t be the last time a creature ended up on the dining room table. “I dinna ken how she got up there. She has such wee stubby legs.” Aiden shot Anna a wink, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Brock, still fuming, lifted up his reddened hand, rubbing his palm gingerly. Joanna came to her husband’s rescue, gently taking his wounded hand and pressing a kiss to his palm.
“Feel better?” she asked in a sweet voice.
Brock’s eyes softened and heated. “Aye, ’tis much better. Perhaps ye had better attend me in our chambers.” Brock, no longer concerned about his hand, scooped Joanna up into his arms and carried her off. Their laughter still echoed down the hall as Aiden removed Brock’s breakfast plate and set it on the floor next to Prissy, where the hedgehog could eat in peace.
Anna rose from her chair and bid the others a good day before she and Aiden left the breakfast room and burst into giggles.
“Are ye up for another adventure?” he asked her.
“With you?Always,” she said honestly.
“Good. I have a special place to show ye. Dress in yer warmest riding gown.”
Anna went upstairs to change with the help of one of the housemaids and came back down wearing a hunter-green riding habit, riding boots, and a little green hat perched jauntily on her head.
Aiden’s eyes widened at the sight of her, and she blushed at the desire she saw in his eyes.
“Ye look quite fetching,” he said as he caught her in his arms at the bottom of the stairs.
“As do you.” She ran her hands over his gold-and-black embroidered waistcoat. His eyes lit up, and her whole body simmered with the heat he always caused within her. It was almost dangerous to be around him. It felt as though they were just a kiss away from setting the world ablaze around them.
Anna loved knowing that he desired her the same way she desired him. Ever since he’d touched her that day in the meadow, she’d wanted nothing more than to experience that pleasure again, only this time she wanted to share it with him.
The horses were outside, and she was delighted to see Bob saddled and waiting beside Thundir this time instead of one of the other horses from the castle stables. She’d been watching the mare’s healing over the last several days, and it was a good sign as to her condition if Aiden thought she was ready to take a rider. Draped over Thundir’s back was a folded plaid that looked big enough to act as a blanket for both of them.
“Are we having a picnic?” she asked hopefully.
Aiden chuckled. “Aye.” They walked down toward the horses together.
“Is Bob healed now?” Anna came over to coo at the beautiful horse. Bob brushed her nose gracefully against Anna’s shoulder.
“She is, and anxious to be running in the countryside, from what I can tell.” Aiden helped Anna up into the saddle before he mounted Thundir. “Cameron has taken his stable lessons seriously and has become Bob’s personal caretaker,” Aiden said, and Anna heard the pride in his voice about Cameron.
“Cameron is doing well, then?” She’d seen the boy running about the house, but the Kincade brothers had taken his youthful mischief in stride.
“Quite well. The boy simply needed a safe place to learn and grow without fear of the strap,” Aiden said, and his gaze turned sorrowful.
Anna regretted bringing it up. “Oh, Aiden, I didn’t mean to...”
He shook his head, a rueful glint in his eyes. “I am glad that Cameron will suffer far less than I did.”
They rode far to the west across new lands she had not seen before during her frequent rides with him. Rain clouds gathered and thunder rumbled in the distance by the low mountain wreathed with fog, but all around them a bright early autumn sun burnished the fields in heavy gold glow. They came across a small creek and allowed the horses to drink before following it upstream into a set of foothills.
“We’ll leave the horses here.” He removed the folded plaid from the back of his saddle and slung it over his shoulder. Then he nodded at a nearby copse of trees, where they tied the reins of the horses to a pair of low-hanging branches. The horses would have plenty of slack in their reins to feed on the nearby grasses.
“Follow me, and be mindful of yer steps,” Aiden said.
