Gifts of Desire (25 page)

             
At last she
left the water and sat down in the grass to put her shoes b
ack on.  She looked up
to see
him
watching her
. 
“I suppose
you’re
going to say we have to go back now before it gets too late.”

             
“Aye.”

             
With a little sigh, she stood up, and as she walked past him to retrieve her horse, she brushed her fingers along the side
of his thigh.  “Alright, but
you
are no
fun.”  He nearly jumped out of the saddle at her touch, he was so tightly wound.  And now, if possible, he burned even hotter. 
Damn her
. 
He watched her
swing up onto her
mount,
catching sight of her lean legs as her skirts briefly flew up.  I
n the turmoil of his mind, he again
wondered if
he should send her away, before she got under his skin any further than she already was.  Maybe he could send her to a
nother
clan, to be held until th
ey could figure things out; t
hen she would be some other man’s problem for awhile.
  Not surprisingly, that idea did not sit well with him.  No, he couldn’t bear to send her away…
and he certainly couldn’t entrust her to someone else, someone without as much honor as he had, who might take advantage of her beauty.

             
They made it back to the castle in no time, travelling at a fast gallop for the last stretch.
  Reining in her mount in front of the stable,
Ella
swung
down from the
mare
and gave her
a pat on the no
se before the stable boy
led the horse
away.  Turning, she saw
Ceann
hand off his reins to his groom.  Seized by a moment of glee
ful abandon
after the exhilarating ride
, she went to him and
laughing,
flung her arms around
his neck
in an embrace.
  Startled, his arms came up to encircle her.

             
“Thank
you
, that was just what I needed”, she said.
 
“
I’m not used to being kept within walls so much.  It makes me want to escape from them now and then.
  Escape all the time, actually.
”

             
Ceann
looked down at the woman who was so unexpectedly in his arms
.
  She beamed up at him, her deep
blue eyes sparkling with innocent joy
and exhilaration
.  He breathed her in, hungry for
just a taste of such abandon.  Then h
e tensed
, as against his will
his traitorous body hardened and his heart sped u
p.  As it always did when she
touch
ed him
. 
No
,
it wasn’t only
her touch, but by the mere sight of her
. 

             
He saw
the moment she recognized the hunger burn
ing
in his eyes, for the smile
left
her face and she
drew in a breath
,
her
lips slightly parted. 
Heat
flared
between them, and
Ceann
was
suddenly
not sure
he could stop himself from
leaning closer and tasting
her lips. 
He tried to stop himself,
he really did,
but his mouth moved c
loser, closer, until he could
almost
taste her sweet breath
on his tongue
.

             
“God, what do
you
do to me?”
he
said in a harsh whisper
, then l
owered his lips to hers with a
groan, completely
and utterly
helpless to stop himself.
  He took her mouth hungrily, and his arms tightened around her as if he sought to pull her into his very soul and fill the empty space within.  Pure bliss flooded through him, along with desire so powerful he thought he would surly die of it. 
No
, he
wanted
to die of it. 
Because now that he had tasted her, he wasn’t sure he could ever live without this again.

             
He barely heard the sound of approaching voices, but
Ella
pulled back from him and looked up.  He only slowly came back to himself, his heart pounding, body burning.  Then he saw the group of men coming towards them, Ethan running behind as if
trying
to keep them from interrupting the laird
who was
kissing a lass in plain sight in the bailey as if he would devour her on the spot.  He groaned inwardly at his
blatant
loss of control.  It
wasn’
t like him not to have complete restraint in all matters.  He was a
highly disciplined
, hardened
warrior, one of the best.  How could he have let this happen?  He stepped away from
Ella
, and without
even
looking at her, turned to meet the men.

             
“Laird!  I’ve a message.”

             
It was one of his squires,
Finn
.  A good young man and loyal, but
apparently
completely without good timing or tact. 
Then again, the lad might have just saved him from taking the lass on the ground in front of the stables for all to see.  God, what had come over him? 
The other two men with him looked
slightly sheepish, and Ethan, d
amn him, looked quite smug.

             
He sighed.
  Then he felt a sudden knot in his stomach. 
He
could
have
word from
Ella
’s kin.
  “What is it
Finn
?”

             
“We’re invited to a gathering in
Briding
!  There are to be games, can we go
Milaird
?”

             
Ceann
almost smiled at
his own relief, and the youth’s
obvious
excitement. 
Finn
had been practicing especially hard lately
with his bow and arrows
.  “When?”

             
“Four days hence.”

             
Ceann
frowned, considering.  It would be good to get away for a few days, and good to work off some of the tension and frustration he had been feeling
ever
since finding
Ella
in the wood.  He could leave the
lass
here, under guard, of course, and perhaps some distance from her would
give him perspective and
cure him of this growing obsession.

             
“Aye, we’ll go.  Run off and tell the men.  Some of them will want to bring their families along and will need time to prepare.”  He watched as
Finn
ran off at a sprint.

             
“He’s at an age where he hopes to impress the lasses with his skill in the games”, Ethan
said
.  “I remember those days, when to win a kiss from a fair maiden was the greatest prize in the kingdom.”

             
At the mention of lasses,
Ceann
turned to see if
Ella
was still there.  She was standing at the fence some dist
ance away, stroking Fallon’s nose, and the great beast
was nuzzling her face
like a pup
as she laughed.  That
high-strung
stallion wouldn’t let most people
anywhere
near him.  Frowning, he turned back to the others.

             
Colin was watching
Ella
with the horse, and
Ceann
didn’t like what he saw in the other man’s eyes. 
Lust
.
  He knew it well.
  He felt his chest tighten, as did the fists at his sides.

             
Ethan was well aware of Colin’s interest in the lass, as well as
Ceann
’s reaction to it.  More aware than
Ceann
, the stubborn fool.  Sometimes he had the strongest urge to beat some sense into his friend’s thick skull, but Iona had said they must tread carefully and let
them come together on their own
as much as possible
.
  He didn’t think it would hurt to give a little nudge now and then, though
,
if only
to help preserve his own sanity.

             
He winked at Colin, nodding ever-so-slightly at
Ceann
, to let him know his intent.  Then h
e nudged Colin in the ribs, and leaned over.  “She’s something to look at, aye?  And look how that devil of a horse takes to her!  He’s been enchanted.”

             
Colin smirked, playing along, despite the obvious risk to his well-being.
 
True, he considered himself a man to
enjoy the company of the lasses, but this one was not for him
, even though he found her beauty exceptional
.  She w
as obviously meant for Ceann
. 
Any fool could see what was between them. 
Like Ethan, Colin suspected the laird’s
recent bad
temper would improve as soon as he gave in
to his needs. 
“Aye, I can’t say I wouldn’t
enjoy
the likes of her in my bed.  I’ll bet she’s a real
wild one
.”

             
“Do
you
thin
k she’d have the likes of
you
in her bed?”
Ethan asked.

             
Colin laughed
smugly
.  “Of
course she would, the lass isn’t
daft
.
  Besides, if she really has no
kin to look after her, she’ll need a man.  I suppose I could take her to wife, even.  Though that might take away from my time with the other wenches, eh Ethan?”

             
Ethan could have sworn he heard the growl of a wild animal, and turned to look at
Ceann
, who had tu
rned a curious shade of reddish-
purple.  “
Ceann
?  Are
you
alright?  We were just saying how lovely the lass is…”

             
“She’s not av
ai
la
ble”, he ground out.

             
Colin pretended to look
surprised. 
“H
ave
you
claimed her then,
Ceann
?  I hadn’t heard, or of course I wouldn’t have said…
”

             
“He hasn’t
claimed her
”, Ethan said helpfully.  “She is only his
guest
.
  Will
you
be going to the games with us Colin?
”

             
“No
, not this time.  I’m on the Castle Guard this whole month.  Never was one for sport anyway, well,
at least
not
that
kind of sport
.”
  He shared a
grin
with Ethan, elbowing him in the ribs
.

             
Ceann
watched Ethan and Colin walk away toward the keep, exchanging bawdy remarks and laughing.  His blood boiled in his veins.  The thought of Colin with
Ella
…
of him seducing her with practiced ease…
of her beautiful body sullied by his touch…

             
He turned and went to her; the stallion raised his head and snorted a greeting, and she looked up.  As he saw the profile of her face, lit from behind by the warm glow of the sun, her
small
hand still resting on the stallion’s nose beside her cheek, everything seemed to slow, almost stop for a moment.  And for that moment, he thought he must have seen her like this before, so familiar was the image.  It tugged at a corner of his mind, but he could not remember.