In Bed With A Stranger(39)

Druce frowned. "Are ye sure ye want to become suspicious of her again, Cousin? That didnae do so well for ye before."

"It doesnae make sense."

And even if Druce was right, there was no stopping the suspicions that  clouded his thinking. Mary was hiding something. He was sure of it.





Chapter Ten


"The lord asks ye to come down to the inner yard to go riding with him."

The maid lowered her head before quitting the room.

Anne sighed. Respect meant nothing when it was forced. She knew it so  well that the sight of the maids scurrying to attend her made her ill.  Tears stung her eyes because it was so distressing, but weeping would  not help her.

Maybe confessing would …

She was tempted. But she was frightened, too. Brodick would put her from  him. She knew it in her heart and it made her ache. He had the right.  There was no doubt about it but she wanted to delay the moment when he'd  stop looking at her so tenderly.         

     



 

Stop touching her so intimately …

Anne had to blink rapidly to banish the tears before the two maids  helping her dress noticed them. There wasn't enough for them to do, but  they picked at her hair and clothing, finding things to straighten. She  didn't have the heart to be ill tempered with them.

Even feeling her guilt so keenly, she could not stop herself from  wanting to join Brodick. Her lust had truly destroyed her, exactly as  the church preached. Having listened to the song of Satan, she was now a  disciple unwilling to mend her ways.

One last time and then she would confess.

But she would lie with her lover a final time first.

A smile brightened her lips as she turned and hurried down to the  courtyard. She was suddenly happy. Full of such bright joy that she felt  as though she might burst with it.

The reason was simple. Brodick awaited her. The earl and master of  Sterling had thought to send for her to ride with him. They would end up  trysting and that made her move faster. Even if she had come to him by  deception, he wanted her. He hadn't plowed her and left her bed for that  of a mistress. She would savor it. Soak it up while the spring sun  warmed the earth.

It was the only thing she'd have once the bitter truth was known.



Brodick was a magnificent sight.

Strong and perfect.

Anne paused on the steps, smiling at the way he waited for her. He  wasn't in the saddle but stood waiting by the mare she'd ridden to  Sterling extending a hand to her when she appeared, to help her into the  saddle himself.

"I believe it's time I showed you a bit o' McJames lands."

He lifted her as though she were a child, placing her atop the mare and handing her the reins.

"Thank you, my lord."

He frowned at her, wrinkling his nose like a boy.

"I could not use your name in front of everyone."

He mounted his steed and cast a look over the curious eyes watching  them. There was a hint of smug satisfaction in his midnight eyes. He cut  a firm glance back toward her.

"Do it."

Anne suddenly understood and it reduced her to wanting to weep once  more. He was making a public display of affection, dealing with the  staff without ordering them to like her. It was clever and so touching  she had to look down to hide the sparkle of tears in her eyes.

"You're too kind, Brodick."

"'Tis nae something that should be absent from a marriage, lass." A warm  hand reached across the space between them to cup her chin. "Just  because ours is a noble union     , that doesnae mean it must be unhappy."

He smiled and tossed his head. "Come with me, lass. The day is fresh and  'tis time I introduced ye to a bit of Scotland. 'Tis a bonny land."

Brodick gave his steed his freedom. As they cleared the gate, the pair  of horses took to the road with zeal. In just moments the castle fell  behind them, leaving her alone with her lover.

The sun was warm on her cheeks, spring finally dominating over winter.  The mare felt it, too. She charged forward, her muscles flowing. They  crested a hill and Anne gave the powerful animal her freedom. A valley  lay below them, rich and green with new crops. Time and cares blew past  her as fast as the ground beneath the pounding hooves of the horse.

Anne did not stay her but leaned over her neck, becoming one with the animal.

Brodick reached over and pulled the reins. The mare started, frustrated  at having her run cut short. She pranced in a nervous circle but her  husband held firmly.

"McQuade land begins over that river." There was a serious note in his  voice that drove Anne's light mood away. His eyes scanned the ridge  above them, searching it thoroughly.

"You do not get on well with your neighbors?"

Philipa's words about Scots raiding one another surfaced. The last two months had nearly driven all thoughts of her away.

"The old lord is nae friend of the McJames." Brodick shrugged. "He holds  an old grudge against my father and in turn me. 'Twas his men I was  chasing for the last month and a half."

"I see." She really wasn't sure what to make of Brodick's words; he'd told her little.

"You cannae ever cross the river, lass. Stay away from it." His eyes  swept the area once more. His hand was still in command of her reins and  he tugged on the mare, turning both horses around.         

     



 

"Even then, the McQuades cross onto my land as bold as be. You should  nae be riding alone at all. My men know to stop ye if ye stray onto  unsafe ground. I'll be instructing the captain to nae allow ye outside  the walls without good escort."

Clearly he considered the matter closed. Anne frowned, his tone rubbing her pride. He noticed the disgruntled expression.

"Dinnae be vexed with me for protecting ye."

"'Twas more that I do not appreciate you taking up my reins, as if I can  not heed a warning. Or understand the wisdom in not questioning why you  tell me to do something as understandable as remaining inside your  borders."

He scoffed at her but released control of the mare. "Ye dinnae ken,  lass. McQuade would extract payment from ye for the wrong he thinks my  father did him. Scotsmen can hold a grudge for a very long time. His men  still burn down the farms of my people without a care for the loss it  inflicts on them."

"And what was the grievance?"

Brodick frowned, his lips set in a hard line of refusal. He shook his head, denying her question.

"If he's angry enough to act out revenge on me, shouldn't I at least get to know the reason why?"

Brodick led them to the top of the rise before he pulled up his stallion.

"My mother was betrothed to McQuade but he lost her contract in a game of dice to my father."

"That's absurd." But it was exactly the sort of thing that she'd heard tales of at Warwickshire.

"Nae in Scotland, it isnae." Brodick grinned in the face of her  astonishment. A wicked gleam twinkling in his eyes. "Didn't I claim ye  as boldly?"

She shook her head, caught between the need to reprimand him and laugh because he spoke the truth.

"You're a devil, I'll agree to that much."

His expression changed, darkening with passion. "Be careful what words ye place on me. I might decide to live up to them."

"I can hope."

A tic appeared on the side of his jaw. Hard need glittered in his gaze.  Anne stared back at him, boldness firing her blood. An insane urge to  taunt him flowed through her.

"Yet hopes will not satisfy me. I simply need more."

"Yer a bold wench. Careful. Act so brazen and ye'll reap the crop ye've sown."

Her mare pranced in a circle, feeling the emotion. "And what might that  be … my lord?" She drew his title out, knowing full well that it would  frustrate him.

He glared at her, but the look in his eyes was not angry, it was  demanding. "Maybe ye need a taste of what a raiding Scot does with his  captured prize."

"That is only if you can catch me."

She slapped the reins, giving the mare her freedom once more. The animal  dug into the soft spring ground, bolting forward. Leaning low over her  neck, Anne laughed as she hung on tightly. Excitement surged through her  veins as she looked back over her shoulder.

Brodick was hot on her heels. Just like a raider, intent on making her  his captive. His midnight eyes glittered with determination as his  stallion snorted. He bared his teeth and let out a yell that heightened  her excitement.

Turning back around, she urged the mare forward. They raced up a hill  and into the wooded patch. Her heart was hammering inside her chest, the  blood speeding so fast through her veins it was hard to hear. She had  never felt so alive.

She heard Brodick, heard him closing the distance between them. His  horse surged up beside hers, the noses of the two animals becoming even.  A hard arm snaked around her waist, pulling her across the distance  between the animals. The ground was still flying past beneath her and  her breath caught for one wild moment as she was on neither horse.

Brodick tossed her all the way across his saddle, her head sailing right  over the body of the animal. He pressed a hard hand into her back as he  pulled up on the reins. His stallion rose onto its hind legs, pawing at  the air. A crazy shaft of need went through her clitoris, the sensitive  bundle pulsing.