Taming the Scotsman (14 page)

“Have you ever made your own tarts?” Nora asked, then stopped herself. “Nay, I guess not. You being a man and all. You probably never even picked berries, did you?”

“I did.”

She straightened to look at him. “Truly?”

“Aye. My mother used to take me and my brothers into the woods to pick berries for her pies and jams.” He smiled wistfully at the memory. “But we usually ate so many of them that she would shoo us away shortly after we begun.”

“Who ate most of them?” Nora asked as she led him through the foliage in search of her fare. “You or one of your brothers?”

“Kieran. He was always hungry.”

“And you weren’t?”

“Nay, not really.”

Nora started to climb over a fallen log.

Ewan picked her up easily and swung her over it.

“Thank you.”

He inclined his head and jumped over it with little effort.

Nora watched him in the dappled sunlight. His black hair was curling becomingly around his shoulders. He was such a handsome man.

Before she could think better of it, she took his hand in hers. She half expected him to let go. He didn’t. Instead he squeezed her hand in his and offered her that hesitant smile that was such a part of him. It was one where the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly, and if one wasn’t paying attention, one might not realize it was a smile at all.

But she knew it.

Just as she was beginning to know the man who gifted her with it.

Then he led her hand to his mouth and placed a tender kiss on her knuckles.

Nora shivered as she recognized the fire in his crystal blue eyes.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you for hours,” he said, his voice deep and hoarse.

Nora smiled as she cupped his face in her hands. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him. Her brat fell from her head, down to her shoulders as he pulled her up to reach his mouth.

Her head swam at his taste.

She felt him reach around her and lift her skirt up.

Ewan knew he shouldn’t be doing this. One of the gypsies could stumble across them at any moment.

But he couldn’t pull back from her.

She was irresistible to him.

Nora gasped as he set her up on top of a tree branch and leaned her back against the tree trunk. Before she could ask him what he intended, he shoved her skirt back and spread her legs.

She trembled at the sight of him staring at the center of her body. His eyes were dark and hooded as he slid his fingers down her cleft and gently into her.

Then he dipped his head and took her gently into his mouth.

She bit back a cry of pleasure as she reached up to hold on to the branch above her.

Ewan was like a wild animal as he tasted her, and his caresses made her breathless and weak.

He pulled back, his eyes blazing as he loosened his trewes, baring his swollen shaft to her eager sight. He kissed her lips a moment before he slid himself deep inside her.

This time Nora did groan out loud.

“Oh Ewan,” she choked.

His lips seared her as he thrust against her. Her body spiraled out of control, and when she came it was so intense that she couldn’t keep herself from crying out.

With three deep, sharp thrusts, Ewan joined her.

Nora held him close as he breathed raggedly in her ear.

“What have you done to me, lass?” he asked roughly. “God help me, I can’t seem to keep myself away from you.”

She laid her hand against his flushed, stubbled cheek. His eyes were dark and stormy. “’Tis a madness that seems to envelop us both. For I feel the same of you. I know I shouldn’t. You are everything I find distasteful in a man.”

He looked offended by that. “Thank you, my lady.”

“Well, you are, and yet there is nothing about you that I find distasteful at all. Why is that?”

“I don’t know. I should have taken you straight to my brother.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

He kissed her. Then kissed her again and again until she was breathless and weak.

Nora sighed at the sensation of him around her while he was still inside her.

With a groan, he pulled back and left her with an aching void.

“We’d best not be too long or someone will come searching for us.”

He helped her right her clothes and covered her hair again with her brat, then led her back in the direction from which they had come.

As they walked, a low-hanging branch caught her brat and pulled it free of her hair.

Nora hissed at the pain. The bowed branch snapped back, tearing the brat from her head and dress, and launching it up to a higher branch.

“Oh bother!” she said, her voice rife with aggravation as she tried to jump up to reach it.

“Here.” Ewan moved her aside and tried to reach it. When he realized he couldn’t, he moved to leave.

“Nay,” she said. “We can’t leave it in the tree.”

“Why not?”

“’Tis my favorite and was a present from my mother.”

He growled at her words.

“Please, Ewan?”

His face softened. He handed her the basket and headed for the tree.

Nora watched in fascinated awe as he easily climbed the branches. He effortlessly worked his way out onto the branch where her brat was snarled.

The tree groaned in protest. Nora stepped back as a bad feeling consumed her.

Mayhap she shouldn’t have sent him up there after all.

No sooner did he capture the wayward brat than the branch broke and sent him straight to the ground.

Her heart stopped at the sight of him falling.

“Ewan!” she gasped, rushing toward him.

He lay on the ground unmoving.

“E
wan, please tell me that you dinna get hurt.” Frantically, Nora searched his body, looking for injuries.

Ewan couldn’t draw his breath for a full minute. The fall hadn’t hurt anything much more than his dignity and had knocked the wind from him.

But he had to admit he liked the feeling of her hands running over his body. Liked seeing the concern on her face.

“I got your brat,” he said around his aching ribs and back, handing it to her.

“Oh, forget the silly brat. You’ve been hurt.”

Silly brat?

Now
the brat was silly?

Ewan frowned at her. He wasn’t really hurt, but he didn’t want her to know that. She was running her hands up and down his body as if searching for injuries, and even though he should be sated after their tryst, he wasn’t.

He could take her again, right now.

And that surprised him most of all.

“Should I go get Lysander or Pagan?” she asked.

“Nay,” he quickly assured her. Those two would laugh and know in an instant he wasn’t hurt. “I think I can manage with your help.”

“What should I do?”

Ewan stifled a wolfish grin. He should feel guilty for taking advantage of her this way, but he didn’t. He enjoyed her concern and care.

“Ow!” he said as she touched his thigh.

“Are you hurt there?”

“Aye.”

She ran her hand around his leg to his inner thigh. Ewan clenched his teeth as a fiery need stabbed his groin while she rubbed his leg in an effort to alleviate his ache.

Little did she know, she was only adding to it.

“What about your back?” she asked. “Are you hurt there?”

“Perhaps. It throbs so that I canna tell.”

She helped him to sit up.

Ewan closed his eyes as she explored his back with her hands. But in truth, he’d rather she do so with her mouth.

His groin jerked at the thought.

When she started to move away, he groaned as if in pain. “My right shoulder.”

Nora massaged the joint. “Here?

“Aye.”

Her hands dipped lower, and lower. Och, but the lass felt good.

Too good. Her hands were the most blessed pain reliever he’d ever known. For this amount of her undivided attention, he’d gladly fall out of another tree.

She helped him to his feet.

Ewan made sure he didn’t put too much weight on her as he limped along beside her.

He’d never had anyone care for him like this. His brothers would have laughed, then kicked him up and told him not to cry like a lass. His mother had at times tried to pamper him, but with three other sons, she’d been ever occupied by their needs, and so he’d gone forgotten while she rushed to tend Braden, Kieran or Lochlan.

He had to admit he liked the way Nora cared for him. Liked the idea of having her complete and undivided attention.

Most of all he liked where his hand rested.

“Ewan? Could you please lower your hand a bit?”

He reluctantly moved it from her breast, and did exactly as she said and placed it just below her bosom so that he could still feel the curve of her.

Aye, a man could get used to this. But in truth, he’d rather still be cupping the soft mound. Feeling the hard nipple of her tease his palm.

Nora had nice breasts. Not too large and not too small.

A perfect handful.

And that thought made him even harder. He looked back at the trees and whimpered in need.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked.

“Nay, love,” he said gruffly, wishing they didn’t travel with the gypsies after all.

They approached the others.

“What has happened?” Catarina asked as soon as she saw them.

“Ewan fell from a tree while retrieving my brat,” Nora explained. “I think he’s injured his leg and his back.”

Ewan saw the suspicious looks from the men and a knowing, taunting grin from Pagan.

“Fell from a tree, eh?” Pagan asked in a whispered tone just for Ewan.

Ewan gave him a wicked glare. When he spoke, he made sure to keep his words low enough so that Nora couldn’t overhear them. “Och now, you’re just jealous you don’t have a beautiful lass to dote upon you.”

Pagan surprised him with a laugh. “True enough. For a taste of those lips, I’d gladly throw myself down a mountainside.”

Ewan watched him suspiciously, but Pagan merely walked off and left them.

“Did you now?” Viktor asked Ewan once Pagan had departed. He slid his gaze to Nora. “And just how far did he fall?”

“Quite a ways,” Nora hastened to assure him.

Lysander snorted. “Too bad he didn’t land on his head.”

Bavel shoved at him.

Disregarding them, Nora helped Ewan into the back of the wagon. “You rest here, and I’ll be right back with something for you to drink.”

As Nora left him, Catarina approached her and whispered so that Ewan wouldn’t overhear her.

“I don’t think he’s as injured as he appears, my lady. I think he’s playing upon your sympathies so that he can stay close to you.”

Nora flashed an evil smile. “And well I know it. ’Twould take much more than such a slight fall to hurt him, but I rather like having him close.”

She winked at Catarina, who laughed.

She didn’t think Ewan would have allowed her such freedom with his body if he wasn’t “injured.” And he seemed to enjoy her caresses too much for her to stop them.

If he wanted to be babied a bit, then she would certainly oblige him.

As she returned to the wagon, she caught sight of him with her brat. He had it pressed to his lower face as if inhaling it.

Seeing her, he quickly put it aside and straightened up.

Nora stared at him there. His long legs were
stretched out in front of him, and he looked a bit guilty. Those piercingly blue eyes of his made her tremble.

He was so fierce and powerful, and at the same time there was something playful about him. But what warmed her most was the knowledge that he wasn’t playful with the others.

Only she was allowed to glimpse the more tender side of him.

She liked that a great deal.

Nora climbed in to sit down beside him and handed him the wineskin.

He took a drink, then glanced at her in surprise. “You brought me ale?”

“I thought it would help with the pain.”

Viktor looked in on them. “How you doing, lad?”

Ewan looked at her uncomfortably.

“He’ll be fine,” Nora answered. “He just needs a bit of a rest. Would it be all right if we rode back here for a while?”

Viktor nodded. “We’ll be on our way then.”

Nora listened as the others returned to their horses and Viktor tied both Ewan’s horse and hers to the back of the wagon. After several minutes, they were on their way.

Again he had a guilty look about him that told her he wasn’t as injured as he would have her believe.

So be it. She was more than content to ride back there alone with him.

“Who do you think this man is who paid them
to abduct you?” Nora asked after a short span of silence. “Have you many enemies?”

“Nay. My only enemy was Robby MacDouglas, but since the feud ended between our clans, he’s forgiven me and we’ve been friendly enough.”

“’Tis peculiar, isn’t it? I wonder if it could be some woman who caught fancy to you and paid someone to bring you to her.”

Ewan scowled at her. “What a strange thing for you to think.”

“Nay, not really. You’re rather fetching when you’re not making that face.”

“I’m not making a face.”

She touched his forehead and smoothed his features. “You scowl overmuch.”

“And you talk overmuch.”

She smiled a smile that warmed him. “Aye, ’tis what makes Ryan so angry at me. He says I am ever a whirlwind of nonsense.”

Ewan touched her cheek with his fingertips. Then he leaned forward and kissed her lightly. “I rather like your nonsense.”

Nora sighed as she cupped his head to hers. She could drink from his lips for eternity.

Ewan nibbled on her lips for quite some time, stroking and teasing them.

It was the first time ever she had sat with a man like this and let him have free rein with her lips and body. She enjoyed it immensely.

Finally he pulled back, and Nora settled down by his side, safe in the shelter of his arms while the
wagon rocked beneath them. Neither of them had slept much the night before.

So she let the soothing sound of his heart lull her to blissful slumber.

Ewan toyed with her hair as her gentle breath fell against his neck. How he loved the way this woman felt in his arms. She was so soft against his hardness.

He tried to remember Isobail. He couldn’t even recall her face, only the pain she had left in her wake.

It was Kieran he remembered. He had tried to tell him that Isobail didn’t love him.

Kieran had attacked him viciously, calling him a liar.

“Damn you, Ewan. You know nothing of what you speak. She was meant for me and no other. She has said it to me a thousand times.”

“Listen to me, damn
you
. She told me herself that she has no feelings for you.”

“Liar!” Kieran had backhanded him for those words.

Ewan had reached to attack, and Lochlan and Braden had come between them, forcing them apart.

“Why are you upsetting him, Ewan?” Lochlan had demanded as he shook him forcefully.

“She loves me.” The words had leaped out of his mouth before he could stop them.

All three of his brothers had laughed. The sound had echoed painfully in his heart.

How dare they scorn him for it. Was it so impossible to believe a woman could desire him?

“You?” Kieran had shaken his head as he continued to laugh. “Now I know you jest.”

Ewan had never wanted to hurt his brothers before, but he wanted to then. He was tired of being pushed aside by all of them. Discounted. Mocked. “Why is that so hard for you to believe?”

It had been Kieran’s final words to him that had set everything into motion.

“Look at yourself, Ewan. You’re gangly and sullen. What few women you’ve had, I had to pay them to take you, and all you did then was talk to them instead of make use of their
charms
. The day will never come when a woman would have you over me. What could
you
ever offer a woman?”

“I know the answer to this one,” Braden had chimed in. “A lifetime of brooding silence and evil glares.”

Then Braden had clapped Kieran on the back and the two of them had left the hall, all the while laughing at him.

Ewan had stood frozen, unable to breathe from the cruelty of their words.

“
I know not what to do with that lad, Aisleen. He will never be what his brothers are
…”

“They didn’t mean that as it sounded,” Lochlan had said after Kieran and Braden had left. “I’m sure Isobail is fond of you. In your own way, you are—”

“Silence, Lochlan,” he’d snarled. “Bother me no
more with your so-called comfort. I’m tired of all of you recounting my faults to me. I’m not as handsome as Braden, or as charming as Kieran, and I lack your intelligence. Believe me, I know well my shortcomings. Every last one of them.”

Those comparisons had been branded into his heart from the hour of his birth.

Though he loved his brothers, he was well aware of where he fell in everyone’s esteem.

Even Sin had mocked him when he offered to help him and Braden rescue Lochlan from the clan.

There was nothing he could do that his brothers couldn’t do better.

Only Nora had never compared him to them.

Of course, she had yet to meet his brothers…

Would she care for him if they were around? Or would she be like Isobail and abandon him the first chance she got?

He didn’t know for sure. But in the back of his mind was the thought that if she did, it would be the blow that destroyed him. He could take anything except her ridicule.

Viktor stopped the wagon on the outskirts of a small town. Catarina reined her horse to a stop as Lysander, Pagan and Bavel dismounted.

Catarina joined Lysander as he pulled open the door to the wagon, and they found Ewan and Nora sound asleep in the back.

Nora was lying against his chest, and he had one brawny arm slung protectively over her.

“Ahhh,” Catarina said, happy to see them so entwined.

“Am I supposed to allow them to lie like that?” Lysander asked. “I’m thinking I might get a sword to my middle for it should her father ever learn of this.”

“I’ll take one to your backside if you don’t leave them be,” Cat said. “I think they make a beautiful couple.”

“I knew she was too quiet,” Viktor said. “I should have known she’d be fast asleep.”

“Well, rouse them,” Bavel added. “I’m hungry enough to eat my boots.”

“I’m awake,” Ewan said gruffly. “Who could sleep with the four of you yapping like herd of puppies?”

Ewan gently shook Nora awake.

She blinked open her eyes, then smiled at him.

In spite of his best intentions, he smiled back.

“Where are we?” she asked as she realized the wagon was no longer moving.

“I’m not sure,” Viktor said. “We’ve come up to a small village. I thought we might buy ourselves a nice supper and mayhap find a comfortable bed for the night.”

Nora stifled a yawn as she scooted out of the wagon.

Ewan came out behind her and forgot that he
was supposed to be injured. The minute he took a step, Nora clucked her tongue teasingly at him.

“For shame, my lord, feigning injuries and playing on my poor good nature. And to think I was worried over you.”

Ewan scratched his chin and sheepishly averted his gaze.

Pagan laughed at them as he walked past.

Nora playfully patted Ewan’s arm, then stood up on her tiptoes to give him a sisterly kiss on his cheek. “Not that you asked it, but I forgive you.”

They took a few minutes to freshen their appearances. Ewan took Nora’s hand and led them into the town.

He paused long enough to ask if there was a pub, and they were directed to the largest cottage in the village.

The gypsies were eerily quiet as they walked along behind them.

The pub’s door was open and several men were seated at tables, drinking from goblets.