“I’ll tell ye when,” he replied while brushing a frond of hanging moss from his face.
They rode until Leith gestured for her to stop, and when she did, he helped her off. Swiftly, he unsaddled the horse and flung the saddle over a clump of bushes. She spun but did not hear it fall. He must have thrown it into the river below. Daringly, she went to the bushes and parted them only to drawback. Not even two feet away was a swift breakaway and she felt mist rising up to her face.
“Hie ye!” a loud slap had her horse bolting as he’d just been struck with lightning.
She spun. “Wouldn’t it have been better if ye’d tied him and send someone to come for it later?”
“It would,” Leith said, “but then it’d give me more questions that I dinnae want to answer. Now, come, let’s get ye bedraggled.”
She began to crunch the tails of her dress while Leith worked on messing her hair. He even went so far as to grab some twigs to fix in her hair and then stepped back to eye her like a painter before his canvas. He grinned and came forward to tug the bodice of her dress to rip it slightly. Mary's mouth parted in shock and she stood affronted.
“Leith!”
“It’s for effect, lass,” he grinned. Then to enhance the look, slid a dagger out of his boot and sliced his thumb. Mary looked at him in disbelief while he squeezed the wound to make it bleed more before smearing his blood over her wounded temple.
She flinched at his touch and her nose flared at the coppery smell so close to her nose. “Is that necessary?”
“I dinnae do things halfway. It’s a bad trait of mine,” Leith said as he used some dirt to make the red darker. Smiling in satisfaction, he took her to his horse and lifted her up on it with ease. Once she was seated, he mounted behind her and shifted her to lie on his left shoulder. With her face on chest, she spoke, “Will they believe this? It looks a little scandalous don’t you think?”
“What they believe at first sight will amount to nothin’,” Leith said as he grasped the reins. “What I say goes. Dinnae worry yer little head about that.”
As the horse began to move and Mary shifted further on his lap, he bit back a groan. Had he thought this through? Truly considered it away from the fog of lust that possessed him every time he was within three feet of Mary?
Given the way his body had reacted on this first kiss, having her bottom pressed against his aching groin was a blatant act of madness. The ride to the clan’s gate was short but this…this was going to be a long ride for his control. A sharp kick of his boot had his horse moving forward.
They traveled the short distance through the rest of the forest and after passing a copse of trees near the northern gate of the castle, Leith looked down at Mary to see if she was doing exactly what was asked of her. Her face was still and though her lashes fluttered a little, she could pass for an unconscious woman.
“Ye ready to put on the performance of yer life?” He asked.
She nuzzled closer into his chest, “I’ll do my best.”
God’s truth she looked lovely like this with her lashes down on her cheeks and her pink lips loose in a soft curve. He spurred his horse faster with one arm bracing her. He sped through the gates not even sparing a glance at the graceful stone arch at the entrance.
“Help!” he called loudly. “I need help!”
Mary did not shift in his arms and he silently praised her for her fortitude. “Help, I say!” he shouted even more as he saw men running toward them.
The first man who skidded to him was a guard named Rodham, who looked at the lass and grimaced. “We need a stretcher here!”
When the men coming heard Rodham’s shout, they doubled back to the mainstay for the stretcher while others came to ease Mary off him. “Gently! She’s injured!”
“Aye, Me Laird,” one said as he cradled Mary’s head. Another one had had her lower half. The stretcher came and she was laid on it. Leith had jumped off his horse to follow them, hoping and praying that she would keep to her part.
When Mary flopped a lax arm over the side while they whisked her away, he grinned to himself. That’s me tenacious lass.
12
It took every drop of strength and determination to not react when various hands, with strong and softer holds, grabbed at her lax body and hauled her from side to side. She had to stop herself from flinching when she was laid on a bed and a cold rag wiped Leith’s blood from her temple. She did not dare open her eyes but her ears worked perfectly fine.
“She’s a pretty one,” someone said kindly. “Noble features and all.”
“Me question, Rinalda, is where could the Laird had found her?” another added.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” a third said before hurried footsteps rushed in. The jarring sound of scraping chairs nearly made her wince but she managed to keep her composure.
“Is she awake?” Leith asked, his words heavy with concern. “Has she said anythin’?”
“She nay awake yet, Me Laird,” the gentle voice said, “The injury looks old and is healed up. Wherever ye found her, she was there for a while.”
A heavy plop and the scrape of wood on stone had her imagining Leith sitting down with his heads in his hand and those large palms of his, rubbing over his face. She began debating on when to miraculously wake up when another pair of feet came running in.
“Leith!” a woman said. “Good gracious! I was told yer back and that ye found a lass somewhere?”
“Aye, Mother,” Leith said. “I
