Connor burst out laughing and Emmy nearly screeched in rage to have her tirade thrown back at her with such amusement. Daisy danced in circles while Emmy sawed at the reins trying to get the old horse to turn back to the castle. Emmy had had just about all the fun she could take for one day. Irritating man! Laughing at her like that!
“Emmy! Em!” Connor caught Daisy’s bridle and pulled the horse closer to him. “Stop! Stop!” he laughed as she fought against him trying to pull away. “Stop before ye fall!” Connor caught her about the waist and bodily lifted her from Daisy’s back before settling her across his lap. Still alight with laughter, he looked down into her scowling face and lowered his head catching her mouth in a hot kiss. Her lips stiffened and she tried to turn her head away from him.
“Oh, no you don’t!” she huffed. “I’m mad at you.”
“Oh, my love!” he chuckled again softly brushing his fingers against her cheek and resting his forehead against hers. “Ye make me so happy.”
“You piss me off and it makes you happy?” she asked in amazement. “Awwgh,” she groaned, “you are the most infuriating man I have ever known.”
“And ye’re the most entrancing woman I have ever known,” he declared in a husky, sexy brogue, turning his head to nuzzle her ear. “Yer jealousy soothes my fears tremendously. While I worry that I have nothing to offer ye, ye in turn fear that ye haven’t enough to offer me.”
“I wasn’t afraid, I was mad,” she corrected but did not push him away.
“Yer anger was born of insecurity from my thoughtless words,” he returned. “My love,” he murmured into her neck, “my darling lass, no other woman could ever compare to ye. And I would fear for my own safety if I ever try to consign ye to the role of mistress.”
Emmy tilted her head away to allow him greater access to her neck where he continued to suck and nibble his way down. She sighed and shifted to clasp his tightly to her. “You’re never going to let me stay mad at you again, are you?”
“I am discovering that yer anger rouses an undeniable passion in me,” Connor admitted. “When yer cheeks flush and eyes heat, I want nothing more than to direct that fire in a more productive direction.”
“Well, the right direction would be back toward the castle then because it is too cold to do that out here.” They turned back and Emmy snuggled against his side allowing her hands to drift downward playfully earning a deep groan as Connor kicked Bruce to greater speeds. “So, I am good enough for an earl then?”
“Aye, my love, ye are, but that King Edward…he was entirely wrong.”
Chapter 38
“No, no! You can’t do that!” Emmy laughed and put a hand down on the table to stop Connor’s next move. “This is Texas Hold ‘Em, not Five Card Draw! You have to wait for the next two cards to be laid down before you turn your hole cards!”
“Are you certain?” Ian cut in. “I don’t believe that this is a real form of poker at all. Did you just make up the rules?”
“I will say that I never experienced such a turn of the rules at any of the card salons I have attended in Edinburgh,” Dory added. “It is most unusual. But interesting.”
Emmy laughed as her three companions studied their cards once again. While poker or forms of it had been played for hundreds of years in Germany and France, once the game migrated to the U.S it had taken on a life of its own. The MacLean men were familiar with five card draw but had never seen Texas Hold ‘Em which made sense since Emmy was fairly certain it was a recent thing in her time. While Emmy had explained the World Poker Tour to Connor, Ian and Dory simply assumed it was just an American version of the game.
It had been four days since Emmy had been compelled to put Dory on bed rest, or at least restricting her movements to and from a chair in her room as much as possible. After days of boredom with only an occasional visitor to break the monotony of her confinement, Dory was already chomping at the bit. Emmy had insisted that Ian and Connor join them in a card game to pass the afternoon away. Teaching the new game had been interesting but all were familiar with games of chance so it hadn’t taken too long to get the rules established.
“The placing of bets between each round becomes a bit tedious over time,” Connor told her. “I fail to see the necessity.”
“It just gives more of a chance to bet on the possibilities of your hand,” Emmy insisted. She rolled her eyes at Dory who stifled a laugh in return. “You just don’t like being outbluffed by a woman, I think. I mean, who would have ever thought that Dory would have such a good poker face?”
“Well, it certainly is not yer forte,” Connor told her catching Emmy’s hand and raising it to his lips. “One can always tell when ye have a good hand.”
“It’s why I never go to Vegas,” she told him squeezing his hand.
“What is Vegas?” Ian asked absently as he studied the river card Emmy dealt.
“Oh, it’s a big gambling Mecca in the western part of America,” Emmy answered just as vaguely. “They’re really big on that type of thing out there. They do have the Cirque du Soliel running constantly there, though. I’d like to see that,” Emmy murmured.
“Circus of the Sun?” Connor asked. “Ye haven’t talked about that before.”
“I haven’t talked about several things yet.”
“Father took us to see the circus in Edinburg each year when we were young,” Ian
