Page 31 of In the Highlander's Bed

Tempest seemed to nod in agreement, and Gordon had to marvel that his closest allies, the ones who knew his mind halfway at all, the ones he trusted the most, were a dog and a horse. “What does that say about me?” he asked Tempest.

The animal’s response was a soft nicker.

“You are right,” Gordon answered. “At least I have some distance now from ConstanceCameron. She’s a handful…but you can’t help but admire her.”

Tempest snorted.

“Come down,” Gordon said. “She has spirit. She’s not afraid to speak her mind.” He gestured with the curry comb he held. “I wish Fiona had that spirit. I wish she was stronger, like Constance.”

Tempest glanced back at Gordon as if to say he knew better, and Gordon couldn’t help chuckling. “You’ve caught me,” he told the horse. “Another day spent with her on my lap and it wouldn’t be you I’d be riding.” He began rubbing Tempest down. “And that is why I needed to hand her off to someone else. Colster wouldn’t like her rogered by some Scot bastard.”

Although he wouldn’t mind bedding her, he thought. Constance wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted. She’d be the same in bed. Unbidden images of the sparkle of defiance in her eyes, the curve of her lips, and the swell of her breasts came to his mind.

“Oh yes, it is a good thing I passed her off,” he confessed just as a cry went up in the camp.

“She’s escaped! The English lass escaped!”

The alarm made Gordon turn. Old Rae washobbling toward him, and Gordon swore before asking, “How?”

The older man was out of breath. As soon as he could manage, he said, “My wife was fixing her a bite to eat, and when she turned her back on her, the lass pushed her down to the ground and then ran out the door before I could even believe what was happening.”

“Did you untie her hands?” Gordon wanted to know, fearing the answer.

“Aye. She couldn’t eat with her hands tied,” Old Rae said. “And such a biddable lass, how did we know she would leave? She was as sweet as a cherry when we first took her in. Said she was frightened, and my heart ached for her.”

“Your wife should bat you over the head,” Gordon swore.

Thomas came running to join them, followed by others. “We’ve started the search for her,” Thomas reported. “She can’t go far.”

“Don’t count on it,” Gordon said. “She’s smarter than the lot of us. Organize the men. Fan out and start looking through every tent, every hut, every box and barrel in the place. And search the forest, too. We must find her.”

The men hurried away to carry out his orders.

But Gordon didn’t join the search.

No, he’d wait right there with the horses.

His earlier erotic thoughts of Constance vanished with the onset of his temper. He’d thought she’d given up that nonsense about running away to America. It was too dangerous a journey for a young woman alone.

However, if she wanted to make Edinburgh in three days, she needed a horse—and she was bold enough to try and steal one.

Gordon turned Tempest into the herd before moving toward the center of the grazing horses. He knelt among them. Tad came loping back to join him, obviously aware that something was amiss.

“Lay still,” Gordon ordered. The wolfhound stretched out beside him, his head down. He’d remain that way until given the command to rise.

Shouting could be heard throughout the camp.

Gordon let them carry on. The more noise, the more confident Constance would be that she knew where everyone was.

A cramp started in his left foot. He was just about ready to stand and shake it out when the horses paused from their grazing.

A few lifted their heads. Others returned to eating but were watchful.

And then Gordon saw her. She’d stolen one of Emma’s shawls and thrown it over her head to hide her hair. The tartan around her shoulders covered her fine dancing dress.Histartan, he noted. She’d not given it back earlier.

That she would attempt an escape didn’t shock Gordon. What did surprise him was how she ducked under the rope paddock with the ease of a young boy, grabbed a hank of the mane on the nearest horse, and hoisted herself up onto the animal’s back.

She was going to ride the horse without a saddle. All the way to Edinburgh.