Ramsay glanced back at her for the nth time, reassuring himself that she was still safely in the saddle. Even in the moonlight, he could tell she was looking at him in earnest, as apologetic as a sweet child truly repentant for a bit of harmless mischief. He didna answer, just set his jaw and plowed forward.
“Believe it or not, I do know how to ride,” she continued. “Horses. Camels. Mules. I even rode an elephant when Papa and I lived in India for a couple of years. My nanny hated it when I rode the elephants. For some reason, I always got grubbier on the elephants, but I loved them.”
Ramsay didn’t comment, just kept walking.I dinna need this shit in m’life, Dwyn. I’ll kick yer arse. I dinna give a damn about the druthers of an immortal demigod and the blessed goddesses. I demand ye leave me be.He strode along, noting by the rise of the landscape and the thinning of the pines on either side of the narrow, beaten-down trail that they were no more than a few minutes walking distance away from the MacDaras’ private keep at Highland Life and Legends.
“My father was an archeologist—so am I. It’s amazing how many different modes of transportation you discover depending on the country you find yourself in.”
He did his best to politely ignore Katie’s additional information, refusing to make light conversation to avoid getting to know this delightful human being that fate, or more likely, Dwyn and the damn goddesses had seen fit to drop in a ditch in his woods. He was in no mood t’be sociable. He’d done his duty and rescued the lovely woman. Was that no’ enough?
An incessant humiliating burn in the center of his chest reminded him that he’d made the mistake of getting to know a woman better before. He’d let down his guard—failing to find out how ruthless and cold she truly was until it was nearly too late.She’d made a damned fool of him. Shamed him in front of the clans. If no’ for Dwyn’s intercedin’, she wouldha surely ruined him.
I’ll no’ make such a mistake again.He tightened his grip on the reins and urged Dubh to follow him at a faster pace. “I’ll have ye to the keep soon, mistress.”
“I wasn’t trying to insult Dubh. Or you.”
Oh God a’mighty. Her voice is a quiverin’ like Esme’s does when she’s on the verge of tears.Guilt washed across him in a wave strong enough to submerge the embarrassment of his recently failed relationship. He was no match for a woman’s weeping. His little sister Esme had learned long ago that not a single one of her four older brothers could stand to see her cry and they each would do whatever she commanded to avert her use of tears.
“And I didn’t mean to hurt your chin.” A faint sniff followed the softly trembling apology.
Ramsay halted, dropped his chin to his chest, and blew out a heavy groan of surrender.I should be ashamed a m’self.’Tis no’ this dear lass’s fault that I’m as feckin’ miserable as I am.He lifted his head and made his way back to stand beside Katie’s fine long leg resting against Dubh’s side.
“My chin is fine, mistress, and Dubh’s feelin’s are fine, as well. I’m sorry if I seemed rude or put off by ye.” He shook his head and shrugged, looking everywhere except up at Katie. “I’m no’…I dinna…I’m no’ verra good with people these days,” he finally confessed with a hurried huff then made another curt dip of his chin. “My apologies. Truly. ’Tis nothin’ against yerself.”
Katie reached down and gently rested her hand on his head as though he were a much-loved dog that had just peed on the floor. Ramsay forced himself to look up at her. The woman was smiling. A genuine smile as though she couldna be happier.The wreck must have addled this poor lass’s wits for certain.
Katie’s smile disappeared, and her eyes squinted shut as she quickly straightened and covered her mouth with both hands. She shook with a hard sneeze that nearly unseated her. “Damned airbag dust. I’ve always bragged that I’m not allergic to anything, but I think I just discovered my kryptonite.” She pulled a bright red printed cloth from the back pocket of her khaki shorts, aimed her smile up at the moon, and said, “Sorry, Papa. But I’m fresh out of tissues.” She blew her nose hard into the cloth, then scrunched it up and shoved it back into her pocket. “Sorry. That was gross, I know, but I’ve got to get rid of that dust. Anyway—you didn’t seem rude or not a peopley sort at all. Rude would’ve left my ass back there stuck in the roof of my car. Thanks to you, I’m rescued.” She flashed him an even brighter smile that lightened his mood considerably and relaxed the tension out of his shoulders.
What an amazing woman to behave so after the night she’s had.“Good, then.” He patted Dubh on the shoulder, pleasantly surprised at how easily this woman he’d just met calmed him and made him feel more at ease than he had in a while.
He tucked the reins up and around the pommel of the saddle and gave Dubh another pat. Dubh would follow wherever Ramsay led. The horse was as affectionate and devoted to Ramsay as any dog. “Come, lad. Let’s get this fine lady to our home.” Dubh resumed his walking pace and Ramsay walked beside him. He glanced up at Katie, who looked to be extraordinarily calm and happy for someone who’d just destroyed her car. “Yer a rare woman, Mistress Katie.”
“Call me, Katie, okay? I consider anyone who rescues me a friend.Mistresssounds kind of formal and…standoffish.”
“Aye, then. Katie.” Ramsay considered getting back in the saddle then thought better of it. ’Twas no’ so bad walking beside the lady’s bare leg and ’twas a hell of a lot easier keeping his cock in a more mannerly frame of mind whilst down here on the ground. The woman’s scent and softness were too much a temptation. “As I said, yer a rare woman.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because ye dinna seem all that upset considerin’ the sort of night ye’ve had.”
Katie rewarded his observation with a soft laugh and shake of her head. “Papa always said that everything happens for a reason—usually a good reason if you’re smart enough to find it. Besides, the only person who’s going to suffer if I piss and moan about it all night is me—well, and you too if you have to listen to me. But seriously, I’ll be the one to suffer in the long run. Bitching about stuff you can’t control just prolongs the misery, so I try not to do that very often.”
Her gaze dropped to her hands atop the saddle horn. A thoughtful look transformed her features into a perfect picture of peace and calm. “That’s another thing Papa always said. Must be the moonlight helping him put thoughts in my head.”
“Yer father is no longer with ye?” Something about her tone made him feel her emptiness and loss.
Katie’s already quivering smile failed, and her gaze shifted away. She blinked hard and fast while looking out at the dark woods to her right. “He’s gone. Died several weeks ago.”
She quickly returned her attention forward, lifted her chin, and pulled in a deep breath then slowly blew it out. “But he died doing what he loved so I refuse to dishonor his memory with constant tears and sadness. He was on a dig. South America this time. Some kind of respiratory infection got him.” She shrugged and stared back up at the moon peeping down at them through the leafy canopy of the trees hanging over the dirt path. “He’s not with me physically. But I know he’s watching over me. I can feel him just as surely as I can feel your warmth while you’re walking beside my bare leg.”
The last part of Katie’s observation disturbed him no small amount. Ramsay quickened his pace so that he was up even with Dubh’s nose again and a fair space from the lass’s treacherous bare leg.
“I am verra sorry for yer loss,” he said without looking back. “And I’m quite sure he’s watchin’ o’er ye. When those we love feel our need for them, even death canna keep them from us.” His words thumped a hard sense of uneasiness square in the center of his chest.Why the hell did I say such a thing? The woman will think me a fool for certain.
They continued through the woods in silence when, much to Ramsay’s relief, he spotted the warm welcoming lights of the keep. He pointed at them. “Up ahead. Ye see the lights? We’ll get ye a bit of food and drink if ye like and then ye can call any family who might be worryin’ after ye.” Surely, such a woman, so friendly and outgoing, would have many worryin’ after her.
“Oh, it’s just me now since Papa died.”
A trace of sorrow remained in her voice, but Ramsay also heard a strength and surety that surprised him no small amount. He glanced back at her and she smiled.
