Page 46 of Claimed By a Savage Scot
He shook his dark locks emphatically. “Nay. Ye’re stayin’ here. ’Tis the only way I can guarantee yer safety.”
“But ye already said ye’ll protect me. Are ye sayin’ I’m nae safe with ye?”
“Ach, good Christ, lass, ye’re impossible,” he muttered.
“Right, is what I am, and ye ken it, Malcolm Gordon,” she told him, certain he was about to crumble. The thought of getting astride a horse and flying across the meadows was thrilling, and she was not about to give up the chance easily.
“Go on and let me come with ye,” she said more persuasively.
She watched him wavering, willing him to say yes.
“Ach, all right, ye can come,” he grudgingly agreed at last.
“Och, thank ye!” Catriona exclaimed softly, clapping her hand gleefully. “Can I ride Brianna?”
She thought she spied a whisper of a smile ghost across his lips but his eyes were stern. “Dinnae push yer luck. I told ye, she’s nae safe fer ye tae ride yet. Ye can take out another of the mares.” He jerked his chin at a chestnut mare a little further down. “Matilda there will dae ye fine.”
Buoyed up with anticipation for a bracing ride, Catriona decided not to quibble, having already won a major concession from him.
“Aye, she will at that,” she agreed.
A short time later, they were both mounted up and clattered across the cobblestones and out through the gates.
They warmed up the horses first, taking them across the pastures at a brisk walk then a slow canter.
“This feels very familiar, ye and me back in the saddle, ridin’ side by side,” Malcolm said, glancing over at her.
She laughed, the worries that had been tormenting her temporarily blown away by the sense of freedom she felt being atop a horse again, the wind blowing through her hair.
“Are ye referrin’ tae the escape last week or back when we were younger and used tae ride all over ye’re faither’s lands?” she asked, keeping pace with him.
“I was thinkin’ of the escape. But now ye mention the past, aye, I remember when we would ride out in summer down tae the Spey and follow it tae the sea.”
“Aye, we’d take a wee picnic with us when the weather was fine and make a day of it on the beach,” she said, laughing at the happy memory.
“And d’ye recall that we’d sometimes head a wee bit further east tae Buckie and go sailin’?”
“Of course, I remember,” she exclaimed. “We’d catch fish and bake them in coals on the sand. They were delicious. I loved Buckie, all those wee fishing cottages, and the folks were always so kind tae us. We had some lovely times there. I’d love tae visit it again.”
He shot her a sideways glance and said something that surprised her. “Mayhap ye and Duncan and Elaina can visit in the summer and we’ll all go together, relive the good times, eh?”
His unexpected suggestion warmed Catriona’s heart, but at the same time it confused her even more. Why paint such a bright picture of a future that would never be, for had he not decreed their passionate kiss a mistake?
Besides, if Sinclair has his way, I’ll have nae future.
For horrible as it was to contemplate, despite Malcolm’s promise to protect her, there was a strong possibility that she andeveryone she loved might be dead this time next week. But she did not want to spoil the carefree moment by pointing out to Malcolm what he already knew as well as she did.
Brushing all thoughts of Sincalir aside, determined to make the best of her temporary liberty, she pressed her knees into Matilda’s flanks and galloped ahead. Exhilarated as always by the speed and the breeze blowing on her face, she found herself laughing irrepressibly.
When she exchanged looks with Malcolm, who had come up alongside her, she heard him laughing too. It made her laugh even more, for it was truly wonderful to be riding together, both of them as carefree as they had once used to be as children.
They thundered up the side of a hill and reined in at the top, panting and flushed. Catriona looked across the flat moorland into the distance and had a sudden crazy idea.
“Shall we have a race, like we used tae?” she asked Malcolm, feeling the spirit of competition stirring within her.
He laughed. “If ye wish. But I warn ye, ye’d best be prepared tae lose.”
She tossed her head. “Och, ye’re so certain of winnin’, are ye?”
