Page 47 of Craved By a Highland Beast

“Dae ye promise?” Bonnie asked as she pulled the bed covers over herself, suddenly very aware of her nakedness. Even though Evan had seen all of her only moments prior, now her embarrassment was too strong to resist the urge to cover. “Or are ye leavin’ so we dinnae have tae speak about it?”

Laughing, Evan approached her, leaning over the bed. “Ye willnae rid o’ me so easily, lass,” he said, pressing a kiss to her lips.

Bonnie knew the day would never come when she would want such a thing.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The next morning arrived too soon for Bonnie’s liking. It was just past dawn when a maid woke her under orders from Ruthven himself, claiming that the man had requested her appearance at breakfast once she had prepared for the horse ride to the lake. Reluctantly, Bonnie stood and dressed, wishing that she could somehow get away with staying in her chambers instead.

She could pretend to be sick, she thought, feigning a cough. But then, that would only prolong the inevitable and draw unwanted attention to herself. The last thing she needed was Ruthven fretting over her, concerned about her health.

No, it was better to take that ride with him, Bonnie thought. After all, Evan would be right there with her.

The breakfast was a quick affair. Ruthven had summoned Evan, too, and the three of them broke their fast while making small talk about the weather—already sunny, if a little cold—the bannocks—very fresh and soft that morning—and the horsesthey were to take—very calm and obedient, Ruthven assured her. He seemed excited that morning; perhaps a little too excited for something as simple as a ride to the nearest lake. In contrast, Evan seemed sullen, barely saying a word the tire time they sat around the table.

Once they were brought their horses, Bonnie took a few moments to acquaint herself with the mare she had been given. She was a young one, strong and sturdy and white as snow, calm as Bonnie strapped her bow and arrows to the saddle. Petting her flank, Bonnie smiled as the mare snorted, bowing its head to munch on the grass that grew at the edges of the castle grounds near the gates.

“A good day fer a ride,” Ruthven said, not for the first time that morning. For a moment, he stood with his hands on his hips as he stared out into the distance, then up to the blue sky adorned with small, fluffy white clouds. “A good day, indeed.”

Bonnie exchanged a quick glance with Evan, and though he frowned as he glanced back at Ruthven, he said nothing. Once Ruthven mounted his horse, the two of them followed him and they rode past the gates and down the path that led to the lake.

“I used tae visit this lake with me faither when I was a bairn,” Ruthven said as they fell into a leisurely pace, Bonnie riding between him and Evan. It was a comfortable path, worn smooth and wide, allowing them to stay next to each other with ease. The breeze blowing past them was pleasant, gentle, ruffling the hem of Bonnie’s cloak. “I enjoyed it greatly as a young lad. Sadly, I dinnae often visit it anymore.”

“Why is that?” Bonnie asked, figuring it would be better if she feigned interest with Ruthven. The more interested in him he thought she was, the easier it would be for her to gain his favor, to stop him from ever suspecting her.

“I dinnae have the time,” said Ruthven. “It is unfortunate, but this is the life o’ a laird. I’m sure Laird MacGregor understands, though he has been away from his lands fer a long time. Tell me, how is it that ye can stay away fer so long?”

“I have loyal men,” Evan called from Bonnie’s right side. “I trust them with me life an’ I trust them with me clan. Me council can always take care o’ me people whenever I am away, an’ now that Alaric is returnin’ home fer his lassie, he can also take over fer a while, until I can return.”

“Ye can return at any moment, surely,” said Ruthven, and it was the first time that day that his tone was so strained. “What is keepin’ ye here?”

Bonnie’s heart came to a halt, skipping a beat, then another. Fear ran cold in her veins, the implications of Ruthven’s words not escaping her.

He wanted Evan gone—or perhaps he wanted an explanation for his presence other than the fact that he was there for Bonnie. Did he not believe this excuse anymore, she wondered? Or had he simply tired of Evan’s presence, wanting Bonnie all to himself, with no one there to stop him from finally getting what he wanted?

Would he force me tae wed him were Evan tae be gone? Would he care about what I desire? What me council desires?

He had the council’s approval, though. They had sent Bonnie there for the explicit purpose of marrying him and she doubted there would be something they could do if Ruthven forced her into a marriage, even if they found out the truth about him.

“Me cousin,” Evan said gruffly, his gaze glued straight ahead. “Until Bonnie wishes me tae leave, I will stay.”

Silence stretched over them for several moments as they rode down the path, Bonnie right in the middle of it. Though she, too, looked straight ahead, she could feel Ruthven’s gaze as he looked just past her shoulder and at Evan, the tension he radiated almost palpable in the air around them. She wrung her mind for something to say, anything that would take the attention off Evan and back to herself, but she didn’t know how to subtly change the subject.

In the end, she gave up on the subtlety, as the silence lasted too long.

“Tell us more about the lake, me laird,” she said. It took Ruthven a few moments, but he finally tore his gaze away from Evan to look at Bonnie instead, his lips stretching into a tight, thin smile. “Is it big? I’ve never seen a very big lake . . . the ones near me home are all quite small.”

“It’s quite big,” Ruthven confirmed and his tone held the same cheery quality as it did at breakfast, only now Bonnie recognizedhow artificial it sounded. “There’s even a small waterfall that feeds it. It’s a lovely place.”

“It sounds marvelous,” said Bonnie, mustering a smile of her own. It wasn’t entirely sincere, she knew, but she hoped it was enough to convince Ruthven she was as excited about this short trip as he was. “Is it possible tae swim there?”

“Och aye,” said Ruthven. “Though the water is very cold. Perhaps too cold fer a lady.”

“I find it pleasant,” Bonnie assured him. “Just as ye visited yer loch with yer faither, so did me sister an’ I with our maither. When we were young, our parents took us there often an’ we swam with our maither fer hours an’ hours.”

Bonnie remembered those days fondly, though any mention of her parents brought a familiar ache in her chest, one that had never ceased ever since their demise. When she glanced over at Evan, he found him clenching his jaw, the change in his mood hardly perceptible. She noticed, though; there was no mistaking it for anything else now that she knew about his parents.

As they entered a part of the path that ran through the forest, Bonnie couldn’t help but notice the way Evan glanced around them, gaze searching through the trees and bushes as though he had caught a glimpse of something. She saw the way his fingers curled around the reins. She saw how his other hand came to rest on the hilt of his sword, seemingly in a casual way. There was little that betrayed the tension in him, and the only reason why Bonnie could recognize it at all was because it reminded herof the way she tensed momentarily when catching a glimpse of game while hunting, before relaxing into her hunting stance.

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