Page 27 of Kilted Seduction
Thank the world fer small favors. If the snow wasnae so cold, we’d have another problem tae deal with… and I’d likely as nae be getting another slap tae the jaw.
“Are ye all right, me laird? M’lady?” A familiar, and highly amused voice interrupted his irreverent thought.
Aedan looked up to see Mac standing over them, shaking out a cloak to offer some small shelter from the blowing snow. “I came tae see if there was aught I could dae tae assist ye… I didnae realize ye were interested in settling matters another way.” Even shrouded by his cloak, it was clear the man-at-arms was making very little effort to hold back his laughter.
Aedan groaned and let his head drop back into the snow. “Och, shut up and help us up, will ye?”
Barely half a day into the Yule celebration, and he’d been dropped on his back twice, slapped once, and found himself needing a snowbank to control his baser urges. And they’d behere for three days at least, and possibly as long as a fortnight if the weather continued as it had been.
At this rate, tis nae a question o’ keeping me wits about me… I’ll be doin’ well enough tae just survive until we return home!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Thora roused the next morning to a low groan, followed by cursing. She blinked twice to get the sleep out of her eyes, then rolled to look over the edge of the bed.
Aedan was sitting up and stretching, a scowl on his face as he cracked his back and shoulders. He spotted her looking at him and his scowl deepened. “Ye ken the ground’s stone hard. Nay need tae look so satisfied with yer warm bed and soft pillows.”
Thora sat up as well and rose to call for a maid to bring a bath. When she returned, Aedan was still grumbling. Thora huffed at him. “Faith, ye fuss like a child. If I didnae ken better, I’d say ye were a spoilt little lairdling who’d never spent a day outside in his life.”
Aedan’s glare could have set wood on fire, had it not already been lit. “Ye’re welcome tae the floor if ye like.”
Thora snickered. “A delicate lass like me? Would ye be so impolite tae yer wife?”
“Fair cruel lass ye are, fer a wife.” Aedan growled the words.
“Och, now dinnae be so temperamental. Dae ye nae ken? In the villages, most folk sleep on ground a good deal harder, and colder in winter. Aye, and still hard in every other season as well. The villagers dinnae come tae harm, and neither will ye, nay matter what yer delicate skin might say.”
Aedan’s answering snarl made her laugh again. Feeling far more lighthearted than she had when they retired the night before, Thora went to pour some tea for herself, while the maids also brought in the bath and began to fill it.
She wasn’t paying much attention to Aedan as she prepared for the bath in the privacy of the screened area. She heard him finish dressing, then leave the sleeping area. She also heard him stop to speak to one of the maids bringing the bath water, but the words were so soft she couldn’t hear what he’d said.
He wasn’t in the main area when she emerged, wrapped in a soft cloth and nothing else. With a sigh of relief, Thora stepped into the tub.
The water was colder than she’d expected. Another maid entered, and she started to ask if there was a shortage of heated water, or if the journey from the bathing chamber had cooled it.
Then the maid tipped the contents of her bucket into the tub, and over her, and Thora shrieked in shock. “’Tis freezing!”
The maid blinked, then stepped back, her face red with embarrassment and shock, and not a little fear. “Beg pardon me lady. The laird… he said ye preferred a chill bath in the morn…that ye enjoyed the cold tae wake ye…”
It had certainly done that. Thora shivered as she made an effort to rise from the tub. “I see…”
“Dae ye like yer bath, wife?” Aedan’s smug voice filled the room as he walked back in, eyebrow raised and a smile on his face. “I kent ye wouldnae wish tae trouble the maids, so I informed them o’ yer preferences.”
Thora acted on instinct, dropping back into the frigid water with a gasp of shock and a grunt of dismay as her hands flew up to cover her chest. “Ye…”
“I’d like tae speak tae my wife, if ye will.” Aedan smiled pleasantly at the maid, who nodded and hurried out of the room. She looked relieved to be out of the way. Thora wished she was in a fit state to follow.
She waited until the door closed. “Ye brute. ‘Tis freezin’!”
Aedan smirked. “Did ye nae ken? Many villagers bathe in cold water - some in streams that are barely above frozen in the winter. I would have thought ye were used tae such things.”
Caught by the very taunt she’d leveled at him earlier, Thora floundered. “I…”
“I didnae think o’ it afore… nay reason tae… but I’m nae blind, nor a fool, Thora MacTavish. And if there’s one thing I ken about ye, lass, ‘tis that ye’re nae village girl.”
Thora gulped. “I…”
“I dinnae care.” Aedan’s voice was sharp as he interrupted her. “I dinnae ken why ye should wish tae pretend ye are, or who ye are, or where ye came from. Ye had yer reasons fer what ye did, and I ken desperation when I see it.”
