Page 40 of A Plaid Case of Loving Ye
“We’re no’currentlysquishing him, but ‘tis close.”
With a groan of frustration, she rolled off Ramsay, pushing herself up and off him in time to pull the bairn out from under the man’s legs.
“How’d ye get way down here, eh?” she chuckled, more out of regret than anything. She’d been ready to lift her skirts and straddle Ramsay again, and she absolutely wouldn’t have regretted it.
And this time, neither of them could doubt ‘twas because she wanted it, not out of a sense of duty or obligation.
“The laddie’s just hungry,” offered Ramsay, sitting up and turned toward their bags, his voice sounding too rough to be unaffected. “Ye change his nappy while I mix the water and oats, aye?”
Her hands shook as she tried to do as he suggested, and the bairn wasn’t happy about having to lie still, judging from his squirming.
“Help me out, here, laddie,” she hissed, trying to figure out how to pin him down with one hand while placing the nappy with the other hand, while tying it closed with the other.
I only have two hands!
It was then she realized the bairn’s babbling sounded unnaturally loud. She glanced up to see Ramsay standing upright, the bag of meal dangling unforgotten as his hand closed around the hilt of his sword. He was peering into the underbrush.
“Ramsay?”
Without turning, he gestured toward the bairn. “Get him wrapped up, aye? Would ye mind feeding him on the road?”
She managed to pin Relic down with one knee and hurried through the rest of the nappy-tying business. “What is it?” she asked breathlessly, stuffing the dirty nappy into a sack, then hurrying to wash her hands in the stream. “Did ye hear something?”
“I…dinnae ken. But I’ll feel better on the horses.”
Nodding, she scrambled to pack. Ramsay didn’t help, but stood between her—and Relic—and the woods, his senses on high alert. Only when she was ready to swing into the saddle did he return and help her.
As they trotted away from the little clearing, Nicola twisted to peer behind them. She saw naught out of the ordinary and wondered if Ramsay had fabricated the whole thing in order to avoid having to discuss the fact that she more or less attacked him and then tried to chew his face off.
He kissed ye back. Enthusiastically.
Aye, ‘twas impossible to deny. The warmth spreading through her chest had naught to do with fear or embarrassment.
She wasn’t certain what they’d learn when they reached the McIlvain holding, but she found herself looking forward to finding out.
Chapter 8
Ramsay was torn.
Heknewit had been dangerous to allow Nicola and Relic the more leisurely pace, but how could he not think of their comfort? ‘Twas clear she was barely holding up against his pushing, and the bairn needed the chance to stretch.
And how could he have been sophenomenally stupidto let down his guard in that clearing? Aye, ‘twas one thing to offer her some comfort, to care for her knotted muscles. But when she’d kissed him, he’d been ready to take her then and there.
God’s wounds, but he wanted Nicola! He had no idea why she’d waited so long to tell him her clan, or why he was supposed to care. And he still wasn’t at all certain what she wanted from him…but she’d been offering, and he’d been ready to accept.
Thank fook wee Relic had reminded them of their responsibilities. Because when Ramsay got wrapped up in her, he forgot damn near everything else.
Including the fact that today wasn’t the first time he’d had the sense that someone was following them.
He had to assume ‘twas a bandit, eager for easy prey. Hopefully Ramsay’s sword and the breadth of his shoulders would make the bastard think twice.
After the bairn had eaten, Ramsay stopped long enough to pull them both into his lap. Nicola didn’t object this time, but as Relic crooned himself to sleep, she tipped her head to one side and studied Ramsay.
“Ye never did tell me how ye lost yer eye.”
His lips twitched, his gaze sweeping from one side of the road to the other, looking for danger. “I only just remembered. ‘Twas one of my first missions as a Hunter; I was sent against the Black Banner.”
She inhaled sharply. “The pirate of the Minsch? Even I’ve heard ofhim.”
