Page 36 of Kilty Plea
And Flora supposed she could put up with a little overstimulation and a sensual yearning she could use to grease axels, if it meant her little brother got a few more days of holiday happiness.
Besides, watching him eat his way through a Yule celebration was enough to make a pre-hibernation bear proud. Flora was certain the lad was plumper than he’d been a fortnight ago.
However, she was more than ready to make an escape, so when Payton suggested one, she calmly considered the implications and agreed.
Or rather, it went something like this:
“Fook this shite, Flora. I cannae hear myself think in this chaos. Tomorrow I’m going to the tower house, just to check on things. Ye want to go with me?”
“Oh my lanta,aye!Duck it, I’m desperate!”
“Duck? Did ye just say ‘duck’, Flora?”
“I never mean ‘duck’. Nae one ever means ‘duck.’ That must’ve been some sort of auto-correcting mistake.”
Luckily, he just chuckled, instead of questioning her sleep-deprived ramblings.
Which is why, this morning, afore the sun was even fully up and while most of the rest of the castle was still asleep, Flora found herself wrapped in Payton’s cloak—and Payton’s arms—once more.
“Ye ken,” he mused as they trotted through the quiet village. “One of these days I’m going to have to teach ye to ride.”
“Why?” She squirmed in his lap, turning to wrap one arm around his middle and press her cheek to his chest. “When this is so much cozier?”
“Because, lass, I dinnae think my cock can stand too much more of this torture.”
Shelovedthat he was so open and frank with her about that sort of thing. She also loved that she could feel his thickness pressing against her hip and knew what it meant.
Today, she was determined to do something about it.
Tomorrow night was the longest night of the year, after all.
“Will we back in time for the Hogmanay celebrations?” she asked, nonchalantly.
He hummed and adjusted his hold on her, tucking the cloak—which he wore once more—more securely around them both. “Unless something dire happens at the tower house. We should get there this afternoon, since I’m no’ interested in pushing this puir beastie too hard. Spend the night there, back to the castle tomorrow in time for the Hogmanay celebrations, God help us.”
Since the last part was said on a sigh, Flora felt comfortable chuckling. “I confess, ye were right about yer family. They’re nice, all of them…butshine my shoes, they are exhausting. I had to have an entire conversation with yer cousin Ellis about little green men, government conspiracies, and why we should wear special hats to keep our minds from being scanned. I dinnae even ken what tin foilis.”
“Och, Christ, lass, I’m sorry. Ellis is…a handful. His mother is the one who gets drunk and starts spouting off hateful remarks about people who look different from her. But neither is as bad as my sister’s husband, who thinks he kens all there is to ken about everything.”
Shirt stain, she’d barely been able to last ten minutes with that arsehole! “I guess family gatherings are a trial, nae matter who yer family is.”
Chuckling, Payton launched into a story about another family gathering—one which involved a lot of ale and a medical emergency—and then another. She shared stories of her simple holiday celebrations in her father’s croft, and they both discussed possibilities for Lenny’s future.
“He’s a good lad with horses. And he’ll make a fine warrior in a few years, as long as his training continues.”
“Thank ye,” she murmured, staring at his chin, “for giving him that opportunity. If we’d stayed on MacGregor land, I dinnae ken if he’d be given the choice. He would’ve taken over Da’s croft, and that would be that. Now he has options, I suppose.”
Although she’d never bepleasedfor the horror which had left her at the Abbey, at least Lenny had a future now, and she…
She had Payton.
For however long he was willing to be with her.
He cleared his throat, his arms tightening around her as the horse picked its way down a steep slope. “Will ye tell me, lass, how ‘twas ye came to be at the Abbey and separated from Lenny?”
She was surprised he hadn’t asked earlier, frankly.
“They came in the middle of the night,” she whispered, transferring her gaze to the distant mountains. ‘Twas easier than looking in his eyes. “I remember the smell of their torches. ‘Twas early spring; we hadnae even begun the planting, the ground was still frozen. They…fired the thatch of our roof.”
