Page 21 of The Outlaw's Bride
“I thank ye for the kind offer.” Lachlann cast her another careless smile, although he didn’t slow his stride. “But the tide waits for no man.”
Chapter Nine
A Stolen Kiss
“HEAVENS … THIS IS strong wine.” Adaira lowered the bladder, eyes smarting, and handed it to Lachlann. “It has a kick like a pony.”
Lachlann raised the bladder to his mouth and took a long draft. “I know … it’s delicious.”
The pair of them sat upon a pebbly beach, in an isolated cove a half hour’s journey from where Lachlann had bought supplies. He’d not been away long and had been eager to depart the moment he returned. Adaira had wanted to eat first, but he’d been insistent. He’d pushed the boat into the water, leaped in, and rowed away as if the devil was on his tail.
Adaira didn’t understand why they couldn’t have found lodgings for the night in the village. Surely it was more comfortable than sleeping out under the stars?
“What was the name of the village … did they tell ye?” Adaira asked. Her words slurred slightly as she spoke. She’d eaten a good supper of bread, cheese, and boiled eggs, but the wine had gone straight to her head.
“I didn’t ask.”
Adaira studied him. Dusk was settling, and the golden light kissed the proud lines of his face. “Is this yer first trip to the mainland?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Two years ago I visited kin in Inbhir Nis.”
Adaira’s eyes widened. She longed to visit the large towns on the mainland, including the capital, Dùn Èideann. “What’s Inbhir Nis like?”
He met her eye, his mouth quirking in a way that made her pulse quicken. “The town sits on the banks of a great river that leads east out to sea,” he replied. “It’s a busy port full of fishermen and ship builders.” He paused here. “There was once a great stone keep overlooking the town, but it’s in ruins now … after Robert the Bruce leveled it.”
Adaira loosed a sigh. “There are so many places I long to see. Don’t ye wonder about the world beyond our borders?”
“Sometimes,” Lachlann admitted. She saw the gleam in his eyes and knew that her comment had amused him. Adaira didn’t mind though. The wine had relaxed her, and she felt in an expansive, dreamy mood.
“Where would ye visit, if ye could?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know … France maybe. The Frasers are said to hail from Anjou.”
Adaira’s gaze widened. “Really?”
“Aye, that’s why our motto is in French: ‘Je suis prest’ …I’m ready.”
Adaira inclined her head, smiling. “Ours is ‘Hold Fast’.”
Lachlann snorted. “I know … I heard yer father bellow it as he charged us in battle.”
“Da says the MacLeods are of viking stock,” Adaira continued, deliberately steering him away from that subject. “Our ancestor was a man called Leod. Da says he was a son of Olaf the Black … a Norse king who raided this isle.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Lachlann replied. “I could well imagine yer father leading a boatload of Norsemen, burning and pillaging as he went.”
Adaira didn’t reply. She couldn’t really contradict him, for she knew first-hand that Malcolm MacLoed was a man to be reckoned with: feared by his enemies and respected by his allies.
They fell silent for a spell. Lachlann offered the bladder of wine to her once more, but Adaira shook her head. She felt light-headed and strange, like her limbs were floating. The wine had sharpened her senses too. She was keenly aware of the soft evening air caressing her face, and of the attractive man seated just two feet from her.
Not that she needed the wine to be aware of Lachlann Fraser. His nearness was a constant distraction. She could literally feel the heat of his body warming the air between them.
Blinking, Adaira tried to focus on something else. “I wonder where we are.” She sank back on her elbows and turned her face up to the sea breeze. “It reminds me so much of home.”
“Aye, it’s a pretty stretch of coast,” he murmured.
Something in his voice made Adaira glance his way. Lachlann sat, propped up on an elbow, watching her. It was a searching look, one that made Adaira’s pulse quicken.
Adaira swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. “Why are ye looking at me like that?”
