Page 63 of Her Highland Prophecy
“It’s nay important,” he said, pulling her more securely against him and shaking his head.
She didn’t seem convinced but did not pursue it further. Like him, it seemed that she did not want to disrupt the magic of the place more than she had to.
The sun was starting to set when they finally decided to go. Gordain pulled his shirt back up and Diana tried to arrange her hair without much success. They mounted back up on Taranis and started the short trek back to Sutherford Castle.
“I can ride my own horse, you know,” she said after a few minutes. “We don’t have to keep burdening your poor stallion with two riders.”
He pulled her closer to him.
“I like having ye so close to me,” he said after a moment. “But if ye dinnae wish to ride double we have a few horses in the stables that ye could ride.”
“I don’t mind,” she said. He scrunched his brows in confusion at the unfamiliar expression. “It means that I don’t care if we ride double on Taranis,” she explained when she noticed his difficulty.
“Then we will just do that,” he said, settling the matter.
Women. Why even bring it up if it is nae a problem?
The Castle soon loomed over them in the distance and he sighed, wishing they had never had to leave the loch. Seeing the keep of his Clan only reminded him of the many things awaiting him when he returned.
He hugged Diana more securely around the waist as they approached. Everything would have to wait. His priority was spending as much time with Diana as possible and no one and nothing would get in the way of that.
23
They arrived back at the Castle just in time for dinner. The courtyard was almost deserted with most of the Clan having filed into the dining hall to eat, but a few stragglers were still tending to their various chores.
A stable hand was waiting for them when they arrived. Gordain dismounted first, helping Diana off. She smiled at him and moved away. A moment later he joined her, pulling her arm into his and together they walked to the corridor where their rooms were.
When they arrived at her door, he took a quick look around and then pressed his lips to hers affectionately and then pushed her through the open door with a hand on her bum. She swatted him away playfully and entered the room.
“A few minutes to freshen up, aye?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with merriment.
“Yes, I just need to wash off the dust of the day,” she responded.
He left her room with a nod and she set about getting herself presentable for dinner. She dipped her comb in the lukewarm water in the ewer, brushing out the tangles made by Gordain’s fingers and then passed a damp cloth over her face and neck.
Her neck itched and stung a little as she washed and she figured that it was a victim of Gordain’s stubble. She grimaced a little. There would be no hiding that without makeup. What they had been doing would be visible to anyone who cared to look. Well, it couldn’t be helped. She was debating if she had time to change her dress as well, when Gordain knocked on her door.
She rushed over to let him in, grass stains be damned. His handsome face appeared in the doorway, his red hair dark with the water he had used to wash up.
“Ready?” he asked. She nodded and they quickly headed down. The bread and jam that they had eaten earlier seemed like an eternity ago as the delectable smells rising from the various platters reached her nostrils.
It was so different than when she had arrived just a few days ago. Thanks to her time with the twins in the kitchens she could now correctly name most of the dishes she could see, as well as what ingredients were in them. She still wouldn’t eat all of them of course, but at least it did not appear as a strange collection of bizarre foods anymore.
Their customary seats at the head table had been left vacant for them and Gordain ushered into hers with a hand on the small of her back.
“Where were ye? The lasses were looking for ye earlier,” Eleanor said as soon as they sat.
“We went on a ride,” Diana answered. Eleanor looked at her disbelievingly.
“Aye, aride. I see,” she said with a smirk, her hand touching the side of Diana’s throat, who quickly raised her own hand to cover the redness she knew was there.
“Hush,” she told the woman who was quickly becoming one of her good friends despite their rocky start. Eleanor’s smirk turned into an indulgent smile.
“It’s guid to see ye both so in love. When Gordain told me that he was to wed Mary…well, we both ken that he doesnae care for her.”
Diana gulped at the younger woman’s description of them being in love. Was that what she was feeling? Gordain had openly declared himself, but she was not so certain. Because how could she be in love with him if she was so willing to leave?
Nevertheless, she dutifully nodded at Eleanor’s words. Though she had never met Mary McKinnon, she could tell from Gordain’s words that marrying her would have been an unmitigated disaster for everyone involved. She just hoped that Gordain would find someone to marry that he actually enjoyed being with.
