Page 24 of Kidnapped By her Highland Enemy
Grinning, Lucas nodded, “T’will be me pleasure.”
It did not take him long to return with trenchers of thick, crusty bread piled high with succulent slices of beef and fowl for them. He found Maisie just as he had left her, only she looked more placid than uneasy.
“Eat yer fill,” he handed the trencher over.
“Thank ye,” she replied, taking the food. When he sat, she broke off a corner of the bread. Keeping her eyes down, Maisie said, “Me life is nothing remarkable. Me maither died when I was young and Faither decided I wasnae worth his attention, so he gave me tutors. I learned everything I could and made the best of it. Me friends were the children of servants and adopted pets from the fields.”
“What sort of pets?” Lucas asked, his left brow lifted high. “If ye dare say a hare or a fowl…”
She looked up with a smile, “I had a baby goat and pup. Faither went so red in the face when he saw both animals in me rooms.”
“I’d imagine,” Lucas snorted. “The pup I can understand, but a goat?”
Glancing at him again, she shrugged, “He was a babe. I couldnae resist.”
“Ye adopted a Sunday meal into yer rooms,” Lucas teased. “I hope he tasted good.”
Maisie plucked a hunk of bread from her plate and flickered it at him. “We dinnae eat him, me God, how much of a barbarian are ye?”
“The worst,” he grinned. “I am the scourge of the earth.”
“I believe ye,” Maisie laughed.
Finishing off his food, Lucas said, “Me faither told me I came into this world with one hand on a sword’s pummel and a frightful yell that scared the blackbirds into the sky.”
“Liar,” she laughed.
He pressed a hand to his breast, “Ye impugn me honor, lass. I swear it’s all the truth.”
“Aye,” Maisie snorted.
“There’s a tradition in me clan where the heirs born to the laird are tested when they get to their twelfth summer. I went to bed in me chambers but woke up in the middle of the forest.”
“What?” Maisie exclaimed. “Why?”
“Before I explain that, ye need to understand, me clan doesnae believe in handing over power if the older laird is dead or out of his mind. If a heir of age and has proven himself, he will take the lead. I ken it’s an unusual arrangement but it worked for us. But back to the forest, it’s a test. If I made it back to my home before dawn, it was a sign that God would help me to lead my people,” Lucas said. “Any laird must ken his land and how to survive by it. Why—” he cocked his head, and another lock fluttered over his eye while a rakish grin slanted his lips, “—were ye worried for me?”
“Aye,” she nodded, “Ye were a child.”
“T’was a needless worry,” Lucas said. “By that age, I’d been handling a dagger and when I wasnae at me lessons, I took fun in scouting the woods. I’d come to know them like the back of me hand. I got to me doorstep three hours before dawn lifted.”
“And what if ye had not gotten there?” Maisie asked.
“I’d have been put to the test the next year,” Lucas clarified. “Tis nae that I would have been disinherited, nay. I would still have taken the lairdship but it’s a preference for the coming laird to have mastered the test at his first try.”
“I still ken it’s a bit cruel,” Maisie shuddered. “Then again, it could be because I have seen children mauled by wolves.”
Lucas smiled and reached out for her, touching her cheek. “Yer sweet.”
“Almost as ye are stubborn,” Maisie laughed softly, while leaning her cheek into his palm.
Their eyes met, and their breaths joined between them—a heartbeat before Maisie leaned in and kissed him. Softly, just so softly, she touched her lips to his and Lucas, oddly, did not move—not because he did not want to, he craved her, but because he wanted her to make sure this was what Maisie wanted.
To his delight, she kissed him, opening her mouth against him, taking his bottom lip between her teeth. Finally, with a groan, Lucas moved against her, pulling her against him. The slow and shy kiss she had given was shattered as Lucas took charge and crushed her lips with his. She danced her tongue around his, her hands gripping his shoulders.
He pulled her onto his lap, fixing her knees to straddle him while he framed the back of her neck and he explored her mouth with sweeps of his tongue. Finally, he allowed himself to sweep his hands up her body to cup her breasts. His fingers found a nipple, taut and hardened by her arousal.
Tugging at the strings of her dress, he tugged the cloth down, peeling the bodice from her breast and baring her to his hungry gaze.
