Page 14 of The Veiled Wish of a Highland Bride

“Ye can always try to seduce me,” he replied more seriously. “Anywhere ye like.”

CHAPTERSIX

The sun shone proudly in the sky. Its rays split into beams through the canopy of the trees above. Mia's eyes fluttered open, and she squinted as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the intensity of the morning light. Just as she began to prop herself up, she felt something—someone—right behind her.

She and Archibald were both covered with the plaid he had shared with her the night before, his arm dangling over her waist.

This was the first time Mia had woken up next to a man.

Startled by howgoodit felt to wake up with someone by her side, she got up gingerly and stretched. Her movement awakened Archibald, who muttered a grumpy, “Good morning to ye too,” while getting to his feet.

The fire had gone out sometime in the night, its embers glowing dull and red against the burned wood. Grateful they had enough light to find their way back home, Mia promptly began readying Buck while Archibald picked up the plaid and folded it into her saddlebag. Neither of them spoke another word.

They rode in silence for a while, each studying the area to find the road that led into the village. When they did, Mia could not contain her excitement. She had recognized a glen that was all too similar to the one she had galloped past while trailing Archibald's abductors.

And then suddenly reality hit her.

She stopped in her tracks, turning to Archibald in a sharp movement. “Bram. What would I tell Bram?”

“What?”

Mia corrected herself. “Laird Murray, my husband. What will I tell him about my disappearance?”

Archibald winced. She was a Laird’s wife, and she had been gone all night. Of course the entire Murray household would be in shambles wondering where she had gone. Mia started to panic, feeling her worry eat her alive.

“What am I going to tell him? How will I explain being out all night? If he disliked me before, I cannae imagine how he will feel about me now. What do Ido?”

Mia let out a little whimper. Nothing was going to be all right. How would she tell Laird Murray that she was out with a man all night without him thinking the worst?

“Mia,breathe,” Archibald said, holding her shoulders steady. “We’ll come up with a plan, aye?”

“I hope that we do before we get there.” Mia tried to steady her breath.

It was strange to hear him speak her name so casually, and for her not to flinch. Was it not just yesterday that they were clawing at each other’s throats?But then, she thought,it was also yesterday that he made me feel wanted as a woman.

She could not help but play over the events of the previous night. She kept telling herself that it had been innocent. She was only practicing seduction so she did not fail when she tried to conquer Bram. But a part of herhadloved his hands on her skin.

The morning fog enveloped them as they rode out of the thick woods. They could finally see the village sitting in the distance. They had talkedand their plan was set: they would find someone to act as an alibi for her in order to convince Bram that she had been kept somewhere, sick.

Mia did not know how this would work and was convinced that Bram was too intelligent to buy such a lie, but she knew this was her only choice. She could not go back to the keep without some story,anystory at all.

They made their way towards the village on foot, Buck trudging along, led by Mia. She was weary from having had nothing to eat and Archie looked just as tired.

There was also the awkwardness from having woken up in each other’s arms. Mia did not regret the lessons she had learned. She only wished to know what he was thinking, but she dared not ask in case it wasn't in her favor.

The village was just a stone’s throw away, now. Mia wondered how they would pick someone to help without drawing attention to themselves.

“Well, yer plan better work for both our sakes. My husband will have yer head on a spike if he so much as suspects ye have been with his wife all night long,” Mia chided.

Archibald took it in good humor, swerving out of the way of running children and carts as he replied, “Well, it was quite an eventful night, was it nae?”

Mia scoffed at him, averting her eyes.

The village looked so lively now in the daylight. The doors of the village houses were flung open as women and children spilled out, getting ready for the day's work. The men would have been up much earlier to tend to the livestock and farms.

Mia rarely ever came here. Most of her time recently had been spent in the castle. She often wished to mingle with the people of theclan, but she didn't need another reason for Bram to remind her that she was supposed to be the Lady of Murray keep. Her marriage was just too important to scupper.

She could not afford to fail at love like her mother had.

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