Page 42 of Highland Treasure (Highland Brides 9)

Elysande cried out into his mouth as the top of his thigh rubbed over the center of her, her entire body quaking with the excitement it caused, and then he did it again. She clawed at his shoulders, feeling like cloth wound too tight and about to unravel, and then a branch snapped somewhere behind her and they both froze.

Chapter 11

The sound of the branch snapping was like a bucket of icy water splashed over Rory, recalling him to where he was and with whom. Elysande was a complete innocent. Her utter lack of skill at kissing at first had told him that. She was also a treasure he was supposed to be seeing safely to Sinclair. He suspected her mother wouldn’t consider what he was presently doing as seeing her safely anywhere.

Another branch snapped, closer this time, and Rory pulled his mouth from Elysande’s and eased his leg from between hers. He then followed the tree trunk behind her until his hand brushed cloth. Grasping the material, he drew it off the branch and pulled it between them to press against Elysande’s chest. She didn’t need to be told what to do. The moment he eased back, she took the piece of clothing and began to turn it between them, no doubt trying to sort out what it was.

Breeches was his guess when she urged him farther back and he felt her head brush his arm, the soft strands of hair caressing his skin as she no doubt bent to pull them over one foot and then the other.

Rory gave her the space she needed, but no more. It was still pitch-black in the woods and he couldn’t see her or anything else. It would be too easy to lose her out here. Besides, he hadn’t brought his sword with him, and was very aware he would be a poor protector if whoever was moving through the woods attacked them. The best hope was that it was one of the men looking for someplace to relieve himself, he thought, and then moved closer to Elysande when he sensed her straightening.

Her arms brushed against him as she finished pulling up her pants, and then her hip bumped his as she retrieved more clothing. He left her to it, his ears straining to hear any more sounds, and his hand finding her body every once in a while to be sure she was still there and check her progress. With the liniment numbing her pain, she dressed much more quickly than she’d undressed, and soon she found his arm and squeezed.

Guessing that was the signal that she was finished, Rory turned in the direction he thought camp was and started to move cautiously that way. He hadn’t heard any more snapping branches or other sounds, and supposed what they’d heard could have been an animal. A stag, perhaps, or some other woodland creature. Still, he moved slowly, making as little sound as he could.

When several moments passed without any sign of the campfire ahead, Rory was beginning to think he had led them in the wrong direction. But just as he was about to try a different direction, he caught a glimmer of light ahead. He realized then that in his search for a dry spot to apply Elysande’s liniment, he’d led them much farther into the woods than he’d realized. Much farther than any of the men would have gone to relieve themselves too, he thought grimly as he began to move a little more quickly.

“Do you think the noise was one of the men, or just an animal?” Elysande asked as they neared the edge of the trees.

Her voice was anxious and he realized she was probably worried one of the men may have heard her moans of pleasure. It apparently also hadn’t occurred to her that it might be someone other than one of their men. But he didn’t want her worrying, so said, “Probably a rabbit,” to soothe her.

It seemed to work. At least, she didn’t say anything else.

Rory wasn’t at all surprised to note that every man was there and accounted for when he ushered Elysande out of the woods and over to the fur. Donnghail still sat on the log, watching, and the rest of the men were curled up on or around the fur. Catching Elysande by the arm, he whispered, “I’ll be right back,” and then kissed her gently on the forehead before lifting her over Inan’s body and onto the center spot where she slept.

He waited until she had lain down and curled inside her cloak before moving toward Donnghail. It wasn’t until he saw the man’s raised eyebrows that he realized what he’d just done. Rory turned back sharply then, but Elysande was already asleep, or at least her eyes were closed. He couldn’t tell how she’d reacted to the automatic show of affection. He couldn’t even tell how she was reacting to what had happened between them in the woods. Her face was expressionless, and other than a little extra color in her cheeks, and the fact that her hair was a little mussy, she didn’t look any different. And her hair might have been mussy before they’d headed off into the woods since she’d just woken from sleep. He hadn’t really noted it at the time.

Sighing, he continued on to Donnghail, his expression grim.

“Ye two took a while,” Donnghail said mildly as Rory dropped onto the log next to him.

“It’s dark as pitch in the woods, but I swear I took her halfway to Glasgow before I gave up looking for a spot dry enough for her to lie down. I ended up having to apply the liniment with her leaning against a tree.” He shook his head. “And then it took so long before I saw the light of the fire, I thought I’d got us lost.”

“She looked startled when ye kissed her forehead,” Donnghail announced, and when Rory grimaced, he added, “But then she looked pleased.”

“Did she?” he asked, a smile tugging at his lips before he recalled why he’d come to talk to Donnghail. Waving away whatever the man was about to respond with, he said, “We heard snapping branches near us just before we came back.”

Donnghail’s eyes narrowed, then scanned the woods around them. “Ye’re thinking we have company?”

“I do no’ ken,” Rory admitted solemnly. “It could have been a stag or something, but . . .” He let the sentence hang, his lips compressed.

“But keep an eye out,” Donnghail finished for him.

“And yer sword close,” Rory suggested, and then stood and moved back to the fur. He stepped over Inan, and stretched out in front of Elysande, his back to her and his hand going automatically to the sword he’d left lying there when he’d gone into the woods. Grasping it in his hand, he closed his eyes, but knew he wasn’t likely to fall asleep.

“Ye heard snapping branches?” Inan’s soft voice brought his eyes open again. The man was awake.

“Aye,” Rory murmured. “It might have been an animal.”

“It might,” Alick murmured from directly above his head. He lay crosswise to them, his head just above Rory’s, his stomach above Elysande’s head and his feet above Tom.

“Then again it might not,” Conn commented, his head popping into view on the other side of Alick as he sat up. Voice a soft rumble, the big man stood up, saying, “I’ll keep Donnghail company.”

Rory watched the man go, debating whether he should stay up to stand watch too, but then Inan commented, “No sense all of us losing sleep. Especially since it could have been a harmless stag.”

“Aye,” Rory agreed, and saw Inan’s eyes close, but noted the warrior’s hand also gripped his sword now.

Sighing, Rory shifted onto his back and glanced toward Tom and Fearghas on the other side of Elysande. Both men’s eyes were open and looking around the clearing suspiciously, and both had their hands on their swords. Rory turned his gaze to the dark night sky then. He suspected none of them were going to get any sleep that evening. While Conn and Donnghail sat up guarding them, and Elysande slept, he and the rest of the men would probably lie there awake until the sun began to rise. Just in case it wasn’t a stag. He’d barely had that thought when Elysande murmured sleepily, shifted closer and cuddled up to his chest, her arm and leg snaking over his body possessively.

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