Page 6 of Tempted by a Highland Beast (Tales of Love and Lust in the Murray Castle #9)

She would have time to gather information about the place and its inhabitants. Then, she could decide her next move, mainly how to disappear before her uncle’s men caught her trail again. She needed time to plan how to keep Alpin away from the Lairdship he had so easily decided would be his own.

“I accept yer offer, and I thank ye.” Rowena realized she didn’t know if he had a title. She didn’t want to offend her savior, though some part of her sensed he wouldn’t take such things to heart. “How shall I refer tae ye?”

“‘Me handsome savior’ will dae very nicely.”

“Ye must think ye’re very funny.”

“Aye. Women are constantly basking in me mirth.”

“It could be just an act. Maybe they pretend.”

“And what would be the incentive tae dae that?” he asked.

“Because yer a big, powerful man?”

“Aye, so ye find me big and powerful and handsome,” he said.

“I said big and powerful.”

“We both ken yer thinking the last one,” he said, a huge, ridiculous smirk plastering across his face.

So arrogant!

“How would ye like me tae refer tae ye, please?” She pointedly repeated herself.

He barely knew her, and yet he could somehow get under her skin. He moved closer to her, until there was hardly a breath between them. He tapped his chin as if pondering the question, his eyes never leaving hers. Rowena laughed despite herself.

“I was going tae say ‘laird,’ but truth be told, I’ve never cared much for the sound of it.” He shook his head with mock gravity.

She arched a brow. “Then what would ye prefer, me laird ?”

He rolled his eyes. “Now ye’re just being difficult. Constantine is fine.”

“But—”

“Ye’re stubborn, I’ll give ye that,” he said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “But arguing with me will get ye nowhere. Ye have tae pick yer battles wisely, lass. Shall we be on our way then?”

Rowena nodded. There was no sense pretending she had better options than Constantine. And she wasn’t so quite sure she would rather have anyone else offering her help right now.

She gave a final look back at Gregor and Hamish, and she startled when Gregor moaned. “They are waking. I think ‘tis time fer us tae leave.”

Constantine moved toward her horse. “Come, then.” He mounted the sturdy garron as if it were his own. His movements were smooth, easy, despite the fresh wound that marred his side.

When she didn’t immediately follow, he turned his head and reached out a large hand.

Rowena stared at him, bewildered. “Dae ye really expect me tae ride on me horse with ye?” Her mind struggled to comprehend his complete disregard for propriety.

“I walked tae the loch.” His tone was simple, matter-of-fact. “I didnae bring a horse of me own. So we shall ride together.”

Rowena scoffed, but really she wanted to shriek.

Daes he have nay respect at all for society?

Was he some sort of recluse who lacked proper behavior?

If she was found riding alone with a man who wasn’t her husband, it would be a scandal of the worst sort.

Whispers would follow her if anyone recognized her, and ruin would not be far behind.

It was a risk Rowena was absolutely unwilling to take.

Not when she needed every ounce of her reputation intact to reclaim her home.

Whatever aid this man might offer, she would need more than brute strength eventually. She would need a partner who understood the weight her name carried, and the danger of so easily discarding it.

Having to be pressed so close, so intimately with a man who evoked strange feelings in her had nothing to do with it.

“Perhaps ye can walk back the way ye came, then.” She jutted her chin. “Me horse and I will follow after ye.” A sensible enough suggestion, surely.

Constantine did not see it that way. “And why will I walk all the way back when ye have a perfectly competent horse here?”

“Because ye and I are nae husband and wife.”

“Fantastic observation,” he said.

Rowena bristled. “We cannae ride on the same horse. Surely ye ken that!”

“Ye’re wasting daylight.” Constantine spoke like rules meant nothing to him at all. “Hop on, will ye?” He lifted a dark brow, locked his eyes with hers, and waited. He was daring her to oppose him.

He obviously didn’t seem bothered by the proximity. Still, the idea of being pressed against his strong body, feeling his warmth against her skin, stirred a strange, unsettling awareness in her, one she’d never felt before.

A smirk appeared on his mouth. “Besides, ye owe me fer cleaning up yer mess now, dae ye nae? I will take me payment in kind.” There was a glint in his eye that made her pause. Not coarse, but bold enough to stir a heat beneath her skin.

Still, his use of humor to make light of the situation offered her some relief. A small smile formed on her lips, too. She supposed she could ride with him. Just this once.

Reluctantly, her heart still thrumming with a mixture of fear and a strange, burgeoning curiosity, Rowena took his extended hand, her fingers once more brushing against his rough skin.

The contact was steadying and unnerving.

Constantine lifted her as if she weighed nothing, and he held her right in front of his body.

The hard press of him against her back felt preposterously good. Her core tingled. She tried not to squirm, so she hissed in false displeasure instead. She couldn’t have him know what he was doing to her, especially when she didn’t even understand it.

“I can sit behind ye, ye ken. In fact, that would be far more comfortable.”

“Aye, maybe.” Constantine said. If he sensed her ruse, he gave nothing away.

Their bodies were too close. There was no way to lean away from him, to escape him. His scent, clean and wild, filled her senses. She tried not to focus on the hard plane of his sculpted chest against her back, the one she had seen bare and dripping with water earlier today.

She fixed her mind, instead, on the rhythmic sway of the horse, on the many ways this could go wrong.

Yet, whether she would regret it or not, this man was her only way out right then.

She was going to his territory. With any luck, she would be looked after, and Constantine would keep his promise to have her away from harm. For now.

I can definitely deal with that , Rowena decided.