He should push her away. Deny the thoughts and feelings tunneling through him. But it was as if fate or the gods had taken over his body because instead of telling her no more, he kissed her harder.
It was only the slight sting at his ankle that made him pause in his devouring of her mouth.
“Ouch,” she said, and that got his attention.
The two of them pulled back, eyes glassy, lids heavily lidded. Then they both stared down to see Goosie between them, scratching first his ankle and then hers as if using them both for a scratching session.
“Stop that, silly Goosie,” Rhiannon cooed, bending down to give her cat a pat on the head.
“Saved by the cat,” Ian murmured with a chuckle.
“Saved?” She raised a brow at him. “And what were we in danger from?”
“I’d rather no’ say. But kissing often leads to it.”
Rhiannon’s cheeks heated, but she didn’t look away. “I am not naïve, Ian, though I am…” She pressed her lips together, not finishing the sentence. He knew what she meant.
The lass might know how to kiss, but she’d yet to make love.
Ian crouched down, giving Goosie a little stroke on her back, the cat wrapping her tail around his hand.
“I would never call ye naïve, lass. And ye’re a verra good kisser.”
“Thank you.” She lifted her chin, a small smile of satisfaction on her lips. “I’d say I’ve had a lot of practice, but that’s probably not ladylike, and it also makes it seem as if I may have…done other things, which I have not.”
Ian chuckled. “I understand. I do hope that whomever ye practiced with was a gentleman.”
“He was, if he could be called a man.”
“And is he in your life still? Perhaps the reason ye did not want to marry your brother’s suggested groom?”
“Nay. Just a lad from my past. My brother’s suggested groom was a cad and a brute. I’d be nothing more than a broodmare to him. I would never have wanted to marry him. I didn’t know him, and my brother kept me hidden when he came to the castle, yet I knew what kind of man he was by how he treated the servants.” A shudder passed through her that he wished he could take away.
“I’ve met men like that before.”
“But alas, the lad I kissed before is long gone from my life. Years ago when I was barely a woman. I fell in love.” She shrugged.
A little stab of jealousy probed at his chest as he imagined a brightly fresh-faced Rhiannon falling in love. But to be honest, he was glad to have the grown woman here with him. Spirited and brave, a combination that made her both lethal and amusing. Ian had never met a woman like her. She could play and tease and, if necessary, do serious harm in an ambush.
“Is he still alive?” Ian asked, referring to the lad who’d been able to kiss her first.
Rhiannon tossed him a saucy smirk. “Why, are you jealous?”
Ian chuckled. “Wondering if we’ll have yet another army following us to Scotland.”
“Ah, no. My uncle saw to that. Put a stop to our relationship as quickly as he could. But he is still living.”
“Devastating.”
“I was gutted at the time, but now I see the wisdom in it. I wasn’t old enough to be in that situation. Practically still a baby.”
Ian grinned, his eyes roving to her very womanly lips again. He’d like to kiss her again. To pull her down to the ground and see what other things she might enjoy. But alas, Goosie had done them a favor because if they didn’t hit the road now, there was no telling how fast the enemy would be upon them. They still had days until they reached Castle Buanaiche, but fortunately, they could stop at his brother Alistair’s castle, Dunbais, on the way.
“Well, woman,” he teased, “we need to break down camp and hit the road.”
Rhiannon chuckled, flashing him a mirthful look. “Aye, sir.”
Ian couldn’t help the laugh that burst from him at that. “I deserved that.”
