“Nora will need protection,” Catarina said. “Else she might get lost or perhaps be mauled by some bear or other wild thing in the woods.”
Ewan frowned at her words and at the odd note in her voice as she spoke of bears mauling Nora.
He hadn’t picked a berry since he was a boy. But the
thought of being alone with Nora...
Well, he’d most definitely like to maul her himself.
“I would be happy to.”
Catarina nodded. “There you go then, Nora. We’ll have fresh berries for dinner then.”
The women talked until they stopped to eat. It was a little after noon. Ewan and the other men tended the horses while the ladies made a light meal of cold meat and cheese.
But it wasn’t food Ewan hungered for. It was the dainty women who sat with her back straight and whose manners were as perfect as a queen’s.
Whose laughter rang out while she talked to the men and Catarina.
As soon as they finished eating, Catarina handed Nora a small basket. “You fetch your berries while I clean up.”
The men started to protest, but the vicious scowl Catarina directed toward them, stopped them instantly.
“Take your time,” Viktor said.
“We won’t be overly long,” Nora assured them.
That’s what she thought.
If Ewan had his way, they would be gone for a while, at least.
They walked deep into the woods, until he could no longer hear the others and the gypsies could no longer hear them.
Ewan watched her stoop for the berries. His gaze was fastened on her bottom as she bent over.
He hardened instantly as he imagined lifting her skirt and burying himself deep inside her again.
“Have you ever made your own tarts?” Nora asked, then stopped herself. “Nay, I guess not. You being a boy and all. You probably never even picked berries for them, did you?”
“I did.”
She straightened to look at him. “Truly?”
“Aye. My mother used to take me and my brothers into the woods to pick berries for her pies and jams.” He smiled wistfully at the memory. “But we usually ate so many of them that she would shoo us away shortly after we begun.”
“Who ate the most of them?” Nora asked as she led him through the foliage in search of her fare. “You or one of your brothers?”
“Kieran. He was always hungry.”
“And you weren’t?”
“Nay, not really.”
Nora started to climb over a fallen log.
Ewan picked her up easily and swung her over it.
“Thank you.”
