Page 42 of In Bed with a Highland Brute

“Ye hidden now?” he said, trying to make it seem as if he still had his eyes firmly closed.

“Aye, I am.” The distinct sounds of her flapping a cloth behind the screen followed. He stood from the bed as she reappeared, with it wrapped around her body and her wet hair tangling at her shoulders.

“That is still nae helping.” He pointed at her and walked toward the door. “We are tae go fer a ride tae Fairbanks loch once ye are done. Clyde, Harper, and the others are tae join us.”

“Very well, I shall be down soon.” It was a cold and awkward conversation between them as she headed to the garderobe.

Murdoch’s eyes followed her until she disappeared, then he glanced at the ceiling, as if he could look through it to the heavens themselves.

“What are ye doing tae me, eh, wee man?”

“This is the most foolish way tae ride, ye bampot,” Eloise muttered as she shifted in the saddle, trying her best to get comfortable.

“Blame yer brother. He was one of those who suggested we all ride like this tae save on taking so many horses,” Murdoch whispered behind her.

Eloise forced a smile as she looked around the group, angered at the turn of events. It was a fair day, despite the chill, with the sun shining down brightly. She’d wrapped a fur around her shoulders to ward off the chill of the wind, but the thing that was keeping her most heated was her proximity to Murdoch.

Each couple rode one horse, and as she looked around the group, she saw that both Callie and Aila were of course completely at ease as they rode with their husbands. Even Harper, in her mild manner and reserved way, leaned back into Clyde, though she did not smile. She seemed preoccupied, staring into the distance, as her maid, Beatrice, followed behind them on a smaller mare of her own. Eloise’s eyes lingered on Beatrice for longer than they should have done, for she was all too aware how often Beatrice stared at Murdoch.

“Ye are going tae have tae sit still, Eloise,” Murdoch muttered, his tone harsher this time.

“What? Why?” Eloise asked, facing forward again as he changed their path. With his arms either side of her waist, he adjusted the reins and turned the horse up the hill, toward a path that led through Douglas firs and Scots pines.

“Because of the way ye are moving. Ye keep adjusting yer hips and then rolling back into me… oh!” He broke off as she rolled into him once more.

This time, she was all too aware of what she could feel. Her eyes widened as she glanced up at him. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he stared forward, refusing to look her in the eye.

“The path is that way,” he said, nodding his head forward.

“I ken. Ye can look at the path. Is that…” She trailed off, uncertain how to ask the question directly. She could feel him behind her. His length had hardened, so much so that it could not be ignored. Her mind ran wild, imagining things. With her mouth dry, she continued to stare at him.

“What do ye want me tae say, Eloise?” he hissed, glancing back at the others. Clearly nervous of them being overheard, he urged the horse ahead at a greater pace, increasing the distance.

“Dinnae run off ye two!” Ian called after them. “Unless ye are wanting Avery tae hunt ye down, Murdoch.”

“We willnae go far,” Murdoch shouted back and rounded a clump of trees, taking a second path that grew level. They dropped down soon enough between low-lying heathers. “There’s nothing I can say.”

“Nothing?” Eloise asked in amazement. “Ye are…” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Murdoch’s eyebrows raise. “What?”

“Stop causing trouble.”

“Ye mistake me fer yerself. Ye are the one who wriggled so much ye caused it.”

“Aye, I’m sorry, Eloise, but nothing I can dae. Ye want it tae stop? Then pray, stop wriggling.” He lowered his lips to her ear and said the latter words so close to her skin that a tremble passed up her spine. “Dinnae dae that either.”

“It’s cold.” She prayed she could blame the wind for it and wrapped the fur tightly around her shoulders. In her fumbling, it slipped off one shoulder, and Murdoch reached up to help her. His warm hand clasping over her shoulder didn’t help matters and that shiver passed over her again.

“What did we say about trembling like that…”

“Well, I cannae help how I respond tae the cold.” She blamed the weather once more. “Oh, how much further is it? Plainly, ye and I both need tae be off this horse.”

“Nae long. Around the next corner.” Murdoch urged the horse around great grey stones that were set in the side of the hill, as if they’d been thrown there by some giant long ago, with moss and lichen growing across their surfaces. As they rounded the stones, a glistening loch came into view.

On one side, it was banked with more Douglas firs, and on the other, the hill grew high, with various grey stones shimmering in the light. The loch was peaceful, completely still apart from the occasional ripple cause by fish and insects.

“This is Fairbanks?” she whispered, her head turning back and forth as she admired the place. “Aye, aptly name. It is fair indeed.”

“Aye, it is,” Murdoch halted the horse by the edge of the loch. The steed lowered his nose to gulp some water. “Our mother and father brought us here often when we were young.”