imagined Fiona wanted to run, and he doubted she would hold her back much longer.
Tarr purposely took his time to see what she would do. Would she wait for him or take off at a blazing pace?
His answer came only moments after he mounted his stallion. Fiona freed her mare to run and Tarr grinned as he urged his horse to catch her.
He could see how much she enjoyed her ride by the way she enthusiastically held her face up to greet the wind. Then there was the ease in which she rode her mare; theirs was a harmonious pairing.
Watching her now he realized that she had a natural ability with horses, actually animals in general. He recalled how the puppy was attracted to the one twin, and he had noticed that most animals around the keep responded to her, or was it both twins?
He shrugged away his confusion and decided today he would let fate deal with his dilemma. He intended to enjoy his time with Fiona, at least he hoped the twin was Fiona.
Tarr took off after her, his stallion having no difficulty catching up with her. When he rode alongside her; she challenged him with a smile and he accepted, pulling past her. Not for long, though. She caught up with him, and they rode neck and neck for a good distance before they both slowed their pace.
Tarr pointed to a stream not far off. They led the horses there to drink and rest while they did the same.
They sat not far from the water’s edge, Fiona stretching her legs out in front of her and tilting her face to the sun.
“I am glad autumn allowed a touch of summer to visit for the day.”
“Enjoy it now, for winter will soon approach and there will be few days spent outside.” The prospect of being inside this winter appealed to him. He would have a bride to keep him warm and busy, and the thought stirred his senses.
“You think I will spend the winter here?” She sounded as though she laughed.
“I know you will.” He sounded pleased.
“I am curious,” she said, her tone now one of interest. “You think to make a wife of me or my sister, and shortly, as you have often reminded me. Yet you have done nothing but spend a few hours each day with us. What will be the deciding factor for who you wed?”
He favored her direct manner. Their would be no pretense between them; she would have her say whether he liked it or not, and that pleased him. He had no time for a woman who would whine and complain and never say what she meant.
“I am not sure,” he said. “You both seem identical, but then I could be speaking with the same twin over and over. I sometimes think to grab one of you, wed, and have done with it.”
“Yet you do not. Why?”
“My stubborn pride?”
Fiona laughed. “That can get in the way.”
Her eyes sparkled along with her laughter before a lopsided smile settled on her face. He had never noticed it before, and he realized the funny grin made her all the more beautiful.
He had appreciated her beauty at first glance but of late, he had begun to notice other things about her that appealed to him. She tilted her head when she laughed, her eyes rounded when she grew upset, she licked her lips slowly when deep in thought, and now this funny grin.
“So then you have no plan where my sister and I are concerned?”
“You should use tact when questioning your adversary.”
“You are not my foe?” she asked.
Had he upset her? Her eyes rounded slightly.
“If not foe what am I to you?”
She leaned forward as if she would spit the words from her mouth, then grew still. She shook her head so briefly. “I do not know.”
The wind rustled a cool breeze across the stream, whipping Fiona’s hair in her face. Before she could brush it aside, Tarr reached out and gently ran his fingers into the strands, raking them back until his hand cupped the back of her head.
“Let us see if we can find out,” he said, and leaned over her, his broad chest pressing her to the ground as his lips claimed hers in a hungry kiss.
She did not shy away or deny him. She eagerly joined him, sharing in the kiss and demanding as much as she gave, which fueled his already ignited passion. Her taste was not sweet; it was