“Oh ay, sorry, lass. Yes, there’s a stream and small waterfall a little way through those trees there,” he said, pointing over her shoulder. “If ye follow the animal path, you’ll come to it.”
“Will it be safe for me to go and have a look?”
“Aye, just yell if ye need anything.”
Kenzie nodded and started off in the direction Ben told her. The path was easy to see and well-used by the animals. The sound of rushing water became louder, and she gasped when she came to the pretty hidden spot.
The stream was narrow, and dark, mostly likely deep. She stood, looking down into the stone, moss, and soil walls of the little river. The waterfall flowed over the side into the pool beneath.
It was fast moving, white water bubbling up, but so inviting. Kenzie climbed down the side, taking care not to fall in but with the moss and damp ground underfoot it was precarious. Reaching the water’s edge, she pulled off her boots and stockings and slipped her feet into the water. It was cold, but not cold enough to be uncomfortable were you to swim in it.
She heard Ben call out her name, and she replied in turn, waiting for him to peer down at her from atop the river’s bank.
“What are ye doing down there, lass. Can ye swim?”
“I can swim.” She gestured for him to join her. “Come down here, and feel the water. It’s so refreshing.”
“Aye, do ye mean freezing enough that it would turn more than my lips blue should I fall in?”
Kenzie laughed. “Never fear, my liege. I shall warm you up again.”
The devilish glint in his eyes sent pleasure coiling between her legs. He came and sat beside her, leaning on his knees as he watched the water. “Are ye feeling better today, lass? I forgot to ask when we started out this morning.”
“I feel a lot better, thank you.” Kenzie shut her eyes and faced the sun, the warmth warming her all over. Not to mention the man beside her who warmed her from the inside out. To use a modern colloquialism, she had it bad.
“Have you ever swam here?”
“Aye, I used to bring Aline here, and we’d swim. ’Tis a private spot and peaceful.”
“Is this part of your land?” Kenzie thought about her time and how so much had changed. The forest they now sat in was a quarter of what it was now. Over the years, the trees had been felled for farmland. And never, in all her surveys of the land at Castle Ross had she come across this waterfall. It made her wonder if it was even there anymore, or if farming further north had changed the flow of the streams and it was no longer anything but a dry quarry.
“Yes, and once the celebrations of Beltane are finished tomorrow, I shall take ye about the property and show ye the farm, have ye meet the tenant farmers and such. I’d like ye to know all there is about Castle Ross before ye leave.”
Kenzie bit her lip, hating the thought of going anywhere that this strapping, Highlander beside her wasn’t. She would miss him, even though she was still getting to know him.
Standing, and taking care not to fall into the river, she pushed down his knees and straddled his legs, wrapping her arms about his neck. “I want to know all there is to know about you as well.”
“I need to make it up to them for leaving them alone these past months. With the preparations of Beltane underway, I’m hoping to make the celebration one they’ll no forget and mayhap one which they forgive their laird for being dumb-skulled.
“You were mourning, Ben. Of all things, people of this harsh time understand that emotion best, I think.” There was so much death in this time, not just from clan skirmishes but also disease. The hygiene here was nonexistent, and it was surprising that anyone survived at all. Why, just the other day, Kenzie had seen a servant empty a chamber pot out the window of her room and then throw a small bit of bread that she’d not finished into her mouth. Not so much as a washing of hands in-between the two things.
She wiggled a little closer to him and bit her lip at the obvious bulge. “I missed you last night.” Kenzie kissed the lobe of his ear, biting lightly before kissing his neck. His unshaved jaw rasped against her lips, and the need