could hardly sit there holding the skirt away from her skin until it dried.
Muttering under her breath, she set to work on her laces, and struggled to get out of the gown. It was an almost impossible task. While the dress had slipped on easily enough when dry, it was a nightmare to remove when wet. Evelinde was flushed, breathless, and sweating by the time she got it off.
Dropping it on the ground with relief, she plopped herself back on the boulder again, but the heat she'd generated with her efforts soon faded, and Evelinde found herself once again shivering in her damp chemise. However, she wasn't going to remove that and sit there naked. While people rarely intruded on her favorite spot, they did on occasion, and she wasn't going to risk being caught in such a state.
Evelinde wasn't foolish enough to sit there shivering either. She needed to find a way to dry herself, her chemise and her gown—and quickly—else she might catch a chill.
Her gaze slid to her horse. Lady had given up glaring at her and was once again at the riverside, partaking of the crystal-clear water. Evelinde hesitated a moment, considering the practicalities of the idea that was tickling the edges of her mind, then stood, picked up her gown, and moved to the mare.
Cullen was the first to see her. The sight made him rein in so sharply, his horse reared in response. He tightened his thighs around his mount to help keep his seat, moving automatically to calm the animal, but he didn't take his eyes off the woman in the glen.
"God's teeth. What is she doing?" Fergus asked as he halted beside him.
Cullen didn't even glance to the tall, burly redhead who was his first. He merely shook his head silently, transfixed by the sight. The woman was riding back and forth across the clearing, sending her horse charging first one way, then the other and back. That in itself was odd, but what had put the hush in Fergus's voice and completely captured Cullen's tongue was the fact she was doing so in nothing but a transparent chemise while holding the reins of her mount in her teeth. Her hands were otherwise occupied. They were upraised and holding what appeared to be a cape in the air so it billowed out behind her above her streams of golden hair as she rode back and forth… back and forth… back and forth.
"Who do you think she is?" Rory's question was the only way Cullen knew the other men had caught up as well.
"I doona ken, but I could watch the lass all day," Tavis said, his voice sounding hungry. "Though there are other things I'd rather be doing to her all day."
Cullen found himself irritated by that remark. Tavis was his cousin, and the charmer among his men; fair-haired, handsome, and with a winning smile, it took little effort for him to woo women to his bed of a night. And the man took full advantage of the ability, charming his way under women's skirts at every opportunity. Were titles awarded by such an ability, Tavis would have been the king of Scotland.
"I'd first be wanting to ken why she's doing what she is," Fergus said slowly. "I've no desire to bed a wench who isna right in the head."
"It isna her head I'd be taking to me bed." Tavis laughed.
"Aye," Gillie said, his voice sounding almost dreamy.
Cullen turned a hard glare on his men. "Ride on. I'll catch up to ye."
There was a moment of silence as eyebrows rose and glances were exchanged, then all five men took up their reins.
"Ride around the meadow," Cullen instructed, when they started to move forward.
There was another exchange of glances, but the men followed the tree line around the meadow.
Cullen waited until they had disappeared from sight, then turned back to the woman. His eyes followed her back and forth several times before he urged his mount forward.
It hadn't appeared so from the edge of the meadow, but the woman was actually moving at high speed on her beast, slowing only to make the turn before spurring her horse into a dead run toward the other side. The mare didn't seem to mind. If anything, the animal seemed to think it was some sort of game and threw herself into each run with an impressive burst of speed.
Cullen rode up beside the mare, but the woman didn't immediately notice him. Her attention was shifting