A Hellion at the Highland Court (The Highland Ladies #9) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,41

but birdsong and the tall grass rippling beneath Teine’s pounding hooves.

When a keep came into sight, Laurel slowed her mount, cautious for a moment. But she caught sight of a dark-haired man riding toward her, and while she couldn’t make out his face, she didn’t fear him. Just the opposite. She relaxed and grinned before kneeing Teine forward.

“I thought you would wait for me, thistle,” Brodie said by way of greeting.

“You snored so loudly. Who could sleep? But I feared I exhausted you last eve, so I thought to let you sleep,” Laurel grinned as they sat, alongside each other, atop prancing horses, facing one another. Brodie swooped in for a searing kiss that left Laurel breathless, but hungry for more.

“Indeed you did. You ken I’m normally a light sleeper.”

“Aye. But in truth, I was up with the bairn, so once he slept again, I slipped out. I hoped you would join me.” Laurel gazed at Brodie and noticed the gray hairs at his temples now wove through more of his chestnut mane, and his beard was more salt-and-pepper than it had been when they met. She glanced down at herself, noting her bust was larger than it had once been, and her belly was no longer flat. She looked at Brodie, a smile reflecting happiness that came only from living a life filled with love spread across her face.

“Fear not, Laurie. I will join you, but it shall be in our bed. Ride back with me?” Brodie asked. Laurel sensed it wouldn’t anger him if she refused, but she wanted to return home with her husband.

“Don’t you have duties to tend to?” Laurel asked.

“There is always time to love my wife,” Brodie grinned.

Twelve

Laurel’s eyes fluttered open, but her mind was still groggy. She clung to the last moments of her dream, wishing she could fall back to sleep and see what would happen next. She rarely remembered her dreams, but this one had been so vivid that it felt more like a memory than the product of her imagination. She’d been somewhere she loved with someone she loved, and she sensed he reciprocated her feelings.

As her vision cleared, and she opened her eyes wider, Laurel found Brodie watching her. Pushing up on her elbow, she looked around her chamber, but nothing was amiss except for the mountainous man in the chair beside her bed. She closed her eyes once more, but the memory that surfaced stole her breath. She placed her fist over her chest, pressing as though it could ease the knot that formed.

“Laurie?” Brodie’s soft whisper brought her back to the present. When she looked at him again, he was leaning forward. Worry etched deeply into the grooves upon his forehead and around his eyes.

“I’m all right,” Laurel rasped, but she doubted she ever would be. “How did I end up here? What are you doing in my chamber again?”

“Do you remember me carrying you out of the Privy Council chamber?”

“Sort of.”

“You were asleep before I made it to the stairs, so I brought you here to rest.”

Laurel spotted her shoes beside the bed, and her face heated. If Brodie had removed them, he likely noticed their tattered condition. She wondered if he’d noticed how many times her stockings had clearly been darned. “Why did you stay?”

“Because I didn’t want you to awake alone. I didn’t want you to be by yourself when you remembered what happened,” Brodie explained.

“You mean when I learned my father would rather I be a whore than pay another penny to keep a roof over my head or bread in my belly?” Laurel rolled over and sat up, bringing her knees under her chin. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her cheek on her knees as she looked at Brodie. She didn’t know what to say. She still felt numb. She was too far beyond hurt to feel pain, but she couldn’t drum up the energy to be angry because she wasn’t entirely surprised anymore.

“Laurel, what do you want? Do you wish to remain here, so I can court you? My offer remains in place, both to give you time to decide how we proceed—if we do, and to ensure you have what you need while you are here. Do you wish to go to Kilchurn, whether it’s as my wife or a new villager?”

“I don’t know, Brodie. My mind feels fuzzy when I try to think aboot it. What I do know is that I’m grateful for you.