An impatient, high-pitched yapping sounded somewhere behind her then a sharp tugging yanked at her braid. Even Buzz knew they couldn’t do this in broad daylight on the hillside overlooking Edinburgh. The well-traveled path winding around Arthur’s Seat was a favorite among locals and tourists alike. Odin whickered nearby and thudded a hoof against the ground, adding his opinion regarding their very public display of affection.
Graham rumbled with what sounded like a cross between a growling string of swearwords and an impatient groan as he lifted himself above her the barest bit. “I dinna give a sweet damn if the King himself sees us.” He blew out a ragged breath. “But I would cause ye no dishonor nor bring ye any shame. Pray tell me,mo nighean bhan,I must have ye, where can we go?”
She forced herself not to pull him back down on top of her, fighting against her own sexual meltdown as she snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm. Dammit. Where could they go—fast?
Common sense overruled her libido again. They couldn’t go anywhere and dive inquicklybecause she didn’t have any protection with her. She flicked her fingers across the ridge of his ear, currently tipped a deep shade of red with his frustration. At least he was struggling with this just as much as she was. “You don’t happen to have any protection with you, do you? Maybe in your back pocket? I rent an extra stall at the stables—with a couch—and privacy. I sort of lived there when I first adopted Odin.” She leaned up and nuzzled her cheek against the soft springy curls of his beard. Again, the thought of that nicely trimmed beard providing a delicious tickle inside her thighs came to mind. She shuddered at the exquisite possibilities.
Graham pulled back and traced his thumb across her bottom lip. His gaze raked down her body, followed by a hurried caress. He huffed out another impatient groan then stole a quick glance around the hillside. “Protection, ye say? My finest dagger is in my boot. I’m never without it. What danger is there here? Do ye sense something amiss?” His frustrated gaze settled back on her. “And I’d never carry my dagger in my back pocket. Ye ken weapons. Why would ye ask such a thing?” He searched the area again, frowning at the two horses and the little dog behind them.
Lilia arched her back and looked back, giggling at the sight of all three animals watching them with ears perked forward in interest.
“Tell me what ye fear?” His arms tightened around her. “Ye ken I would never allow a thing to harm ye—even though, I must admit, the verra wanting of ye is sure to do me in quicker than a weapon any rogue of this time might wield.”
She pressed her lips tightly together. The more sexually frustrated Graham became, the thicker and heavier his lilting brogue rolled across his tongue. It would be so wrong to laugh at him right now . . . especially since he had her buzzing in all the right places. “I’m not talking around your dagger or weapons. I was referring to condoms—uhm . . . sheaths?” Graham’s confused stare threatened to release more giggles. “French envelopes?” What the devil did they call condoms in his time?
“The only sheath I own holds my dagger and I dinna ken what the hell a French envelope be.” His eyes narrowed as a snorting giggle finally escaped her. “Why do ye laugh?”
“I am not laughing at you.”
“The hell ye are not.”
Lilia coughed away another giggle and stroked his face with both hands. “No. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at our situation. I never dreamed I’d find myself so wound up in broad daylight on a hill overlooking the city. I’m not exactly a teenager without any options.”
One of his brows ratcheted a bit higher and his eyes narrowed as he settled himself more comfortably on top of her, then wedged himself tightly between her thighs and propped his elbows on either side of her shoulders. A wicked grin tickled the corners of his mouth as he none too subtly ground his denim-splitting hardness against her aching mound.
She gasped, instinctively arching as she tightened her legs around him. “We . . . can’t . . . do this here. We’ll get arrested.”
“Then the question begs asking again. Where shall we go?” Graham rocked his hips back and forth, successfully grinding home each and every word. “Quickly,” he added with a teasing flick of his tongue against the tender flesh behind her ear.
Lilia clenched her thighs tighter, bucked once more, then rolled him to one side. “Back to the stable. Last one there has to get on top,” she said as she scooped up Buzz and bolted for the horses.
CHAPTER14
He would give anything to be that damn horse.Graham forced a hand down the front of the irritatingly tight jeans and adjusted his aching cock to one side—again. May the gods help him. The way that woman moved as she rode. He swallowed hard and urged Freya to a faster gallop to close the distance between Lilia and her mount.
Damnation.He nearly groaned aloud as Lilia hiked her fine round arse a bit higher in the air and crouched low over mighty Odin’s back. Her tempting rear hovered mere inches above the saddle, waving back at him with just enough up-and-down swing to make him nearly spill himself in his trews.
The teasing glance she tossed back at him was like pouring fresh pitch on an already blazing torch. He stretched tall in the saddle, grinding his teeth as she laughed then turned back, urging Odin to thunder even faster toward the stable.
Last one there gets on top,she said.Gladly. He would take her any way she liked just as long as she allowed him to take her—and soon.
The horses pounded through the gaping archway of the wide sliding doors, prancing and tossing their heads as they playfully high-stepped around the barred-off perimeter of the dirt arena. Lilia allowed Odin to dance around the ring twice then gentled him to a stop beside the gate leading to the rows of stalls. In a fluid motion that made Graham’s mouth water, she slid her legs to one side of the horse, rolled to her stomach in the saddle, then gracefully dropped to the ground.
Lore a’mighty. Thank ye, Mother Sinclair, for matching me with this fine woman.He would drop to the ground and kiss the hem of the old woman’s cloak when next he saw her. Graham dismounted, then set to the task of removing Freya’s saddle and draping it across the wooden stand waiting outside the stalls. He knew his woman well. She would not stand for the horses to be neglected. The quicker he saw to the needs of the beasts. the quicker she would see to his.
Released from his pouch strapped to Odin’s shoulder, Buzz sped in circles around Lilia’s feet as she hurriedly unbuckled the horse’s gear. Mouth split wide in a doggy smile and his little red tongue a bouncing curl as he panted, Buzz strutted back and forth between Graham and Lilia as they stripped both horses down to nothing but their hackamores.
“Freya’s stall is over there. Across the aisle from Odin’s.” Lilia pointed at an opened half door farther down the way. She wet her lips and her voice took on an almost sultry purr as she nodded to a closed door nearest them. “And this is the one I was telling you about. Earlier.”
“Come, gentle Freya and mighty Odin. I will see to yer oats afore I see to yer mistress.” Graham glanced pointedly at the closed door that surely promised to be the gateway to heaven. “Wait for me whilst I see to these fine animals.” He shifted his gaze to her and winked. “I swear to ye, I willna be overly long.”
His groin ached as she hungrily licked her lips, then nodded while backing toward the private stall. “While you do that, I’ll call the others and let them know we won’t be paintballing with them this afternoon.”
He had no idea what the devilpaintballingwas and didn’t truly care. He had much more enjoyable plans for this afternoon and if he had his way, those plans would extend well into the evening.
Both horses obediently plodded into their stalls—Buzz followed Odin into his and settled into his own corner that was obviously well-fitted for the needs of a tiny dog. Both horses hungrily shoved their noses into the feed buckets attached to the wall. Graham latched Odin’s door, then paused as the horse lifted his head from his feed and angled around to fix a one-eyed glare on the latch.
“None of that, mind ye. Behave yerself and see to yer rest.” Graham softly patted his fingers on the gate, then leaned forward and lowered his voice. “If ye grant me an uninterrupted afternoon with yer mistress, there will be a fine treat in yer wee bucket by morning, ye ken?”
