“I will be honest—a lot more dangerous than any wood ye would ride through at home. Though that moose I saw when I was there didnae look all that peaceful.”
“No, moose can be difficult. Unpredictable. You don’t get them here?”
“Never seen one. Bucks, but no moose. What we have are cougars, wolves, snakes.” He smiled at her when he felt her twitch at that.
“Poisonous?”
“Aye.
“I think we have cougars, or mountain lions as they are sometimes called, but they rarely come down out of the hills. Animals seem to have the sense to stay away from people and their places. But here there is not much divide between settled and open land. The wildlife at home are mostly racoons, skunks, woodchucks, and the like. We have some rattlers in the mountains. Oh, and wild turkeys walking about in packs, or is that flocks?”
“Flocks.”
She idly undid his shirt and slid her hand over his chest. “So you wish to marry me?”
“I do. Rather thought ye would be agreeable, since ye said ye loved me and were discussing with me where ye might like to settle.”
“Ah, yes, I was doing that.” She slid her hand down to his pants and undid them.
He kissed her and gently undid the buttons on her gown. By the time he ended the kiss they were both mildly feverish in their need to be skin to skin. Geordie pulled her over until she was sprawled on top of him. About to say something concerning the marriage he knew they would soon be pulled into, all thought of warning her went right out of his mind when she began to kiss her way down to his stomach. That small, soft hand of hers curled around his erection and she began to stroke him. Her long, silken hair caressed his thighs as she kissed him there and he jerked in reaction, his whole body tensing. She pulled away a little, watching him through the tangled fall of her hair around her flushed face.
“No?” she whispered.
“That wasnae rejection, love—just surprise.” He threaded his fingers in her hair and very gently urged her to continue.
Geordie was beginning to think he had completely misjudged his ability to endure the pleasure she was giving him when she took him into the warm heat of her mouth. He clenched his teeth in an attempt to keep as quiet as possible. It was not long before he decided he was going to waken the whole house or end this too soon, and not as he wanted to. Catching her beneath her arms, he pulled her up his body. To his relief she took care of settling herself on his body, sliding them together in the slow, careful way that he needed her to. He reached up to caress her breasts as she rode him before pulling her down to kiss her as his release rolled through his body. Geordie then swallowed her cry as her own pleasure peaked, her body tightening around him in a way that nearly brought him to release again. Then he held her close, stroking her back to soothe her as she slumped on top of him.
He knew he was falling asleep when he finally told her, “Ye ken how ye asked what all those fools meant as we came up here?”
She slid over to curl up next to him. “You mean all that yelling?” She felt him nod. “Yes, so what were they on about?”
“Be prepared,” he mumbled as his eyes closed. “The wedding will be tomorrow.”
Belle sat up to stare at him, and clenched her fists when she saw that he was already fast asleep. “Coward,” she scolded him as she curled back into his side, closed her eyes, and joined him in sleep.
* * *
Mehitabel snuggled next to Geordie and he slid his arm around her, holding her closer. She was just sliding into sleep when she abruptly snapped awake again. She was sleeping with Geordie, in his family’s home, and they were not married. What had she been thinking last night?
Belle was just swinging her legs over the side of the bed to get up and move when she realized that she had no idea where to move to. She yanked on her undergarments and frowned as she struggled to recall last night. After all, she had been daft enough to just accept that they were sharing a room, so she was not confident she would correctly recall where the washroom was, or what he had said.
Belle was still sitting there when the door opened and Mrs. O’Neal walked in with Emily. Right behind them was Matthew, who set a table up next to the bed. He grinned and winked at both of them, then walked out as Mrs. O’Neal set down the tray she carried.
“Eat your breakfast,” said Emily. “We’ll be back after we break our fast and bring your gown, Belle.”
They left before Belle could say anything. She looked at Geordie. Then, unable to think of what she wanted to say, she drank some of her coffee in a desperate attempt to clear the fog her mind was trapped in.Go simple and be direct first, she told herself. “Where’s the washroom?”
“Go out the door, head left. White door with a wooden sign hanging on it. If it saysunoccupied, turn it over to sayoccupiedand go in. Slide the bolt inside to secure it. Towels and all, already in there.” He lifted the lid of a dish. “Oh, heaven. Mrs. O’Neal brought us bacon.”
Shaking her head, Belle left him to enjoy his bacon and hoped he left her a few pieces. She grabbed a robe and her little bag of necessities, then left. Following his directions, she found the washroom and it was unoccupied. As she darted inside, she turned the sign tooccupied, and also secured the door. She had never seen such things as a sign and a bolt to secure a door in a bathroom. Then she remembered how many people were in the house and decided both were needed.
As she washed up, she tried to decide if she was afraid or excited. She was going to be married soon and realized that she had never really planned to be, even when she had decided she was in love with Geordie. She would have preferred a little warning, some preparation time. She would also like to be closer to her family so that she could have Auntie with her.
After washing up and cleaning her teeth, Belle hurried back to the bedroom. She was pleased she met no one in the hall as she made her short dash back to the bedroom. Ducking into the room, she shut the door behind her and saw Geordie sitting on the bed grinning at her.
“Ye ran back, didnae ye?”
“Of course I did. I am in my underclothes. Your Mrs. O’Neal and brother walking in caught me by surprise but don’t plan to let that happen again. I see you got dressed.”
