“A risk?”
“What of bandits? Highwaymen?”
“We’ll keep watch,” Erskine shrugged. “If it is yer secret bein’ discovered that truly worries ye…” as he paused, she held her breath. “Then ye best just sleep a little apart from the rest.”
“Will that not be suspicious?”
“Hmm, perhaps,” Erskine turned his head, just enough to reveal a smile. “I’ll tell them somethin’ to explain it. Perhaps I’ll say ye snore.”
“Oi!” she complained and prodded him in the back again, causing the smallest of laughs to escape him. “See? You can still laugh with me, Erskine. I have not become a monster overnight.”
“I never said ye were a monster.” All traces of humor had left her voice.
“Do you forgive me then?” She waited with bated breath for his reply.
“Nae yet.”
At his words, she slumped in the saddle, and the two of them descended into silence once again. She spent the time tracing his shoulders, allowing her mind to wander to a world that was not possible.
It did not matter that he now knew she was a woman. Laura could remember vividly how he had declared before that he wanted a highland lass. Clearly, an English woman who had betrayed his trust was not going to replace that desire.
So, Laura let her imagination roam, as it was the only freedom she had. She thought of Erskine and the way he had lifted her onto the trunk of the tree the day before. Only this time, in her mind’s eye, she was thinking of those hands lingering on her waist. She imagined what it could be like to feel those hands slip beneath her waistcoat and shirt to the bare skin beneath. She could practically feel the brush of it, thinking of the butterflies it would cause.
“Ye still awake back there?”
“Yes,” she lifted her eyes away from the muscles of his shoulders.
“Good, because we have arrived at our camp for the night.”
* * *
As they set up a fire and rested under the night’s sky, Laura grew increasingly restless. She had been dreaming of a bath and a warm bed. None of that was now possible.
At least, the view was good. As she sat on the ground by the fire, hearing it crackle and burn, she looked out around them. Though surrounded by a dense thicket of trees, there was a gap in the trees that led out to the loch. The water glistened, reflecting the light of the moon and the stars from above.
One by one, the men dropped off into their sleep until it was just her and Erskine still awake. She looked longingly at the loch, wondering what it could feel like to bathe in the open water. She was tempted by the idea, especially as the others were asleep, but she stayed put, simply staring at it instead.
“I’ll keep the first watch,” Erskine whispered to her. “Ye can get some sleep.”
“No, thank you, I am not tired,” she shook her head and returned her gaze to the loch. “How cold is the water?” At her question, she heard him shift in his place beside her on the grassy earth.
“Let us say…it’s a refreshin’ temperature.”
“Cold indeed then?”
“Aye, a little,” his words urged her to look back to him. “Ye wantin’ a swim?”
“I could do with bathing,” she relented and told him the truth. “They are sleeping. It could be a good time,” she gestured to the others.
“Aye,” he nodded. “Go a little further around the riverbank through the trees.”
“Thank you,” Laura said quickly and gathered her things together before standing. She hovered for a moment beside the fire, wanting to say something to Erskine. He spoke to her with such coldness now that she wished to dispel it.
“Somethin’ wrong?” His words made her look down at him.
“Many things,” she sighed but said no more as she turned and walked off through the trees.
* * *
