“Ye all right, brother?” Dearg asked, his tone suspiciously friendly after their recent animosity.
“Aye, why?” Erskine’s brow furrowed.
“Well, if I dinnae ken any better,” Dearg turned to look at Laura across the camp, who was now far out of earshot, “I’d say it looks like ye and yer new dear friend seem to have had an argument.”
“Dearg, enough,” Erskine warned, but it only brought another smile to Dearg’s face.
“I am just worried for ye brother, that is all. I hate to see ye upset,” Dearg’s delight was infuriating Erskine further.
“Are ye lookin’ for another fight? That is what will happen if ye continue to talk such nonsense.”
“Aye, nonsense,” Dearg smiled again, “because ye would be this upset if me comments were just complete nonsense, wouldnae ye?”
Erskine froze with the horses at the insinuation, but he said nothing. Instead, he waited for Dearg to retreat back across the camp, chuckling under his breath. Erskine tried to shake off his brother’s words. After all, what did they matter now? Erskine was drawn to Laura, a beautiful young woman who had saved his life and trekked across the country in order to escape a life of beating and a fearful marriage bed.
There was no shame in admiring her. As quickly as Erskine thought these words, he knew it was not just admiration.
Aye, it has far surpassed that.
“Time to go!” he called to the others, and they all jumped forward to mount the saddles and be on their way.
Erskine climbed up to the saddle first on this occasion, hoping that it would stop him from watching Laura climb up too, but it sadly did not help. Instead, as she slotted in behind him, his imagination went wandering. He was wondering what it would feel like if she shimmied forward just a little until she was pressed against him, with her arms looped around his waist. He knew what her body felt like against his now, and he wanted to experience it repeatedly.
As they set off, Erskine was aware that Dearg unusually held his horse close to theirs, as though he was keeping an eye on them. It was some time on the journey before Dearg appeared relaxed enough to leave them alone. When he did, Erskine let the horse trail at the back of the group, with the others far in front.
“Are you never going to talk to me again?” Laura’s voice startled him enough to stiffen in the saddle and look over his shoulder at her.
“Daenae be silly,” he shook his head and turned back around. “I am just nae sure what to say.”
“Right now, I would welcome anything beyond silence. The most mundane of topics would be a blessing,” her tease tempted him to smile.
“It is difficult to talk of the mundane when there is so much goin’ on in me head,” he explained with a whisper.
“What is going on in your head?”
“What ye’ve done, who ye’ve escaped, that kiss….” Erskine breathed deeply, trying to calm his ardor before it could rise for her.
“Well,” she sighed behind him. “I’m pleased to see you are at least as affected by that kiss as I was.”
“Oh, believe me, Laura, affected does not cover the half of it,” the depth of his words seemed to have some kind of resonance. What passed was a beat of silence, and then Erskine felt a touch on his back. He did not flinch away from it, but he made the horse go even slower, increasing the distance between them and the others. It was a simple touch, just Laura placing the flat of her palm against his back, but it meant everything to him.
“Erskine,” her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. “Is it so bad that we like one another?”
Hearing the words aloud was a harsh reality. He didn’t want it to be a bad thing. No, hearing she liked him too, that his infatuation and obsession with her was not just one-sided, was an incredible thing! Yet, it was not as simple as that.
“In another life, it would have been good,” his words made her hand retreat from him. He felt the loss of that touch acutely. “Laura, ye ken ye arenae free to make yer own choices.”
“How pathetic that is,” she said suddenly, her voice harsh. “Youcan make your choices. Even Lord Moore could make his, but me? Oh no! I’m a woman. Therefore I must do what a man tells me to do. Do you realize how truly bizarre that sounds?”
He couldn’t help it. He looked back over his shoulder and smiled at her, hoping to calm her upset.
“Aye, it does sound bizarre,” he agreed, seeing how flushed she suddenly was with her anger.
“I thought I had escaped my past by running from London,” she said quickly.
“Then tell me why the English soldiers are still lookin’ for ye here in Scotland? Hmm?” To his words, she had no reply, looking down. “If ye are to escape yer past and make yer own free choices, Laura, then we will have to think of another way to do it. Ye cannae hide forever as a man.”
“It would be nice not to always hide as a man,” she acknowledged, shifting in the saddle. “As much as I like the freedom of breeches, I am not sure they suit me as well.”
