She laughed at his horrified expression. “It’s all right. It’s perfectly normal. Although this baby seems to be much more active than David was. I think she’s anxious to get out.”
It stunned him how little he knew about any of this. “When will that be?”
“I should think around Ascension Day.”
Kenneth felt his breath relax. The end of May. He had time, then. He wanted to make sure she was safely away well before the child was born. His child. That wave of protectiveness grew even stronger.
“Where have you brought me?”
“See for yourself.”
He helped her down so that she could look around. She gasped when she saw the five ancient stones standing in a small circle on the flat top of a hill. “Druid stones? They’re magnificent.” But then she noticed the much larger range of hills in the distance. “Isn’t that the border?”
“Aye.”
She shivered. “Is it safe to be so close without a guard?”
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Mary. You have nothing to fear.”
She held his gaze. He could tell she didn’t believe him, and it struck something cold in his heart. A wry smile turned her mouth. “I’ve heard that promise before.”
His mouth hardened, and he tried not to feel the prick of jealousy.Atholl. “But not by me. I’m not your first husband, Mary.”
She looked up at him, blinking in the sunlight. “No, no you’re not.”
“What did he do to make you so cynical?”
“Cynical?” she repeated, as if she’d never made the connection. “I suppose you are right. Atholl swore to protect us, but he gave no thought to what would happen to us when he rebelled. He cared more about glory and being a hero than he did about a wife and son. Aye, he protected us as long as it didn’t interfere with what he wanted to do. I asked him to take us with him, but he refused. He said we would be safe. That he would come back for us if something went wrong. I trusted him. But of course, he never did. He abandoned us to Edward’s mercy, and I was left to pick up the pieces of his decisions. Decisions that took everything from me—my son, my home, my family—but which I never had a say in.”
Kenneth felt a prickle—nay, a stab—of unease. “That’s why you wanted me to give you that promise?”
She gazed up at him. “Aye. I swore I’d never let a man put me in that kind of position again.”
Ah hell. It wasn’t the same, he told himself. Hewouldprotect her. He didn’t just care about the glory. That wasn’t why he was so intent on joining the Highland Guard. At least not all of it. He wasn’t making choices for her. She would want to go when the time came.
But all the rationalizing in the world couldn’t erase the flicker of unease that had crept over the day like a dark shadow. “Come,” he said, taking a bag from the horse. “I’ve a surprise for you.”
The wariness was back. “I don’t need any more surprises.”
“Perhaps not, but you’ll like it all the same.”
He was right. A few minutes later, after he’d led her over to the circle of stones, spread out a plaid for her to sit on, and handed her the bundle, she moaned with delight at the scent of cinnamon and caramel that wafted from beneath the piece of linen. “More sugar buns? I’m going to be as fat as that old cat that hangs around the barn, if you keep having the cook bake these for me.”
“I like you curvy.”
She didn’t respond; she was too busy biting into the crusty sugarcoated round of bread. The sounds she made went right to his cock—as did the look of rapture on her face.
Jesus. He adjusted his breeches. A woman shouldn’t look like that unless she was naked and under him.
She finished chewing and looked up at him, realizing he was watching her. “Don’t you want any?”
He shook his head. “I’d rather watch you.” He reached over, running the pad of his finger over her upper lip.
She sucked in her breath, wide-eyed.
He lowered his mouth to hers. “You have a little bit of sugar right here.”
He wanted to lick it off, but instead he swiped it with his finger and brought it to his mouth. “Hmmm. Very sweet.”
