“Four or five, maybe six.”
He growled with disapproval as he leaned down and tasted her lips. Sweet as the honey her worthless father used to produce and sell. But this lass was unsure of herself and didn’t know what priceless gifts she possessed to share with the right man—one man. God forgive him. He hoped to be that lucky bastard someday. Now wasn’t the time, and if he pressed her for more than this mere sampling of her mouth, he feared he’d never be able to stop himself.
“Kali,” he whispered as he regrettably disentangled himself from her arms.
Kali took a step back and straightened her hair, clearing her throat. “Have I offended ye?”
“Offended me?” He shook his head. “Nay, lass. “Ye’ve given me reason to hope. If we… If I…” He stumbled mentally as he tried to collect his thoughts. “I would woo ye formally, lass. Like a lady of yer birth deserves. Not with stolen kisses and seduction.”
He kissed her forehead before leaving the tower, his body hot with desire—his heart thudding uncontrollably.Hope…The lass had dropped her guard just enough to give him a glimpse of the real woman behind her protective barrier. And that’s the woman he wanted to know more…to win.
Chapter Eight
“Shopping?” Sam eyed his friend with trepidation. “The laird’s heir wishes to visit the village merchants?”
Adam glared at his closest friend in warning. “Doona push me, Sam.”
“And what are ye looking for? Ribbons? Fancy buttons?”
Adam mounted his horse. “Go and boil yer head.” He would never hear the end of this. Never. ’Tis why he had asked Sam to accompany him. If the twins, James and Joseph, had been included, he would’ve gotten into a brawl with all three. That sort of thing hadn’t happened since he was but a lad of fifteen, and they’d grown up together, trained together, eaten and slept in the same barracks, and now protected their clan together. A brotherhood that nothing could destroy.
Adam had chosen to leave at first light, thereby avoiding the morning meal in the great hall, and possibly meeting his sire there. If his father inquired as to his whereabouts, Adam had already told the stable lad he was riding out to check on the west pasture. No one would question him, of course, and his father left the running of the clan to him most of the time…but, he would not risk Kali being found out.
The lass had come to dominate his thoughts. Even more now that she had shown herself to be the kindest of women, willing to spend her precious coin on the orphans.
“All right,” Sam called to him as they rode side by side in silence. “I am sorry.”
Adam grinned at him. “We are on a secret mission.”
“Aye?”
Adam nodded.
“For the laird?”
“Nay.”
“Who then?”
“The lass.”
Sam seemed to mull it over in his mind. “What lass?”
Adam gritted his teeth and slowed his mount. “Are ye trying to wiggle yer way under me skin?”
Sam’s smirk was answer enough. The two had always been in competition with each other—who was the strongest, best with a sword, the fastest eater, and the one Adam took no pride in—who had bedded the most lasses.
“’Tis only a test.”
“For what purpose?” Adam asked.
“To see if ye are completely smitten with Lady Kali.”
“I am no’ smitten, simply acting on behalf of her interests.”
Adam explained what items Kali had requested and why—leaving Sam a bit less enthusiastic about teasing him.
“She’s a fine woman, Adam.”
