Page 64 of Highlander’s Haunted Past

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The party rode silently through the hills, the only sound between them the occasional cough and dull thud of their horses’ hooves as they broke through the thin layer of frost clinging to the grass. It was barely bright enough to see the ground in front of them, for the sun hadn’t even risen.

They hadn’t intended to get up in the early hours of the morning and pack up camp, but it had been too cold to sleep any longer. Rob had been laying alone in his tent, wishing that Kenna was in his arms when he had given up and abandoned all hope for sleep—only to find that half of his men were already awake, shivering, and impatient. They roused the rest and packed up quickly, knowing that they could reach the warmth of the castle before they served breakfast if they rode at a decent pace.

Rob rode up beside Kenna, who looked dazed and sleepy as she nestled into the fur lining of her cloak. She gave him a groggy look and asked, “Are we there yet?”

“Ye’ll be able to see it as soon as we get to the top of this hill.”

She nodded slowly, fighting back a yawn as their horses climbed the hill.

Hugh came up beside them, slipping his horse between them. “Father is already telling me about all the chores we’ll be stuck with when we get to Dounie.”

“Great.” Rob sighed, knowing that it was unlikely for him to get either a bath or a nap before he was sent away to settle whatever hadn’t been done while they had been off waging war for Queen Mary.

As they approached the top of the hill, Rob pulled back on his horse’s reins ever so slightly, allowing Hugh to ride ahead so he could maneuver himself back to Kenna’s side just as the rode slopped and flattened at the hill’s peak.

Down below and off in the distance, a large castle built of brown stone sat in the middle of a large field. Towers both squared and rounded rose up into the air and were topped by parapets and bright red flags, which were swaying gently in the morning breeze. Rob looked over to Kenna, watching as her eyes widened ever so slightly at the sight.

He leaned over, whispering teasingly in her ear, “Ye couldna of thought ye were the only one who grew up in a fancy castle.”

Her blue eyes rolled over to him. “Amazing that ye turned out so brutish anyway.”

“Rob.” Hugh called back Rob’s attention and occupied them with talk of chores and hunting.

The conversation carried them all the way to the castle until, at last, they passed through the gates.

As they had been coming up the road, a few shouts had echoed out from the castle courtyard, announcing their return. By the time that they reached the castle’s yard, hordes of castle residents had come out to greet them: old men eager to hear of the fight; wives looking to see if their husbands were amongst the living; and servants with arms piled high with warmed bricks for their hands and hot bannocks for their stomachs. The eagerness in the air was palpable and, for the first time in months, Rob felt himself truly relax.

This was home. No matter how much he loved the adventures of the road, there was nothing quite like Dounie. And now he would be able to share that with Kenna. Though, as he looked at the crowd, he wasn’t so sure he was ready to share her with them yet. He needed some time with her to himself, time that they had been sorely missing in the days since leaving Inverness. He had private things he wished to discuss with her, and even more private things he wished to do with her.

Rob dismounted and began to move through the crowd, swiftly slipping in and out of the embraces of his clansmen and relatives until he reached Kenna’s side. She had barely dismounted and was pretending to adjust one of the knots on her saddle so that she wouldn’t have to turn and face the crowd. He could not blame her for her trepidation: the last time that she had been exposed to so many new people, she had found herself the subject of treacherous rumors.

Rob came up beside her, but kept his back to her as he softly asked, “Deal with endless introductions and questions, or try and escape to the bedchambers?”

He heard a soft intake of breath before she softly whispered, “Escape.”

Carefully, hoping that the motion would pass by unnoticed, he reached out and let his fingers brush up against the small of her back as he passed alongside her. He dared half a glance back as he walked away, and noticed with pleasure that Kenna was following him, her face lowered but unmistakably flushed.

Rob made his way toward the nearest doorway into the castle, eager for a bit of shelter from the prying eyes of the crowd. They were mere paces away from getting away with their private exit when a few children went sprinting by, all chasing after one lad who had been given a large jar of sweet strawberry jam. Rob jumped forward before any of them could crash into him, but Kenna, who had been diligently looking at the ground, had no such luck. With a thud, one of the larger boys caught Kenna’s shoulder, and she stumbled. Rob reached out, catching her in his arms before she had a chance to fall.

Glances that Rob had already felt tickling the back of his neck were now full stares. And then he knew those stares were shifting to the woman in his arms. An almost collective gasp rippled out from around them as if everyone was realizing all at once that Kenna was not someone they knew, and yet there she was being held so comfortably in the arms of the man that they had thought to be a hopeless bachelor. Rob tensed, bracing himself for the typhoon of questions that were surely about to crash against them like waves on a cliff, but a single loud voice seemed to suddenly come rising out from the crowd, pulling the stares away from Rob and Kenna for the briefest of moments.

“Well, ‘tis good to see ye all, but I am afraid that we are all exhausted and in need of baths. Murtagh especially,” Florence said. “Come along now, might you start…”

Rob hadn’t waited to hear the rest, for it was just the distraction he needed to make his retreat with Kenna. With her hand in his, he pulled her through the doorway and into the castle. Kenna laughed as Rob rushed her along, taking her up winding staircases and through a maze of halls until, finally, they reached a long, sun-soaked hall with a series of doors along one side.

“Hugh and Ellen’s room,” Rob said, pointing at the first door they passed by.

“Florence’s room,” Rob said as they passed the second.

“And finally.” Rob came to a stop in front of the last door in the hall. “Mine.”

With one swift motion, he pushed the door in and scooped Kenna into his arms. He carried her across the threshold and kicked the door shut behind them. His mouth descended onto hers, and the damn woman’s lips parted, and she pressed eagerly into him. Rob carried her to the bed and playfully dropped her.

She laughed and then bit her lip as he started to pull off his cloak and shirt, her eyes roving the muscles of his chest as he slowly revealed them to her. How had he lasted so long without this woman?

He got onto the bed, crouching over her as she stared up at him with eyes that were so full of longing that he felt every drop of his blood begin to rush beneath his kilt.