“If ye wish a swim instead o’ a fight, I can wait.”
Saidh whirled around with surprise at that comment, startled to find Greer not only there, but off his horse and crossing the clearing toward her. How had he arrived and dismounted without her hearing? The question blazed through her thoughts, but she already knew the answer. She hadn’t really been present in that clearing in that moment, she’d been off in her head in another moment in that clearing and ogling the man’s naked chest in her mind. He was obviously a distracting devil.
“I can swim another time,” she said raising her chin as he drew close enough that she had to do so to meet his gaze, or speak to his chest.
“A shame. I would ha’e enjoyed watching ye strip away yer braies and gown and slip into the water,” he said with a grin.
Saidh blinked at the words, her nipples tightening in response to the thought of removing her clothes under the hot gaze of this man and then letting the cool water soothe the heat his eyes caused. Scowling with irritation at her body’s response, Saidh shook her head. “In yer dreams, me laird.”
“Aye. Ye’ve done that and much more in me dreams,” he admitted and then grinned at the blush that rose up into her cheeks.
Saidh didn’t know quite how to respond to that, so was relieved when he took on a more serious expression and backed away to withdraw his own sword from his sheath. He didn’t raise it though, but arched an eyebrow instead and asked, “Are ye going to fight like that?”
Saidh glanced down at her dress and then raised an eyebrow of her own. “Ye expected me to strip to battle with ye?”
“Jest yer dress. Ye’ve braies under it,” he pointed out.
“Aye,” she agreed, “But braies do no’ cover me duckies.”
“Duckies?” he asked uncertainly.
“ ’Tis what me youngest brother calls me teats,” she explained with amusement and was interested to see the flush that suddenly rose on his cheeks as his gaze dropped to the items in question.
“I do no’ mind if yer duckies are no’ covered,” he said, his voice almost a growl.
Saidh snorted at the claim. “I’m sure ye do no’,” she said dryly and slid her sword back into her sheath, then bent forward and reached between her legs for the back of her gown. Straightening, she pulled the cloth with her and tucked it into the belt that held the sheath at her waist. It probably wasn’t attractive, she acknowledged, but it would keep her skirts out of the way while they fought, yet her legs were decently covered by the braies still.
Satisfied, she withdrew her sword again and faced him. “Come on then. ’Tis time I trounced ye.”
“Ah lass,” he said with a slow smile. “I made me living wielding me sword. ’Tis you I fear is about to be trounced.”
“We shall see,” Saidh said, unintimidated, and lunged at him, swinging.
Greer met her sword with his own, his eyes wide with surprise at the attack. He fended another swing easily, but said, “Mayhap we should be using wooden swords fer this. I’d no wish to see ye hurt.”
“Or mayhap yer afraid yer the one who will get hurt,” she suggested, swinging again. As their swords met, she added, “But ye’ll not. I ken how to control me sword, and this is just fer play, no’ to injure ye.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Greer said with amusement, getting in a couple of swings of his own that she had to block. Saidh fended him off easily enough and was winding up to swing at him again when her skirt suddenly came unraveled and tangled around her legs.
Startled, she stumbled back to avoid hitting Greer in an uncontrolled swing as she struggled to maintain her balance, and then gasped with surprise as cold water rushed over her foot one moment before she tumbled back into the lake. Saidh landed on her bottom, her head and chest briefly falling backward under the water. She gulped a mouthful of the stuff as she cried out in surprise, and then quickly pushed herself into a sitting position so that her head and neck, at least, were out of the water.
Spitting out more curses than water, Saidh floundered briefly and flailed about with both hands, slapping her sword wildly about as she tried to maintain some balance and keep from falling back in the water again. Then she stabbed her sword into the wet dirt beside her and clung to it to get to her knees as the loch tried to wash her out and away from shore.
Pausing on her knees, Saidh released the sword with one hand to push her hair off her face and scowled around until she found Greer standing several feet back, his chin hanging down onto his chest and his eyes as wide as chicken eggs in his head.
“Well?” she growled, glaring at him. “Are ye going to help me or no’?”
Greer’s mouth snapped closed and he smiled that infuriating smile of his. “I’m no’ sure. Are ye done waving yer sword about like a madwoman?”
“Ye can see ’tis buried in the dirt,” she growled furiously.
“Aye. And tis a piss-poor way to treat such a fine weapon,” he said at once.
“I shall clean and sharpen it when I get back to the castle,” Saidh said grimly, frowning at the hilt of her sword now. Truly, thrusting it into the ground was no way to treat a sword as fine as hers, but she’d been desperate. She still was. Her gown was heavy, and the braies underneath were just weighing her down more. Aside from that, it felt like the waves washing around her were trying to take her out to the middle of the loch with them as they rolled away from her.
“Do ye ken the proper way to clean and sharpen a blade?” Greer asked with interest.
Saidh didn’t bother to respond but simply shook her head and staggered to her feet in the water. It was much harder than one would think. The ground was soft beneath her, shifting with her movement and her gown was hampering her horribly. But she got upright and immediately pulled her sword from the ground. The moment she’d returned it to its sheath, Greer was there, scooping her up into his arms.