While Saidh gasped, and shifted, throwing one leg over both of his, instinctively rubbing her core against his hip, Greer was quite sure she was still asleep. Her leg shifted again, rolling over his cock then and he almost groaned aloud at the sensation, dismayed to find he was already hard again. Fighting the urge to roll on top of her, Greer forced himself to still both his hands. He desperately wanted to do what he had managed not to do the first time. It would take little effort to slide her braes down her hips and sink himself in all that wet heat he knew awaited him. He was quite sure Saidh would not only allow it, but engage in it eagerly, however she was a lady and deserved better than a roll in the grass . . . whether she’d enjoy it or not.
Determined to take the high road, Greer eased gently out from beneath Saidh and got to his feet, smiling faintly when she grumbled unhappily in her sleep at the loss of him. The smile died though when his plaid slapped wet against his thigh and he glanced to see the mess that this little adventure had left on his plaid. There was no doubting what the stain was, nor the one on the front of her gown, he realized with a frown as he glanced to Saidh and noted it. It would seem his plaid had risen as he humped her and they’d both received a portion of his pleasure when he’d found it.
It had been a hell of a lot of pleasure, he noted, somewhat impressed with himself, and then he bent to scoop her up in his arms. They couldn’t return to the castle in this state or all would know what they’d been about. He wouldn’t see her ruined that way. He had plans for her that did not include leaving her reputation in tatters.
Saidh snuggled her face into his neck with a happy little sigh, her breath warm against his throat, and Greer found himself smiling once again. The woman was like a soft sweet kitten, nuzzling him like that, he thought as he started into the water. A kitten with claws was his next thought when the cold water reached her and she came awake with a squawk of dismay and began to fight for her release.
“ ’Tis a’right,” Greer soothed, continuing forward into the water. “We jest need to—” His words ended on a roar of pain as her nails dug into his neck and shoulder, and he instinctively loosened his hold, not thinking, just eager to escape the pain even if it meant dropping her in the water. But Saidh had no intention of going into the water, in fact that was what she was trying to escape and rather than drop like a stone, she stuck her feet into his leg and groin, dug her claws into his head and neck and tried to climb out of the water using him as the ladder.
Greer wrestled with her briefly, trying to disengage her and then simply threw himself forward so that they both went under. It didn’t exactly have the desired effect, for rather than release him and lunge for the surface, Saidh tried to climb on top of him, pushing him down in the water as she struggled upward. He ended up facedown at the bottom of the lake with her standing on his arse. Greer was about to force himself to his knees and upward, uncaring that it would knock her off and under the water’s surface again, when she was suddenly off his arse and he found himself being tugged upward by a hand tangled in his hair.
“What are ye trying to do? Drown yerself?” she bellowed, yanking his head out of the water.
Greer sputtered out the water he’d swallowed and pulled her hand from his hair as he found his feet and straightened in the chest-deep water. He then turned to glower at the woman. “Nay. Yer the one who was trying to do that.”
“Me?” she squawked with disbelief. “The last thing I remember I was curled up on dry land, and then I was suddenly plunged into ice cold water. I’m no’ the one trying to drown anyone. Ye were.” Her eyes narrowed on his still scowling face. “Did ye drown Allen too? Lull him into a nice nap and then toss him into the lake to drown?”
“O’ course not. I’d hardly do to Allen what we just did,” he pointed out dryly, but his temper was cooling now. Probably a combination of the ice cold water and the fact that the woman much resembled the cat he’d been thinking of her as, but a drowned cat this time. Smiling crookedly, he explained, “I made a mess o’ both o’ us when we found our pleasure. We could no’ return to the castle in the state we were in, so I thought it best we take a quick dip in the water to wash it away.”
He saw the bewilderment on her face, and knew she didn’t have a clue what he meant. Then she scowled and said, “Well, next time warn a lass. I did no’ ken what was happening.”
Greer merely grunted, then caught her arm and began to drag her toward shore, knowing that getting out of the water with her wet clothes dragging her down would be a struggle without his aid. He scooped her up into his arms once they were only knee-deep in the loch, and then staggered under the weight. Damn, women’s clothing was heavy as hell when wet, he thought grimly once he’d regained his balance.
“Thank ye,” Saidh said once he’d set her on her horse, but he couldn’t help noticing that she sounded more resentful than grateful.
Shaking his head, he moved to his own mount without comment.
Chapter 5
“Where ha’e ye been?”
Saidh winced at Fenella’s shriek and pushed her chamber door closed with resignation. Calmly she replied, “I came to check on ye this morn but ye were in yer bath, so I went fer a short ride.”
“Short?” Fenella asked with amazement. “Ye were gone fer hours.”
“ ’Twas no’ that long,” Saidh argued weakly, although she wasn’t really sure. It had seemed like a moment and a lifetime all at the same time. What she’d experienced had been life altering, to Saidh’s mind, and she couldn’t wait to go back to the loch for more battle practice with Greer. If he was willing, she thought with a sudden frown. He hadn’t said anything about meeting by the loch again.
“Did ye enjoy yer ride?” Fenella asked on a sigh.
“Oh, aye,” Saidh answered with a smile, recalling how she’d straddled Greer, her hips shifting and body rubbing against his as he caressed her breasts. It had been a most enjoyable ride. Although she’d liked it better when he’d rolled her over and come down on top of her, his body pressing urgently against her own.
“Did ye get wet?”
Saidh blinked at the question. She had indeed gotten wet, but didn’t think Fenella was talking about the dampness between her legs that her excitement had caused, and she hadn’t told the girl about getting dunked in the loch.
“ ’Twas cloudy this morning and looked as if it might rain,” Fenella explained. “Did it? Were ye caught in a rain during yer ride?”