"Do ye intend to lay upon me all day aspoutin' your pretty words, m'laird?" she interrupted in a decidedly bored tone. "Or shall ye let me up?"
Blake stiffened at her words as Little George and Lord Rolfe arrived, their saddles conspicuously empty of women. Turning his head toward them, he raised an eyebrow, and Little George quickly explained.
"The men caught us up right after ye flew after the girl. We left the other two with them while we followed to see if you needed any help. Howbeit, 'tis obvious you have all in hand here."
"Oh, aye," Blake agreed dryly. Shaking his head, he got slowly to his feet before offering a hand to Seonaid. Much to his surprise, she accepted the offer of assistance. He realized his mistake almost at once, for she did not use his hand in order to raise herself up, but instead to pull him down. He'd barely understood the meaning behind the sudden tug to his hand when he felt her foot lodge itself somewhere in the vicinity of his groin. Then he was sailing through the air, somersaulting over her head onto his back with a crash that reverberated through his entire body. He did not even notice she had regained her footing and was charging toward the woods once more.
"Are you all right?" The smile Little George struggled to hide as he slid off his mount took away somewhat from the concern underlying the question.
"Of course he is all right." Still seated on his mount, Lord Rolfe didn't even try to hide his amusement. "He is handling the matter, can you not see that?"
Groaning, Blake shifted onto his side, then got gingerly to his feet, wincing at the pain in his lower regions as he did. "Which way did she go?" he muttered as soon as the pain had lessened enough to allow speech.
Little George pointed toward the woods and Blake groaned, took a step toward his horse, then shook his head and set out on foot. It seemed to him it would be less painful to run than to set his jewels on a horse's back to be bounced about.
After several moments of running, he had to wonder if he hadn't made the wrong decision. It seemed to him this little jog merely exacerbated the pain he was suffering. And the wench proved quick on her feet, certainly faster than he'd expected. He almost doubted he could catch her up, and it was both a surprise and a relief when he actually managed to close the distance between them enough that he could lunge forward and tumble her to the ground once more. There they tussled briefly before he managed to subdue her using his maltreated body. After the abuse he'd suffered at her hands, it was almost a relief when she gave up struggling and began to spit curse after curse at him. Some of them actually made him flush. Where the devil had she learned such a litany? Good God, she knew more curses than he did.
He gave her a shake to silence her, then sighed and shook his head. "Your tongue is as sharp as your blade, my lady."
Seonaid's eyes widened slightly at his tone of voice as he made the announcement. "Ye almost sound admiring, Sassenach."
"Aye, for truly I do appreciate your wit." When he saw her eyes narrow, he grimaced and raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to continue this behavior all the way to Dunbar?"
"Did ye think I'd make it easy on ye?"
"Nay, but I fear I should warn you, should you continue to try to escape, forcing me to chase and tumble you, I may be moved to anticipate the exchanging of the bands and consummate the marriage before we even reach your land. 'Tis fair true the feel of your body squirming beneath me fans fires I did not think you could."
As he'd expected, Seonaid stilled at once. Blake smiled widely. "Ah, my lady, you fair wound me. Would you not wish to handfast with me? 'Tis what it is called, is it not?"
She was frowning at him oddly, her nose twitching.
Raising his eyebrows, he lifted himself slightly from her body. "What?"
"Is that you?"
"What?"
"Ye smell like a bloody barn. Could ye no bathe before ye came to fetch me?"
Blake pushed himself away from her at once, then reached a hand down to help her up, pulling it back as he recalled what had happened the last time.
Amusement on her face, Seonaid rose under her own impetus and led him toward the horses as they broke into the clearing. This time, all of them were there; Lord Rolfe and Little George had the women before them again, and the bishop, the three Scots, and the men-at-arms were all in attendance. Ignoring their presence, Seonaid moved to Blake's horse in silent surrender, but paused before mounting him and glanced back at Blake where he still stood watching her. "By the by, about anticipatin' the weddin'? I think ye should be aware of all things afore ye make yer decision."
"Such as?"
"Such as while ye've taken away me sword, I still have me sgian dubh an' I'll no hesitate to use it should ye try anything. 'Twould be a fair shame for your lovely deep voice to suddenly start singin' high."
Turning away, she mounted the horse, her expression cold as she waited for him to climb up behind her.
"What is a sgian dubh?"
Rolfe, Bishop Wykeham, and Little George peered up blankly from their positions around the fire. They had ridden throughout the day, traveling at a slower pace than usual to avoid taxing the overburdened horses. Now they sat, relaxing about the fire they had prepared as darkness had settled over the land. Seonaid, Aeldra, and Helen were all just beyond the trees, bathing in the cool river water. Blake had considered setting a guard on them but had decided against it. Instead he'd set six guards on the horses. The women could not flee far without horses.
The thought of horses made Blake shift uncomfortably. He did not know how the other two men had faired, but for himself, it had been a hell of an uncomfortable ride, and he was grateful to finally be able to rest. His lower body still ached from the kick he'd received. Eight hours of riding hadn't aided in his recovery much, and he'd spent most of the ride torn between warily watching the woman who sat so stiff and still before him and trying to ignore the odd sensations holding her so close caused.
The whole venture had taken an unexpected turn for Blake. He'd started out as reluctant as a man on the way to the Tower. Now he could not really say how he felt. Part of him still balked at marrying the wench, but another part, the same part presently aching from her kick, showed some interest in at least the consumation of the wedding. Much to his dismay, his Amazon betrothed was extracting all sorts of interest from his body. He'd seen the first signs while wrestling with her in the woods, but his interest had continued and even intensified throughout the day. Truly, he'd cursed himself a time or two for suggesting that the women be forced to ride with the men. Having her bottom firmly pressed against him had been mightily distracting.
Were that all it was, Blake supposed he could accept his reaction as an aberrant desire, take her to wife, then to bed, and forget about it. But his reactions to the female were a bit more complicated. He hadn't been lying when he'd claimed to enjoy her wit. He did. He enjoyed sparring with her verbally. He'd even enjoyed the chase when she'd fled, first on horseback, then on foot. And damned if their brief struggles hadn't set his heart to pumping with an adrenaline that had given him a sort of thrill. Worse yet, he was even beginning to enjoy her refusal of him. She was a challenge. Blake had never been able to resist a challenge and, to date, no woman had truly offered him one.
"A sgian dubh is a knife, m'laird," the Scot named Gavin answered his question, drawing Blake from his ruminations. " 'Tis about yeah long." He held his hands about six inches apart. "Some of 'em are quite sharp an' nasty, could slit a man's throat clear through, or castrate him in a flash," he added, the twinkle in his eyes revealing he'd overheard Seonaid's threat.
Chapter Six
Seonaid ducked her head under the cold stream water, then straightened and slicked the hair off her face as she peered around the clearing. She suspected there was a guard somewhere, despite the impropriety of it, but could see no one from where she stood in the river.
Her gaze slid to Aeldra and Helen, who were grimly attending to their ablutions next to her. Both of them looked about as downhearted as a pair could be. Seonaid could
n't blame them. She was a bit disheartened herself. They had been captured. Not once, not twice, but three times. Things weren't going quite according to plan, but she hoped to change that.
Sidling closer to Helen in the water, Seonaid nudged her to get her attention. When the other woman turned, she asked in hushed tones, "Helen? Do ye recall which plant yer maid used to make the Camerons sleep?"
The shorter woman appeared surprised at the question but considered it briefly. Finally, she bit her lip and said with uncertainty, "I think I might recognize it again did I see it. Why?"
"I'm thinkin' me betrothed an' the others might need a rest after all their traipsin' around." Seonaid didn't bother to hide the wicked glint in her eyes. A smile widened her lips when Helen's brows flew up.
"Oh, aye, I think ye may be right." Aeldra's grin matched Seonaid's as she joined the conversation. "They can take a little nap whilst we tend to seein' Helen home."
"Aye." Seonaid removed the smile from her face and glanced warily around, concerned their standing about smiling and talking might raise suspicions in their hidden guards. The three women shouldn't be so happy at the moment.
"I shall need to look about the woods a bit," Helen pointed out, looking concerned.
"Aye." Seonaid nodded, but knew searching about the woods could be a problem. They might manage a quick look about did they claim a need to relieve themselves, but she knew getting a lot of time to hunt up the plant wasn't possible.
"Perhaps we could help," Aeldra suggested.
Seonaid nodded. "Ye'll have to tell us what it looks like. We'll split up as if to relieve ourselves an' each bring back what samples we can. Come."
Helen described the plant in question as they waded out of the water. Once on shore, they were silent as they dried off and donned their clothes, then Seonaid announced, "I've a need to find a handy bush."
"As have I," Aeldra said loudly. "I'll go this way." She moved into the woods on the left.