Chapter 12
“Shall we have a race?” she asked him, her competitive spirit rising to the surface. “To see who can ride fastest.”
He shrugged unenthusiastically. “If ye like. And ye dinnae mind bein’ disappointed.”
“Och, ye’re so certain ye’ll win, are ye nae?”
“Why nae? ’Tis obvious who’ll win. However good a rider ye think ye are, me horse is more powerful than yers,” he pointed out, pausing to pat the beast’s head in a rare show of affection.
Olivia silently wished he would show her some of the same fondness.
“Maybe so. Let’s race and find out, shall we?”
She knew she was a good horsewoman, and though he was undoubtedly right about his horse being more powerful than hers, she was determined to put up a good show and do her best to beat him.
“Shall we race to that old burnt elm?” She pointed to where the broken, blackened fingers of an elm blasted by lightning raked the sky about half a mile away.
He nodded. “Aye, all right.”
They leveled up their horses.
“On the count of three. One, two, three!” Olivia cried, kicking her mare into a flying start.
Next to her, Edan’s stallion leaped away, the muscles in its powerful flanks rippling as it powered ahead.
Keeping low in the saddle, Olivia urged her mare to go faster, the beast’s hooves thundering as they flew over the ground towards the tree.
Edan, having the advantage, soon took the lead, but Olivia was not deterred.
To be racing was enough in itself. She felt exhilarated, alive, and did everything she could to close the gap between them, her joyful laughter echoing in her wake.
Of course, Edan reached the tree first. But it was only a few seconds later that she joined him and reined the mare in, panting as she patted her neck and thanked her for her efforts.
Olivia could not keep the grin off her face.
She was pleasantly surprised to see Edan smiling too, looking as if he had enjoyed the race.
“I told ye I’d win,” he said matter-of-factly, not at all out of breath as she was.
“Aye, but only because yer horse is more powerful. Ye said it yerself,” she replied teasingly. “I think Bessie here did a grand job. Extra oats for dinner, old girl.” She scratched the mare’s ears in the way she knew she liked, laughing when Bessie whickered with pleasure.
“Ye’re a grand horsewoman, I’ll give ye that. But I didnae realize ye’re so competitive,” Edan said, eyeing her with curiosity.
Olivia was flattered by the compliment. However, energized by the race and feeling in a mischievous mood, she could not resist taking a little dig at him.
“How could ye? Ye hardly ken anythin’ about me.”
His eyebrows rose sharply at her forthright reply.
After a moment, he said, “Come on, we still havenae reached our destination.”
“All right. Which way is it?”
He turned his horse and pointed to a track running in a north-easterly direction across the moors. Olivia followed his line of sight and spotted a copse of pine trees some distance away along the track.
“All right. I’ll race ye there,” she said, gesturing to the trees.
“Another race? My, ye are competitive,” he replied with what she thought was a ghost of a smile.
It was hard to be certain because his beard concealed so much of his expression, but she was slightly confident she was on the right track as she positioned herself next to him.
“It makes things a bit more interesting,” she said, excited again at the prospect of another challenge. “Are ye ready?”
“Aye.” He nodded.
“All right. On the count of three. One, two…” She took off, laughing. “Three!”
“That’s cheatin’!” she heard him shout as Bessie raced ahead.
But his protest was soon drowned out by her triumphant laughter as she galloped towards the pines. Edan soon caught up with her and powered past her and Bessie without a glance.
“Come on, girl, ye can do it,” she urged Bessie as they drew ever closer to the bridge, her eye on Edan as she strived to catch up to him.
Then, to her disbelief, when he was only a few hundred yards away from the bridge, he suddenly parted from his horse in the most curious way. His horse thundered ahead, while Edan flew through the air and crashed down to earth, closely followed by his saddle.
Terror gripped Olivia.
“Edan!” she shouted, standing up in her stirrups as she urged Bessie forward.
Glancing at his saddle as they sped past, she noticed that the girth strap, which should have held it firmly in place, had sheared off.
How on earth could that have happened?
But she pushed the question aside for the moment, more worried about Edan. She reined Bessie in a few feet away from where he was lying and jumped down.
“Edan, are ye all right?” she asked, skidding to her knees at his side, her heart pounding with fear to see him lying there face down, unmoving. “Edan?”
Holding her breath, she gently put her hands on his shoulders and rolled him over. Brushing his tousled hair from his forehead, she peered at his face, alarmed to see his eyes closed.
For a heart-stopping moment, she feared he might be dead or, at best, unconscious. But then his eyes fluttered open, and he looked up at her dazedly. Relief coursed through her.
“Ach, thank God! I thought ye were…” she trailed off, reflexively stroking his forehead.
However, she knew that just because he was conscious, did not mean he was out of danger. He could well have a concussion or broken bones.
He groaned. “Aye, I think I’m all right,” he murmured, then groaned again as he tried to rub his backside. “Mercifully, this turf is soft and absorbed much of me fall. But I wasnae expectin’ that to happen.” His brow creased into a frown. “In fact. I’ve never seen that happen to anyone before.”
Olivia understood his suspicion, and she shared it too. However, at that moment, she was more worried about any potential injuries.
“Me neither,” she said. “But never mind that for the moment. Did ye bang yer head when ye fell? Ye could have a concussion.”
He gave her a wry smile and rubbed his backside again. “Nay, me arse took the brunt of it, I think,” he replied.
“Ach, ye could have a broken tailbone then,” she fretted. “Let’s see how ye feel when ye try to sit up.” Putting her arms beneath his, she used all her might to help him into a sitting position, crouching at his side. “Is anythin’ broken? Tell me if anythin’ hurts ye.”
She began examining him, lifting his arms and running her hands over his head, shoulders, back, and limbs to see if they were hurt. He sat quietly, watching her with his usual unfathomable expression as she worked.
Despite her fears for him, Olivia’s hands tingled as she touched his powerful, muscular body more intimately than she had ever dared. She felt no embarrassment at all.
“There’s nay need to make such a fuss. I’ve had worse,” he said gruffly.
However, she noticed that he made no move to halt her inspection, which she found encouraging.
“’Tis necessary to make sure all the same,” she insisted, turning his large, calloused hands over in hers, checking for broken wrists or fingers and relieved to find everything intact.
He did not argue, and when she was satisfied he had no serious injuries, she sat back on her heels and smiled at him.
“Well, I’m nay expert, but I cannae find any broken bones, thank goodness—although ye’re bound to have some nasty bruises. But I think ye’ve been very lucky. Ye could have been seriously injured or even killed.”
Her breath caught in her throat when he unexpectedly reached out and grabbed her hand, folding it in his. She looked into his eyes, suddenly burningly conscious of how close their faces were.
“I told ye before,” he said in a low, sensual voice that made her pulse quicken. “I’m nae so easy to kill. Now, will ye help me up?”
“Aye, but be careful. Ye’ll probably be dizzy once ye stand up. Lean on me.”
Small as she was, she got beneath his arm and used her shoulder to help him get to his feet. When he swayed a little, she slid her arms around his waist and propped him up as best as she could.
“How could the girth strap have broken like that?” she asked, looking up at him.
“I dinnae ken. Let’s go and have a look.”
They slowly crossed to where the saddle lay. To her disappointment, Edan extricated himself from her grasp and hunkered down to examine the ends of the broken strap. Olivia crouched next to him.
“It looks like a clean cut,” he said, showing them to her.
Olivia gasped to see he was right.
“Someone did it on purpose!” she exclaimed, horrified.
“Aye. Looks like someone wants to kill me,” he said, letting the broken strap fall and picking up the saddle before standing up.
Olivia rose too, angered by the obvious attempt on his life. She stayed close to his side as he walked towards the horses, for she was still worried about any possible aftereffects of the fall.
“I cannae believe any of the stable hands could be responsible,” she said, her initial suspicions coming strongly to mind.
“Me neither. They ken what would happen to them if they dared,” Edan replied darkly.
They reached the horses, which were now standing together by the bridge, munching on the lush grass. Edan threw down the damaged saddle, then took off Bessie’s saddle and put it on his horse. As he secured the damaged one to Bessie’s back as best as he could, Olivia decided to voice her thoughts.
“Edan, d’ye think it could have been Nurkirk’s doin’? He could have bribed someone to do it, in retaliation for ye throwin’ him out like that.”
“Like young Bobby was bribed to rob ye, ye mean?” he replied, checking that the broken saddle was tied securely.
Olivia nodded. “Aye, exactly. It seems like too much of a coincidence for him nae to be involved.”
“Well, at this moment, I cannae think of anyone else who’d like to kill me. But I have nay proof ’tis him. I’ll have to investigate first before I can do anythin’.”
“Aye, of course. But under the circumstances, I think we should go back home now so the healer can examine ye. That was a nasty fall, whatever ye say,” she told him.
He looked at her sharply. “We’re nae goin’ back. We’re on a date.”
His tone was so commanding that she instantly agreed.
“All right, if ye’re sure,” she relented, yet she was still torn between her concern for his health and her excitement about the date. “But what about the horses? We have only one saddle.”
“We’ll ride together on mine and lead Bessie behind us.”
“Oh,” Olivia murmured with some trepidation before letting out a small gasp of surprise as Edan suddenly seized her by her waist and lifted her onto Hamish as if she were as light as thistledown.
She found the experience of riding on the front of the saddle, between Edan’s thighs, confusing. It was disturbing and deeply pleasurable. Her back rested against his broad chest, and his brawny arms encircled her as he held the reins in his large, scarred, capable-looking hands.
A small, excited shiver ran through her as she looked at them, for she could not help thinking of them touching her. The memory of Edan fastening the locket around her neck, the way his fingers had brushed against her skin and made it tingle, came vividly back to her.
How will it feel when he touches me all over?
She suddenly felt very hot despite the chilly air.
With every movement of the horse, she pressed against him, feeling the heat from his chest and thighs penetrating her clothes, burning the skin beneath, while at the same time sending pleasurable shivers over her skin.
I’d be happy to go on like this forever. I hope we dinnae get to wherever it is we’re goin’ too soon.
So, when he eventually brought them to the edge of the woods and dismounted before lifting her down, she could not help feeling a little bereft.
“We have to walk the rest of the way from here,” he explained as he tethered the horses to a nearby tree, where they had plenty to eat while they waited for their return.
Olivia waited as he took a rolled-up blanket and the saddlebags from Hamish’s back and slung them over his shoulder before turning to her.
“Follow me,” he said, ducking beneath the tree branches, following a narrow trail into the woods.
With no idea what to expect, Olivia did as she was told.