“Okay.”
He took my hand and began leading us down the steps again.
I asked, “ Why did you stop and kiss me on the stairs?”
“Because I hae been tae yer home and as we came down the stairs I was thinkin’ twas verra different here, ye are far away, and I thought ye needed a kiss, I could tell.”
“I did, you guessed correctly.”
He drew me down the passageway, darkened for lack of windows, but enough ambient light that we could make out our way to the door. He opened and we went in.
He asked, “Would ye like tae go tae bed?”
“In the middle of the afternoon, good sir? But it took so long to get dressed! And won’t there be a meal soon, I am famished, must be all this fresh air, and... no, I don’t think we can go to bed.”
“Och nae,” his face fell.
I smiled. “But we could do something else fun.”
His eyes went wide. His arms went around me and pulled me close. “Like what?”
“We could just—” We were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Lochie dropped his arms and we stepped apart as a maid entered. “Dost m’lady need anything?”
“No, I don’t need anything, thank you.”
“Would ye like me tae wait for ye?”
Lochie said, “Nae, we need some privacy.”
“Aye, sire.” She backed from the room.
Lochie’s arms went around me again. “What were ye sayin’, Ash?”
“I thought we might just access our fun, private parts under our skirts.”
“Tis a verra good idea...” He kissed my neck. “It has been centuries since I...” But then he straightened. “But och nae, Ash, it means I winna get tae see yer form. I hae only gotten the one look at ye, on the one night and briefly in the mornin’, it daena seem fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, Lochie, but we will do our best, next time I am undressed I will let you really look.” I put my good arm up around his neck and we kissed long and luxuriously.
While kissing me, he began drawing my skirts up. There were two layers of fabric, it took a few moments to bunch them up on the sides, and then — we heard many men running down the hall.
He froze.
Men shouted to each other as they passed the door.
Still holding my skirts up he faced the door listening.
I whispered, “What is happening?”
“Somethin’ has caused them tae go on alert.” He let my skirts drop down. He looked down on me. “I must go and check what is happenin’. Quentin and James hae gone on a supply run, and with Sean gone, Lizbeth’s husband, Liam, will need me. He has been left in charge.”
I shook my head. “But... what will I do?”
He kind of looked right and left in dismay as more commotion sounded outside. “I daena ken where tae take ye, ye need tae stay here. I am sorry, Ash, I need tae go see what the commotion is.”
My heart pounded. “I can’t come with you?”
