Chapter 13
She entered the stables quarter past noon. Lash knew it was her for the scent of rosemary and jasmine that made its way to his nostrils. Always it lingered in her wake. He paused in the act of rubbing down a young copper thoroughbred, allowing her sweet fragrance to wash over him.
He hadn’t asked permission to be in the stables, but then, the confines of the castle had become unbearable since the Highlander announced their confinement the day before. He was healing. And the more he regained his strength, the more intolerable it became. The stables were more comfortable, the caring of horses familiar.
Lash circled the horse, and Honoria’s bright countenance appeared in his line of vision. She was so damned beautiful, dressed in a simple blue day dress and wrapped in tartan wool. A few curls had escaped the confines of her braid and stuck out from all sides, windswept, her cheeks tinged with a soft rosy hue.
She struck him speechless. Every damn time.
“He’s a big beastie, is he not?” she said as she approached them, her lips widening into a grin as she trailed a hand of the colt’s neck. “I named him Bach.”
“He’syours?” Lash managed to find his voice.
“Aye, Adair bought him last year as a consolation gift after declining my request to join them in Edinburgh. I have many of those.”
“Horses?”
She gave a rueful laugh. “Consolation gifts.”
“Why do they not take you with them? Seems like less trouble.”
“Numerous reasons, I suppose, though I suspect the foremost being they do not wish for me to intrude while they are off philandering.”
Lash blinked. “A lady should not know of such things.”
“And yet I do,” she murmured, her gaze settling lovingly on the horse. “Most men seem to be under the assumption they are good at keeping secrets, when in fact, they are not.”
The edge of his mouth twitched. “I suppose we are not.”
Her incredulous gaze flew to him. “You are not going to argue? Straighten your spine and march off offended?”
“Will there be any point?”
She laughed. “Nay. If only my brothers could stop treating me like a bairn. They are determined to nurse me until I am an old maid.”
“You are certainly no infant.” He swept her curves with a look of appreciation. “You are all woman from where I stand.”
“Try and tell them that.” Her cheeks flushed with color.
Lash grinned. She was beautiful when flustered. Had he been her brother, he’d lock her away from any men who came courting, especially someone likehim. There was no denying the more time he spent with her, the more fascinated he became.
Had he been a better man, he’d have scolded the Highlander fornotkeeping her away from him. But Lash was too bloody selfish to risk the man forbidding Honoria to be near him. No matter how he tried to shut her out of his mind, she kept breaking through all of his barriers. Their lives might take them on different paths, but for the time being, he could at least be near her.
“Are you certain you should be doing that?” She motioned to Bach and the brush in his hand. “You ought to be resting to regain your strength. I should dress your wound again.”
“I seem to recall you had no problem forcing me to dance in the garden the day before.”
“I was testing your strength,” she replied, tickling the back of Bach’s ears. “And since youaremuch recovered, perhaps you would like to go for a ride?”
His eyes snapped to hers. “That’s not a good idea, Honoria. Your brother is right to keep you confined to the castle. You shouldn’t even be in the stables.”
“Neither should you,” she countered.
Lash shook his head. “I blend in with the stable hands, you do not.”
Her lips pouted. “I’m dying for a run through the fields. We shan’t go far.” She offered a sweet smile. “You will be safe with me.”
She was the last person he was safe with. She was downright lethal. If they were to be alone . . . Without any prying eyes . . . That was the polar opposite of safe. The temptation to kiss her would be impossible to resist. And there was Danior, scouring the countryside.
