As if he is nae from this time.
She inhaled a sharp breath. “I’m not foolish enough to jump off a horse.”
“Good to know,” he replied, removing his arm immediately, just as he’d promised. She scooted as far forward as the horse would allow and finally broke the contact with Reikart’s heavily muscled inner thighs, which she had been situated between. Now that the contact was gone, she realized she’d not really felt caged between his warm thighs. She’d felt protected. Good God above, she was falling under the same spell her sister must have been under.
Maybe sheshouldattempt to jump. She glanced toward the ground as it blurred by, dismayed by the speed and the narrow path they were now on. The cliff’s edge was very close, making jumping out of the question. She had no wish to die.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Reikart suddenly said, his arm coming around her waist once more and tugging her gently back against his hard chest. “I saw you look at the ground.”
“I judged it too dangerous to jump, so ye can release me,” she said, adopting the cool, aloof mannerisms that had protected her so well in the past.
“Sorry, Deirdre. I can’t do that.”
The man had no manners not calling her Lady Deirdre, but then again, if he was not from this time… She squeezed her eyes shut on the thought.
“I’ll feel better with a hold on you until you’ve accepted the truth,” Reikart said, causing her to open her eyes once more. His arm brushed the underside of her breasts as he adjusted his position, which made her belly clench. She’d never been touched there by anyone. A tingling sensation seemed to dance over her skin, and she wiggled to rid herself of it.
Immediately, Reikart set a hand on her hip. “Please don’t do that,” he said, his mouth close to her ear. His warm breath tickled her neck and earlobe, and the tightening in her belly moved lower. She had to clench her teeth not to gasp at the feelings she was experiencing. They weren’t at all unpleasant, just different—and worrisome considering she had accused Reikart of consorting with the Devil. Involuntarily, she wiggled again, and Reikart groaned behind her, his long, strong fingers curling around her thigh in a tighter hold.
“Are you trying to tempt me?” he demanded, his voice ragged.
“Nay!” she said, starting to wiggle again. She quickly stopped the reaction as she came up against the arousal she’d inspired. Shock flew through her. “Ye want me,” she blurted, her face flaming the minute the words were out of her mouth.
“Well, let’s see. I’m a red-blooded male, and you’re a damn beautiful woman. Hell yeah, my body wants you, though my head knows it’s the stupidest idea ever. You know what they say about men and their heads…”
She shyly shook her head.
“Of course you don’t,” he replied, his breath once again washing over the exposed skin of her neck and making her shiver. “It’s the thirteenth century and all. I wasn’t thinking.”
“What do they say?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“I… Ah, it’s not something that would be considered polite conversation in my time, let alone yours.”
If she were wise, she would quit speaking to him. Instead, she said, “I doubt whatever ye were going to say could be more shocking than the things men have said to me at Court, nor the things ye claim to be true.”
“I thought men in your time were supposed to be chivalrous.”
“Not to a woman they consider beneath them.”
His arm tensed noticeably around her waist, as did his thighs, which clenched around her as if to protect her. God’s teeth, she was a clot-heid for having such a thought. “What do they say?” she prodded again in an attempt to distract herself from her other ridiculous thoughts.
His lips grazed her earlobe as he spoke. “That men are more prone to think with the head between their legs than the one that sits on their shoulders.”
She gasped at both his words and the heat that overwhelmed her from his nearness.
He let out a deep chuckle that rumbled over her and intensified the heat already claiming her. “I did warn you.”
“Aye,” she said, “ye did.” Thoughts came to her as they rode along, and she became aware of how well he handled the destrier. “Do ye ride a great deal where ye are from?” she asked, probing.
“Not anymore. When I was younger I rode all the time, at my mom’s encouragement, but now only on occasional weekends.”
“How do ye get around, then?”
“A car.”
“What is a car?” she asked.
“It’s like a chariot, but much faster and usually closed in.”
