Kissing the Lass (Scot to the Heart #2)

by Charles, Jane

  He started forward but paused. Should he follow her? What if she was meeting someone?

  Or, was this a dowager house of sorts and Arabella was visiting an older woman?

  Should he wait for her to come back out, or should he investigate?

  He should return to the wedding.

  No. He should leave Anagburn and find an inn for the night, then return to England tomorrow. What Miss Arabella was about was none of his concern.

  With that in mind, he stalked around the cottage and back toward the manor. However, a glance to his left had him stopping once again. The back side of the cottage had more windows than the front, but that wasn’t what surprised him. It was the narrow bars, where glass should be, that drew his attention, like a jail of some sort.

  Is this where they kept Lady Bentley after the kidnapping and did MacGregor have a habit of imprisoning people?

  And what exactly was Miss Arabella’s involvement?

  Was it possible they had other prisoners that nobody knew of?

  Gideon strode forward to glance inside. If someone else was being held, should he free them? Ask MacGregor about them, or find another Trent to ask their opinion?

  Taking in the room, Gideon strained to make out any type of figure of a person, but it seemed the vast room was empty. It wasn’t even walled off as a house or cottage would be and had only pillars to support the roof. On the opposite side was a wooden structure with a door, but Miss Arabella was nowhere inside.

  What the blazes was this and why was she even here if they weren’t holding another captive? At least, he thought she was here. This was the building she entered, but it was as if she’d disappeared.

  Retracing his steps, Gideon returned to the entry and opened the door.

  “Are ye daft?” she cried as he stepped inside. “Close the door.”

  He yanked it shut behind him, and Gideon found himself in a small enclosure with Miss Arabella. The door in front of her was the one he’d viewed from the window.

  What manner of place was this and why was she here?

  He did another slow turn. Just inside the door was a table with several pairs of long leather gloves and a leather apron, just like she was wearing right now, and on the back wall, hanging on some pegs were sturdy, worn coats. In her right hand was a bucket which held small pieces of raw meat.

  It took a moment before Gideon realized that he wasn’t in a cottage or jail of sorts, but a mews! At least, that was what he assumed. He’d visited a similar structure before but that building had been taller and rounder, and the lord flew his falcons inside for exercise when they couldn’t be taken out to hunt.

  Gideon stepped back out the door, cracking it only wide enough to slip through and went outside to look in the windows once again, then he slowly smiled. One falcon flew from one perch to another, and another rested higher on a beam.

  He slipped back inside. “Do they hunt?”

  “Aye,” Miss Arabella replied.

  “Why did you yell at me to close the door?” It wasn’t as though the birds could escape.

  “Because, I was just about to open this door to feed the falcons and I canna have them flying out and about with so many guests at Anagburn.”

  He took in her lovely appearance from the auburn curls to the pale green gown to the delicate slippers that peeked from beneath the hem, and even though the apron provided cover, it wasn’t sufficient enough to keep the material from becoming soiled.

  “Do you always tend your birds dressed so well?”

  Miss Arabella frowned and looked down. “Oh dear, I’d completely forgotten.” Then she latched the inner door.

  “They are yours?” Gideon found himself asking in disbelief.

  “Oh, aye,” she answered. “Now they are. They belonged to my father.” She reached into the bucket and pulled out a handful of small pieces of raw meat.

  All Gideon could do was blink.

  She then returned outside and thrust her arm through a window and between two bars. The two birds immediately flew in her direction and took turns coming to her hand to pluck the meat from her palm. She then tossed the remains into the mews and returned inside once again.

  After she set the bucket on the ground, Miss Arabella turned to him and leaned back against the table. “That should keep them until tomorrow.” She smiled brightly up at Gideon as she slipped the gloves off of her hands and tossed them aside. Miss Arabella then straightened and reached behind her back with both hands. Gideon nearly gulped at the sight of her nearly perfect breasts straining against the bodice of her green gown and ready to spill out.

  Miss Arabella frowned and twisted.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked

  “I’m stuck.” She twisted again and tried to look over her shoulder.

  “Let me.” Gideon reached around her to see what the trouble was and noted that her apron strings were caught on a nail and loose board. “Hold still.” He pressed forward to try and release her. He shouldn’t be alone with her and standing this close, but the miss did need his assistance.

  “Thank ye,” she murmured, looking up at him. The whisky on her breath mingled with lilacs, if he wasn’t mistaken, along with the earthy scent of the mews had an oddly arousing effect on him.

  An unusual miss and far more intriguing than any Gideon had ever encountered previously.

  As he worked at that knot, he looked down to find her staring up at him. Their lips barely a breath away.

  He shouldn’t…but they were alone, and she was enticing.

  Lowering his head, Gideon brushed his lips against Miss Arabella’s full, crimson ones. She sucked in a breath, but did not protest or push him away.

  That simple kiss, if it could even be called that, wasn’t enough and soon he forgot the knot and kissed her again, molding his lips to hers and tilting his head for better access. A sigh escaped her and he pressed forward, taking advantage of the part in her lips.

  Her delicate hands rested on his shoulders and she gripped him, as if she wished to hold on as she tentatively kissed him back in the same manner.

  “What is the meanin’ of this?” a voice shouted as sunlight flooded into the small entry.

  Gideon jumped back as if he’d been scolded and turned to find Donovan MacGregor standing at the entry.

  Chapter 4

  “Lord Gideon was kind enough to try and help free the knot of my apron,” Arabella rushed to explain. The only problem was she was still stuck and no amount of struggling was going to loosen the blasted thing.

  Oh, she should have hammered in those nails long ago. She kept meaning to because she was forever catching her clothing and apron on them, but she always forgot to bring a hammer with her to the mews.

  “It looked to me like he was kissin’ ye.”

  Her face heated because that’s exactly what Lord Gideon had been doing, and it was quite pleasant indeed.

  Nay, far more than pleasant, but she was certain there wasn’t a word in all the world perfect enough to describe the sensation.

  “I apologize, Miss Arabella,” Lord Gideon looked down at her. “I should not have kissed you. It was wrong of me and highly improper.”

  “Ye shouldna have even been alone with her,” Donovan ground out.

  “Hush before someone hears, ye,” Arabella admonished her brother. “It was a simple kiss. That’s all. Let’s forget it ever happened.”

  The color rose high in her brother’s cheeks, which was never a good sign, and this did not bode well for her or Lord Gideon. Somehow she must make Donovan see reason before he overreacted.

  Donovan ignored her and took the knife from the table.

  Arabella’s heart raced. Her brother wasn’t about to do something rash over a mere kiss was he? “What are ye doin’?”

  “Cuttin’ ye free,” he answered before he stepped behind her and cut the strings of her apron before tossing the knife back onto the table. Then he turned to Lord Gideon. “I doona ken what it is like in London or Cornwall, but her
e a gentleman is never alone with a lass and he certainly doesna kiss her without permission, and even then not until after a courtship.”

  “But Davina…” Arabella attempted to interrupt.

  “Hush,” her oldest brother ordered, and she took a step back. Donovan was working up a full lather and she was no longer certain she’d be able to calm him.

  “How did you know I was from Cornwall?” Lord Gideon asked with a frown.

  “Yer a stranger so I learned what I could.” His eyes bore into Lord Gideon’s and Arabella stiffened. What had her brother learned? It was as if he didn’t approve of their recent guest.

  Regardless, it didn’t matter what Donovan knew because his reaction at this moment mattered very much. “Ye are makin’ too much of this.”

  His eyes narrowed and Donovan took a step so close that she had to tilt her head and lean back a bit to look at him.

  “Doona try to intimidate me, Donovan MacGregor,” Arabella ordered as she placed the palm of her hand against her brother’s chest and pushed him back.

  “Intimidate?” He choked. “What I have in mind is blisterin’ yer bleedin’ arse.”

  “Mr. MacGregor, there is no cause to threaten…” Lord Gideon began but stopped as Donovan veered on him, and before Arabella could react, her brother had fisted his right hand, pulled back and punched the Englishman right in the eye.

  “Donovan! How dare ye!” Arabella screamed in outrage.

  “He took liberties with ye and should be glad I am not callin’ him out.”

  “For a kiss?” she cried.

  “Alone and a kiss.”

  “Of all the ridiculous…Ohhhh. Ye aggravate me to no end.” She brushed past her brother and went to Lord Gideon. “Let’s get ye back to the manor and I’ll find somethin’ to put on yer eye.”

  “Ye will do no such thing!”

  Arabella wheeled around and planted her fists on her hips. “He kissed me. Ye hit him. It’s over. Now let’s return to the celebration without a word. I willna have Uncle Aiden upset on his weddin’ day.”

  “His isn’t the only weddin’ today.”

  Arabella gasped and staggered back. “It was only a kiss.” Her brother couldn’t seriously be considering forcing her to marry Lord Gideon. She barely knew the gentleman. Even if he did kiss divinely she’d not have it.

  “Davina and Ian,” he blew out as if he could read the fear in her features. “Now that she courted him and he accepted her offer, Uncle Aiden is haulin’ them before the vicar before either one of them can do anythin’ else foolish as they’ve a habit of doin’.”

  Joy lit in her heart. “Finally!” She pulled Donovan toward the entrance. “We must get back so we doona miss it.”

  “No’ so quickly, lass.”

  Donovan stood his ground and she didn’t have the strength to dislodge him.

  “Before anymore weddin’s or celebratin’, ye, me and Lord Gideon will have an audience with Uncle Aiden.”

  “Ye canna be serious.” She certainly wasn’t ruined, if that is what her brother was worried about.

  “I’m verra serious, lass. I’m yer oldest brother and if Uncle Aiden doesna decide on a punishment, then I will.”

  Arabella gulped and glanced at Lord Gideon. His face had gone deathly pale.

  Oh dear. He probably feared the worst. Poor Lord Gideon couldn’t possibly know that Uncle Aiden’s and Donovan’s bark was far worse than their bite. They’d get lectured and yelled at, but in the end, all would be as it should. “Doona worry,” she assured Lord Gideon as they stepped out into the sunlight. “My uncle will understand and then we’ll get somethin’ for that eye.” Which was darkening and swelling with each beat of her heart.

  Bloody hell! How the blazes did he end up in this predicament?

  He was a gentleman, and he knew the rules where misses were concerned and he’d broken not one but two of them, though it certainly shouldn’t be ruinous to either of their reputations. As Miss Arabella had claimed, it was only a kiss.

  Not once had Gideon stepped out of line while in London, no matter how many opportunities presented themselves, or how often his sister, Sophia, tried to match him with a miss. If anything, he’d been overly careful not to find himself in a position where he’d be forced to explain himself or end up leg shackled. Yet, in less than two hours after arriving at Anagburn, in bloody Scotland, he’d found himself in a position that he would have never allowed in England.

  Gideon’s stomach churned. They couldn’t force marriage on him, could they? It was only a kiss, and from what he’d heard, the family wasn’t exactly sticklers for etiquette and courtship. Twice now he’d been told how a Davina was courting an Ian, so why the hell was Gideon being taken to task for kissing a miss?

  Thankfully, Donovan led them around the far side of the gardens and they didn’t encounter any of the wedding guests or family members. If Donovan intended to take issue with Gideon’s behavior, he wouldn’t be so secretive.

  Take issue!

  Donovan was making far too much of this situation and certainly Aiden MacGregor would agree. Besides, Arabella’s brother had already doled out his punishment when he struck Gideon. Already his eye was swelling shut and throbbed enough to bring on a pounding in his head, but Gideon had survived much worse.

  Scotland was turning out to be a strange country. Or, maybe it was just Anagburn and the MacGregors who were a strange lot.

  “Aye, ye found her,” Cameron MacGregor called as they entered from the side of the house. “I’ll let Rose ken and we’ll have the weddin’ as soon as Davina is ready.” He paused and narrowed his eyes on Gideon. “What happened to yer eye? Ye should get somethin’ for that.”

  “Find Uncle Aiden,” Donovan barked.

  Cameron looked from Donovan to Arabella and back to Gideon, the smile slipping from his face. “What happened?”

  “Find Uncle Aiden,” Donovan repeated from between clinched teeth.

  “Verra well,” the Scot answered and slipped outside.

  “Ye are makin’ too much out of this,” Miss Arabella insisted as she followed her brother down the corridor and into the library.

  Gideon had to agree and would say so if he didn’t think it would earn him another blackened eye.

  Donovan was simply being rash, and perhaps it was his personality; but Aiden MacGregor struck him as a reasonable man and would see this as a minor indiscretion and at the very worst, ask him to leave Anagburn, which Gideon was quite prepared to do.

  Then again, MacGregor had also been part of a kidnapping, which was the least reasonable thing anyone could do.

  Bloody hell! What the blazes had Gideon gotten himself into? He rubbed his temples then winced when the movement pulled at his throbbing eye.

  “Why have ye called me away from my weddin’ celebration, Donovan,” Aiden MacGregor asked as he stalked into the library. Then his eyes alighted on Arabella. “There ye are. We’ve been lookin’ all over for ye.” He turned to Cameron who had followed his uncle into the library. “Tell Rose that Arabella has been found and the weddin’ can begin shortly.”

  Cameron didn’t leave, but closed the door behind him and remained.

  MacGregor slowly took in the room, looking at each of them before his gaze finally settled on Gideon. The good-humor MacGregor possessed when he first walked in disappeared in the blink of Gideon’s one good eye. “Explain!” he barked.

  “Donovan is bein’ unreasonable. It was an innocent encounter,” Miss Arabella rushed to explain.

  “Just how innocent?” MacGregor slowly asked his niece.

  “It was simply a kiss and would have already been easily forgotten if Donovan hadn’t over-reacted.”

  Gideon wanted to take issue at the easily forgotten remark, but held his tongue considering the assembled audience. Even so, it was unlikely he’d ever forget the sweet innocent kiss of Miss Arabella, which was near to perfection. Nor would he forget her brother barging in on them a moment later.

  “Nay, not so
simple,” Donovan argued. “They were alone in the mews. His arms were around her and she was holdin’ onto him. They were verra much alone.”

  ”Is this true, Arabella?”

  Gideon’s stomach tightened. Hadn’t Lady Bent…Mrs. MacGregor mentioned that MacGregor had been seeking a husband for his niece only a few weeks ago? Was the man so anxious to marry Miss Arabella off that he’d make use of this opportunity to do so?

  This could not be happening. It was a kiss, and those bloody Scots were a mad lot that he wanted nothing to do with.

  “The only reason he was close to me was because Lord Gideon was tryin’ to untangle my apron because it had been caught and knotted on a loose nail.”

  MacGregor blew out a sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face.

  “Nobody kens that I kissed Lord Gideon,” she insisted. “So, there is no cause to be concerned.”

  “I thought he kissed ye.” Donovan looked over at Lord Gideon, the question in his eyes.

  Maybe she’d convince them that she’d done the kissing then they’d let him be on his way.

  “Aye, and then I kissed him back.”

  Donovan’s hand fisted again.

  So much for escaping.

  “This was in the mews?” MacGregor asked. “Inside where nobody could see?”

  “Aye,” Donovan answered.

  Gideon held his breath hoping that the fact that nobody outside of this room knew what occurred would free him from this ridiculous situation. By the way they were behaving, one would think he had been caught with his hands beneath Miss Arabella’s skirts.

  “I need to think on this for a moment.” MacGregor took a seat behind a large desk.

  What was there to think about? Gideon wanted to yell in protest, but he remained silent. The three men in the library were unpredictable and until, and if, they decided what was to happen to him and Miss Arabella, he was not going to risk bringing any more attention to himself or angering them further.