negotiate for a bride, she would have expected him to shave and move on.
What sort of a man longed for a woman and daughter that fate had stolen from him? A son she might understand, but now she felt a tender stirring inside her chest. Maybe the man didn’t want to get married any more than she did, but was being pressured by his kin. That was something she understood.
Dunmore shrugged. “Besides, I did nae promise him ye’d handfast.”
“Ye did nae? In truth, Dunmore?” That tender emotion stirred again, this time stronger. Could it be that the man wanted to meet her and discover if there was anything between them? Now that would be too much to hope for. It would mean he was not ruled by lust for coin and land.
Dunmore cuffed her gently beneath the chin. “I told him that ye are wild and proud of yer purity.”
Elspeth snorted at him. “Now yer back to praising me for holding tightly onto my virginity. What happened to yer suggestion of handfasting?”
“Be who ye are and meet the man. If he does nae please ye, I’ll negotiate a contract with the Setons. There’s a second son in that clan I think would have ye with what ye come with.” He held up his hand to still her next comment. “But Monroe is still coming here to meet ye, so ye can hide above stairs if ye’re too worried about not being able to remain a maiden just because ye’ve been in the same room with him.”
Elspeth frowned at him, but her brother clearly thought his plan a sound one. She battled against the urge to feel defeated but it was becoming harder, especially when she noticed her brother’s men peeking around the edge of the wall to see how she was taking the news.
Oh, fie upon it.
With her own mother gone, there was no woman with enough position to force her brother to see reason.
“I am going riding to think the matter through,” she announced in a firm tone. “And I am taking yer horse, not some tired-out mare.”
That drew a frown from her brother. He adored his stallion, but so did she. At least there would be some enjoyment from the day’s events. Her brother didn’t care to share the prized animal but she was going to take what enjoyment she might.
“You will nae.” Dunmore crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s time for ye to stop straddling a horse. No man wants that in a wife. I should have forbid ye that years ago.”
Elspeth narrowed her eyes. “I’m asking for a bit of time to think it through. ’Tis nae much of a concession to let me ride out on a horse that has some life in him. Seeing as how ye told Monroe how untamed I am. Ye can’t very well have the man showing up and seeing me walking along on a mare with my legs hanging down sidesaddle. Why, such is the very definition of submissive. Nothing wild at all about that.”
Her brother snorted. “I hate the way ye turn my own words against me. All right. Off with ye.”
Her brother grumbled but she didn’t remain to listen to him. The urge to escape was pounding through her, urging her toward the open land beyond the walls of their tower.
She loved Dunmore’s stallion. Elspeth slowed down when she entered the section of the stable where the animal was housed. She never approached it too quickly because a wise person didn’t startle such a powerful beast.
The power in him fascinated her. There were plenty of people telling her to stay well away from the stallion, but she didn’t listen to them. It felt as if something drew her to him. She reached out and touched his velvety coat with her fingertips to judge his temper, and it felt as if fire raced down her arm and into her body. The animal tossed its head, pulling on the leather that held it in the stall.
“Aye, my beauty, that is exactly what I was thinking of—getting out of here.”
Pulling the saddle from where it rested over a rail, she secured it on top of the horse. Reaching for the knot that held the bridle, she untied it and wrapped the reins around her fist.
“Do ye nae think that is wee bit too much horse for ye, lass?”
The stallion’s front hooves came off the ground and he let out a shrill sound. Whoever had snuck up on her reached for the bridle but Elspeth pulled down on the reins, controlling the horse before her unwelcome company got close enough to do it. Stroking the stallion’s muzzle in a soothing motion, she peered over the thick neck of the animal at her company.
“Nae. ’Tis not the first time I have ridden him.” And she didn’t care if she was being prideful in telling him that.
“Is that a fact?”
He sounded amused by her claim. There was only a small bit of daylight left and most of it didn’t make its way into the stable with its small windows. Whoever he was, he stood tall enough to have to watch the ceiling or risk knocking his head on one of the thick beams that supported the roof.
“It is nothing ye have to take my word for. Stand there and ye can watch me mount him.”
She was not going to waste the last of the day debating with a stranger when she had her brother’s permission to ride his stallion. Tugging on the reins, she led the horse through the doorway and out into the yard. With a carefully placed foot, she used the power in her legs to gain the saddle. The stallion danced with excitement, snorting in the evening air. But she felt the eyes of the stranger on her. She shouldn’t care what he thought, not when there were far more important matters for her mind to dwell on today.
Still, she couldn’t resist the urge to look behind her. He stood just outside the stable door and his head was even with it. The evening sun touched him and set his hair aglow. It was dark but with copper hiding beneath that dark sable mane. He had it pulled back from his face but the back of it rested on his broad shoulders. Even his beard had a touch of copper in its dark hue, and the sun lit it. But it was the way he watched her that drew her attention. Something flickered in his eyes that filled her with confidence. There was no hint of disapproval for the way she sat atop the horse with her thighs gripping the saddle. In fact, it looked as though he approved of her approach to riding the stallion. Many would not. Half her own clan warned her that riding astride would make her sterile. The other half was quick to tell her that no man would have her to wife if she insisted on acting so dominating. For the moment she didn’t care. Quite possibly, that would be the best solution because then she would never have to marry and answer to another man. Dunmore was bad enough. The only thing that drove her toward considering Laird Hayden Monroe was the fact that her brother would marry soon and his bride would consider herself the mistress of the tower. An unwed sister wouldn’t be wanted, which meant she had important things to think on.
“As you see, I know what I am about.”
“It does appear that way, but it does take a wee bit more to impress me than just sitting there.” His gaze moved over her, touching on the way her knees pressed into the sides of the horse, and a flicker of approval lit his eyes. “A lad of ten could do as much as you’ve shown me.”
“Oh, I plan to do much more, sir.”
And she hoped that he enjoyed the sight of her riding away from him, the arrogant man. There was something about the way he watched her that made her quiver. A hint of command in his gaze that told her he was accustomed to getting what he wanted from everyone he met. Especially women. She was the laird’s daughter, even if her father had been a poor laird. Most of her kin never looked at her as this man was doing. As if she were a woman that they found
