Marti Talbotts Highlander Series 1 - Anna Rachel u Charlet

she out ran th em. ”
    Anna slid down off the horse and started to walk away. The horse followed and began to nudge her back just as it had the first time Kevin saw her.
    Katie continued, “We also have a visitor. The same morning the horse showed up, the guards found Anna’s friend, Harold, sleeping in the courtyard. He is the one who told us Stoneham was dead, her mother was free and you were looking for Rachel.”
    “How did he get in?”
    “No one knows and he is not telling , no matter how many of your men glare at him. He came to bring her belongings. Anna probably knows how he got in. In fact, it might take a lifetime to learn everything Anna knows and we must be grateful our mother taught us to speak English. Shall I get her attention?”
    “She knows I am here. She shot an arrow between my legs, remember, and I was certain she had not noticed me then.”
    Katie laughed, “She said she wasn’t aiming that low.”
    He looked at his sister finally. “Do you mean she remembered me?”
    “When you tried to find her that day, she hid in the forest to get a good look at your face. Then the first morning she was here, she recognized you.”
    “I looked everywhere for her that day and each time I went back.”
    “She tried to find you too...when her father finally let her out. Kevin, you have no idea how happy you made her when you told her about the lass on the horse.”
    “I thought she would hate me forever.” He watched Anna sit down and then carefully turn until she was l ying face up on the horse’s back. His smile widened even more when she finished her trick an d the horse brought her to him.
    “Threcher stop,” she said not two feet from him. Her eyes were dancing and she nearly forgot her manners until the horse started pawing the ground. “Oh , do forgive me. Threcher, this is my husband. You will obey him as you do me.” The horse nodded, curled a leg back, bowed and then stood back up.
    “He might not let you touch me,” she warned , when Kevin moved closer. “He will need to get used to you first. In case you have not noticed, he is a very powerful horse. I have had him since the day he was born and sometimes I think he understands English. Tell me, are my mother and sister well? Did you find Rachel?”
    She was so beautiful up close he could hardly think and Katie had to nudge him to get him to answer. “Aye, are you getting down off that horse?”
    They had a very large audience, but neither of them seemed to notice. “That depends.”
    He spread his legs apart and folded his arms, “On what?”
    “I have not yet had a wedding feast and I wondered if that could be arranged.”
    “It could . I s there anything else?”
    “There is.”
    “And what might that be?”
    She grinned and once more stood up on the horse’s back. With her eyes closed, she began to turn and fall so she would land on her back in his arms. “You!”
    It was the first time she had been kissed and she hardly knew what to expect, but the minute he set her down, put his strong arms around her and touched his lips to hers, she was completely lost in the wonder of it.
    He didn’t hear the crowd cheering or feel his sister pat his arm before she walked away. All he could think about was how good she felt in his arms. He didn’t even notice when the horse trotted off to graze and the crowd left.
    He kissed her, ravished her neck, lifted her into his arms, swung her around and kissed her again. Then he remembered he meant to bathe in the loch before he saw her.
    When he finally set her down, she looked into his eyes. “Did you kill him?”
    “Nay, the King of England killed him.”
    She was astounded and couldn’t quite take it in. Finally, she asked, “Did you tell him what I said?”
    “Aye, right before he died.”
    “Good.” She took his hand and walked w ith him toward the drawbridge.
    H e let go of her hand and put his arm around her instead. “Should we put your horse in the stable?”
    “I doubt anyone can.”
    “Are you challenging us?”
    “Not at all, I am protecting our property. You would not like knowing what happened to the last stable someone tried to put him in.”
    He couldn’t stop looking at her and hadn’t heard much of what she said. He was sure ten thousand men could attack and he would still be looking at her, so he had to force himself to think of something else. “How did Harold get inside the hold?” When she started to laugh, he frowned. “Anna, it is for our