by Terry Spear
Heather was ready to tell her to quit with all the advice.
Then Lana suddenly grabbed Heather’s arm, startling her. She thought something was wrong. “Did he kiss you last night?”
Oh, just great. Just when Heather thought Lana wouldn’t ask. Instantly, Heather’s face heated.
Lana smiled. “I don’t have to hear you tell me. I love how you blush. I’m so glad I don’t.”
Heather wished she could control that part of herself. Colleen greeted the two of them as they were getting ready to enter the great hall.
“Good morning, ladies.” Colleen was smiling brightly. “Are you ready for all the craziness again today?”
“I am.” Heather was really enjoying all of this when she knew others were ready for some normalcy to return to their lives.
Lana suddenly gasped. Heather turned to see what had startled her. Enrick had set up a small table for two in one corner of the great hall, complete with a vase of a dozen red roses, and was standing there behind the table, smiling.
Heather was blushing all over again. She couldn’t help it. It was a good thing she wasn’t interested in courting any other wolves at the moment.
“Enjoy breakfast,” Colleen said, as if she had known about it all along. Maybe she had.
“I sure will,” Heather said.
“Oh, and tell Enrick he’ll look sufficiently muddy in his clothes today and to stop worrying about it.”
Heather frowned at her, not understanding her meaning.
“When Grant came back from the battlefield, I had his clothes, and everyone else’s, washed. Heavens. We might have lived in them day in, day out in the old days, but in this day and age, we clean the body odor off and just coat them in mud for the film.”
Heather laughed. “Good. I’m glad someone took charge and did it.”
“You bet.”
Lana smiled at Heather. “Whatever you’re doing, ignore me. It’s working. Enjoy your breakfast.”
“You too.” Heather headed for the table to join Enrick. He sure looked like he was in full courting mode. What else could it be? She liked a man who could decide on something and go for it. Especially when she felt the same way but was a little uncomfortable about showing it.
When she reached him, she said, “I sure hope you aren’t planning to court anyone else.”
Enrick got her chair for her and she sat down to have breakfast. Then he grunted as he took his seat. “I’m trying to make sure any other eligible wolf out there gets the message.”
She laughed. She couldn’t believe it when one of the women came to serve them breakfast: eggs over easy, a side of sausage, and two pieces of toast, with a cup of hot tea already made up just for her. He was having steak, eggs, and toast.
“Lana told me what you always have for breakfast,” Enrick said.
Now he was the kind of wolf that was a keeper. Heather didn’t know of any other wolf who would ask her friend what she liked to eat. “She didn’t even hint at what you were up to this morning.”
“Good. I didn’t tell her what I was going to do last night when I texted her, but I told her not to tell you I wanted to know what you like to eat. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Well, this is a great surprise.” From Lana’s reaction at seeing the table for two, Heather suspected Lana hadn’t known exactly what Enrick had been up to. Heather couldn’t have been more thrilled. “I hear Colleen had everyone’s clothes washed.”
Enrick grunted again. “We love her, naturally, but men gotta do what men gotta do. And smelling nice when we’re going to get all stinky again is a waste of soap and water.”
Heather laughed and buttered her toast. “Well, I’m glad she did. And thank you for such a special breakfast.”
“My pleasure. I was thinking over the battle scene yesterday when Robert and his brother showed up.”
She was thinking over the kiss and incredible time they’d had yesterday. Men and women were from different planets.
“I was surprised you would have seen Cearnach and me on the battlefield filled with fighting men when Robert attacked him.”
She drank some of her tea. “I knew approximately where you would be. Cearnach had told me in case I wanted to watch the two of you fight. He wanted me to see him win. I wanted to see you put all that practice sword fighting to good use. I kept looking until I saw the two of you. At first, when Robert attacked Cearnach, I thought it was part of the battle scene, but then when you tore into Robert, I realized that couldn’t be right.”
“He would have been on my side if he was fighting Cearnach to begin with. You were the best sentry out there. After your success at spotting the trouble, Grant is setting some more watchers up on the hilltop just in case we have any further incursions. If anyone sees the enemy out there while they’re fighting the ones we’re supposed to fight, they’re to raise the alarm by shouting, and everyone within their close proximity will stop fighting and take down the enemy. Not permanently, of course.” Enrick finished off his steak. “We figure the rogue wolves will know we’ll be more prepared for them this time and they’ll probably try a different tactic.”
“But I was observing just you fighting Cearnach. Watchers on the hill won’t be able to notice anything but a bunch of men fighting while they are looking at the collective group.”
“Aye. That’s why the men on the field are to call out the alarm, and those on the hill are to watch for it. With our sharp eyesight and outstanding hearing, anyone on the hill should be able to see it and call it in to Grant.”
“Okay, good.”
“Are you going to observe me again today?” Enrick sounded hopeful.
She was glad he wanted her to be there for him. “If I’m up on the hill with the others who will be watching out for anyone causing trouble, I’ll feel I must do that too.”
“Nay. You can observe me. The others will concentrate on all the rest of the men on the battlefield.”
She laughed. “You need special protection.”
He smiled. “Yesterday, it seemed that was so.” He finished his eggs. “Today, I need the lady’s favor. Something that aids me in winning the battle no matter what so I can return it to her at the end of the day.”
“You know, if we don’t end up together, you might regret having done all this for me.” She drank the rest of her hot tea.
“Not on your life.” He waited for her favor.
“You know we don’t wear jewelry because if we have to shift quickly, we could lose the jewelry in the interim.”
“You have tied back your hair.”
“And when I remove the ribbon, my hair will be down again.”
He smiled and held out his hand.
She glanced around and saw a few people watching them, Lana most of all. “Oh, all right.” She pulled the ribbon from her hair, and the strands cascaded to her shoulders.
“Beautiful.”
She was sure he meant her hair, not her ribbon.
Enrick slipped the ribbon inside his waterproof sporran. “I will endeavor to keep it clean.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’d rather you concentrate on the fight and don’t get injured.”
“But this has to be something near and dear to your heart.”
“It is. I wore it the first time I saw you battling with your brothers in the heather. It always makes me think of that day.”
“When I knocked Lachlan on his back?”
She laughed. “You and Lachlan were both ganging up on Grant, as usual. You knew he would lead the clan one day and needed to be stronger than everybody else. He knocked you and Lachlan down, and you both were laughing your heads off.” She smiled fondly at the memory. “I haven’t worn the ribbon my mother gave me for years. Not until now when I can see you in battle again.”
“Hopefully, I won’t have to fight Grant. Speaki
ng of which, I need to change and hightail it out to the battlefield and get all muddy first.”
She smiled, but she still felt she had to clear the air. “About last night… On the wolf run, I mean…”
“I should have caught you.”
She smiled. “Yeah, you should have. I thought maybe your foreleg was hurting from all the work you’d done fighting in the field.” Not really, but she figured she would give him an out.
“Nay. I didn’t want to overdo tackling you again. Next time I won’t hesitate.”
She smiled. “Good. You’re not catching me either.”
He laughed. “You are a challenge.”
They both rose from their seats, but this time she wrapped her arms around his back and tilted her head up for a kiss. If he was going to wear her favor in battle, for good luck, she wanted to add a kiss to the magic and to thank him for such a special breakfast. She hoped she didn’t embarrass him. “A good-luck kiss that everything will go well today, and no more retakes during the shoot.”
He wrapped his arms around her back, looking down at her, his eyes dark with desire, a small smile playing on his lips. He didn’t seem to care if anyone was watching them, and she was glad about that. He tilted his head down for a kiss. Their mouths touched, softly at first, and she was afraid that was all he would share with her. He watched her expression as if measuring her interest. She wasn’t letting go of him until he gave her more of a kiss this time.
And he obliged, kissing her like he didn’t want to give her up ever. She was so ready for this. Their lips pressed harder and she felt light-headed, her whole body warming to inferno level, her heart—and his—pounding hard.
Their lips melded, caressed, pressed harder, and she felt all warm and wet in her nether region. This felt so good, his warm mouth pressing against hers, until her brother Oran called out, “Mud-bath time!”
She groaned and wondered if Oran didn’t like Enrick kissing her so eagerly, or if he truly worried Enrick would forget where he was supposed to be soon.
“Your brother is still a big-brother guard wolf,” Enrick said.
She smiled. “That’s what I figured.”
Enrick gave her another brief kiss. “I’ll see you later.” And then he hurried off before he missed his cue.
Lana soon joined her before Heather could think of anything more than the kiss. Lana took hold of her arm and led her out of the great hall after she left her dishes in the kitchen. “Wow. Amazing. I didn’t think he would ever get to it, and when he did? Wow.”
Heather smiled. Yeah, that was what she would say about it too. It was utterly amazing.
“Okay, like I said, strike my advice. Keep doing what you are doing to win over the hunky wolf.”
Heather began thinking about watching the shoot. At least it wasn’t raining, though it was foggy, and she hoped that wouldn’t allow the enemy clan to sneak into the battle today.
“Are you going to watch the men? What am I saying? Of course you’re going to watch Enrick fighting.” Lana smiled. “I can’t believe he took your ribbon to wear in the battle today. This is getting serious.”
“Maybe.”
Lana smiled at her. “You are thinking of something nice to do back. I can tell by the way your brow is furrowed.”
“I was thinking about a picnic on the hilltop for lunch.”
Lana laughed. “Okay, what do you need me to do to help make it happen?”
* * *
Six hours after the initial call was made to start shooting the scene—most of the early part of the day they’d fought in fog and the ground had still been muddy—they had the mandatory lunch break. Enrick had noticed a lot of activity up on top of the hill near the end of the last scene, and he was trying not to get distracted.
When the half-hour break for lunch was called, he saw Heather waving to him to join her on the hilltop. He wondered what was up.
Cearnach slapped him on the back. “I think my cousin has lunch ready for you. I have to say you outdid all of us with the special breakfast you gave her this morning. I could tell she was thrilled.”
Enrick was glad he had done it. He’d worried he was pushing the relationship too fast too soon, until he knew he’d upset Heather for not chasing her down while running as a wolf and then not kissing her like he’d wanted to before they retired to bed last night. “See you in a few.”
Thirty minutes wasn’t long for a lunch break when he needed to return to the castle to wash up before eating. But Heather lifted a bucket up and motioned for him to join her.
“You have all the luck,” one of his kinsmen said.
Enrick did.
He hoofed it up the hill, hoping he looked like he was fresh to start a new battle and not like he was already dragging.
He still wanted to keep downwind of her just in case he didn’t smell too fresh. He couldn’t believe she’d want to have a picnic lunch with him while he was all grungy. But this was nice. And it was typical of Heather and her spontaneity.
Enrick reached the top of the hill while everyone else went into the inner bailey where Colleen had set up stands for anyone who wanted their full meals there. Catering was being handled by the castle staff and through Heather’s shop. Most of the ladies who were doing scenes later were helping out with the meals. A craft service was providing snacks and drinks that were always available during the day and night while the shoot was going on. They also were responsible for cleaning up the trash.
“This is great. I would think you would wait to do this after the battle scenes were done so I wouldn’t be quite so muddy.” He washed up in the bucket, and she handed him a towel to dry off.
“After you took me out to a beautiful sunset dinner last night and made such a special effort for breakfast? I couldn’t wait. And it’s sunny now and the weather’s perfect. Who knows what it will be like in a few days when the battle scenes are done? Besides, if anyone hadn’t seen what you did for me for breakfast, I had to make sure they all knew I wasn’t dating anyone else for the time being.”
“Aye.” He smiled and sat down next to the waterproof MacNeill tartan picnic rug she’d set out with a picnic basket and water.
“I would have served wine, but you’re still working.”
“Tonight, if you don’t have any plans, we could have wine together.” He took a bite of the pie. “Hmm, the steak pie has to be from your shop. They’re so good. And this is my favorite kind of meat pie.”
“You’re right. The pie is from my shop. Catering the meals has been a real boon to both my business and your pack, since they help with making the meals.”
* * *
“Colleen knows how to make us happy. This is sure delicious. So what do we do tonight?” Enrick sounded eager to go on another date.
Heather was glad, but she had already made plans. That was one of the reasons she wanted to have lunch with him today, even if he was mostly muddy. She didn’t mind. “Colleen wanted us to do something special for Missy, so some of the ladies are going into town to celebrate her film venture here and have a nice Scottish meal.”
“Are any men going with you?” Enrick asked, looking serious now, typical Highland wolf who was courting a she-wolf and wanted to make sure she remained safe. Particularly because the McKinleys and Kilpatricks were causing trouble for them.
She could just imagine if the McKinleys or Kilpatricks discovered what they were doing, the difficulties they could make for them at the restaurant. “I think Grant was going to ask you and several others if they would come with us as a security force. I believe Missy has a couple of bodyguards too. So we should be well protected.”
“Okay, good. I’m sure Grant’s talking to everyone about it at lunch break. And he knew you would mention it to me.”
“Of course. So are you coming?” Heather knew she didn’t have to ask.
“Are you kiddin
g? We’re courting. Aye, I’ll be there. After I’ve cleaned up a wee bit.”
It wasn’t long before they’d enjoyed their lunch and a visit, and he’d gingerly kissed her, not wanting to get her all muddy before he returned to the battle.
“This was really nice. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t start a trend.”
“Or you.”
He smiled. “All right. I’ll see you tonight.” He kissed her again, and then headed down the hill where the men were beginning to gather.
It was back to the trenches for the warriors, and the lookouts joined Heather on the hill. She carried her picnic basket to the keep and cleaned everything up, then was going up the stairs to her room to drop them off when she saw Guy McNab heading into the conference room. She knew Lachlan was out with the wolves to do their part in the battle, and Grant was downstairs talking to Colleen about business, so why was Guy wandering around in parts of the castle where he didn’t belong?
Wasn’t he supposed to be fighting in the battle? They should be in the middle of swinging their swords by now. Unless the man entering the conference room was Guy’s double, but he shouldn’t be up here either. She went up after him and soon reached the conference room. Inside, Guy was looking at the pictures of wolves and clan leaders. She was fairly certain it was Guy and not Larry, his stunt double.
“Can I help you with anything?” Even though she didn’t live here on a regular basis, she felt it was her duty to safeguard things since none of the MacQuarries probably knew about Guy’s transgression.
“No, uh, sorry, I was just… I shouldn’t be here.”
She could have been a fangirl and told him it was okay, but she didn’t want him or anyone else thinking they could wander around the castle when they weren’t allowed to unless Grant and Colleen gave them permission.
“You’re right. These rooms are off-limits.” She thought it was odd he would do this now. Why not ask the MacQuarries if he could? She was sure they’d give him permission, but he had to ask, and he needed to be escorted around the off-limit areas.
He glanced at the photos again. “Sorry. I just…wondered what the rest of the castle looked like.”