The way Odhran told the story made me feel like I was right there, witnessing the audacity the town probably felt when they found out the mistress of the manor had gotten knocked up by the stable boy. But it had a happy ending, where they’d run off together, never to be heard from again.
I could picture them hidden away in a small cottage, a noblewoman and a commoner, having fallen in love, created a family, and run away because society had said they shouldn’t be together.
It was all awfully romantic, and I slipped my hand through Odhran’s as we continued to walk, envisioning the story as if it were my own movie playing in my mind.
The little cinema wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen before, certainly not something that had been popular in my time or even a thing. And as we sat in the row in the back, the entire theater curiously empty of any other patrons, I finally looked at Odhran and lifted an eyebrow, asking him without saying the words what was going on.
Because he knew me so well, could read me so well, his smirk told me the answer I’d already assumed.
He’d paid for the entire cinema for us to watch my very first movie alone.
My heart did this funny thing in my chest and I didn’t stop myself from raising up enough that I could kiss him. He had a hand on the back of my head and gently curled his fingers around my hair, keeping my mouth to his.
The lights lowered after a few moments, and that was when we broke away, panting, my body soft and wet in all the right places, my thighs clenched tightly together even though that made the pressure between my legs even worse.
He stared into my eyes, his gaze stormy and heated, and then he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close.
I’d never seen something as wondrous as the movie that played on a screen as big as the wall. The colors and lights, being transported to a whole different world, a different time and place, was the most magical thing I’d ever experienced.
I could feel Odhran watching me the entire time instead of the movie, but thankfully I was so engrossed with this new experience that we didn’t have time to let the heat between us consume each other and make us do something totally inappropriate in public.
By the time we left, the sun had set, the night brought a chilly breeze with it, and I was grinning from ear to ear and feeling higher and lighter than I ever had before.
We walked down the cobblestone sidewalk and then he pulled me toward a small bakery that served more authentic Scottish delicacies. After looking at the menu, I ordered a cranachan, a layered dessert that had fresh whipped cream, toasted oats, and plump, ripe raspberries. It even came with a touch of whiskey.
While he was finishing up with our orders, I made my way toward a little fountain tucked against the back wall of the building. There was an alley parallel to it, and I could tell the owners tried to hide the fact that the trash cans were kept back here by putting up a lattice partition with faux ivy woven between the framework.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Odhran still standing by the front counter. The young girl who stood by the register was looking up at him with big, wide eyes. No doubt she’d never seen a male so large and intimidating, even if he was giving her a friendly smile.
As if he felt my gaze on him, he glanced over at me, that friendly smile turning into something more loving, more possessive and heated. Smoldering. His gaze raked up and down my body, and I felt a shiver race through me at how intently I felt that one look.
Instantly I thought about going back to the estate, letting him strip me bare and do all the things he promised. I imagined his tongue moving over every part of my naked skin, as if he were tasting me like a delicacy he’d never get enough of.
And then he gave me a wink that was full of intent and a whole lot of orgasms promised for tonight.
His attention was pulled back to the young girl, and I was thankful for her perfect timing so I could catch my breath and regroup. Walking around town aroused wasn’t the most comfortable thing to do.
I turned back to the fountain, closing my eyes for a minute and just listening to the trickling sound of the water falling into the basin.
“Rhodes, stop guzzling it. Yer’re already fooking sloshed.” The slurred male voice filtered down through the alley.
I shifted to the side and peered around the lattice wall to see three shadowy bodies ten feet from me, a clear bottle of liquor being passed between them.
“Shut it, ya dobber. I bought the damn thing.” The one I assumed was named Rhodes brought the bottle to his mouth and took a hearty chug before passing it off to his friend.
They started heading toward me, their voices slurred, their laughter growing the closer they got.
When they were close enough for me to smell the liquor on their breath, I went to straighten but my hand slipped, causing the lattice to sag against the fountain. The sound was minimal but the males heard and snapped their heads up, their gazes latching on to me.
Then the one called Rhodes grinned and sauntered up to me before I could move back.
My entire body went ramrod straight, this strange sort of panic rising for just a second before this numbness settled in. Although anxiety rose in me, I could sense they weren’t a threat, not really, not even for my weak nymph strength.
They were a menace. An annoyance, but despite my brain knowing that, my body reacted in the only way it knew how to for the last several decades.
It seized up.
The male smiled, his eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot, and the scent of cheap whiskey and days-old sweat coating him.