by Bree Wolf
“Blasted woman, I−”
“No gentleman would feel obligated to assist a stranger in such a way,” she hissed, her eyes narrowed as though that would help her understand his motivation. “You’ve done more than anyone could have expected. It makes me wonder. It makes me wonder what you’re hiding.”
Garrett snorted, “What I’m hiding? What about−?”
“You cannot deny that you’re keeping something from me,” his wife snapped, her blue eyes ablaze as she stepped toward him, an accusing finger pointed at his chest. “You’re not being forthright. You’re concealing something, and I demand to know what it is!”
Staring down at her, Garrett suddenly found himself reminded of the night he had first laid eyes on his wife. She had sat in the taproom of the inn, a drink in her hand and a scowl on her face. A group of men had been crowded around her. However, as she had begun to lament about what insufferable beings men proved to be, the small crowd had quickly dispersed.
Only Garrett had remained, drawn to the fire in her eyes.
Words had flown from her mouth without pause, and as much as he had tried to make himself heard, to have her notice him, see him, she had been too lost in her tirade. Outrage over having been abandoned in Gretna Green had made her blind to everything around her, and he had known from the way her eyes had glazed over that she was barely aware he was right in front of her.
Now, here, she was seeing him. Her blue eyes held his, demanding an answer, and yet, her mouth never ceased speaking as though she, too, did not know whether or not she truly wanted to know. Therefore, Garrett did what he had done then, almost a year ago.
Reaching for her, he pulled her into his arms and his mouth closed over hers, cutting off her words.
Instantly, she stilled, and he could feel her surprise in the way her body tensed in his arms.
Still, he did not retreat. Instead, he deepened the kiss, one arm holding her tightly against him while the other traced down the line of her jaw until it settled in the nape of her neck.
He kissed her the way he had kissed her before, the way they had kissed before. His lips knew hers. His hands were familiar with the terrain of her body. And yet, it had been a long time.
Overwhelmed by the feel of her, Garrett barely noticed when her body softened in his arms. Her mouth opened, and she returned his kiss, her hands tentatively travelling up his chest. A soft moan escaped her lips, and he groaned deep in his throat, daring to hope that despite everything she was still his.
Then she broke their kiss, and her eyes stared up at him, wide and deep, the blue in them more intense than he had ever seen it before. “How…?” Her eyes narrowed in confusion as she tried to put into words what her heart had just realised. “This…this was not our first kiss, was it?”
Still holding her tightly in his arms, Garrett shook his head. “It was not.”
A rush of air escaped her lips, and her eyes blinked rapidly. “How?”
***
Caught up in her confusion about this stranger who knew her better than anyone ever had, Claudia did not see his intent before it was too late. She saw his gaze shift lower and touch her lips a mere second before his mouth claimed hers.
Shock froze her limbs, and yet, the touch of his lips upon hers stirred something deep inside her.
A memory.
Only, like in her dream, this memory did not come with images. She did not see his face. Perhaps a faint shimmer of his green eyes looking into hers. But nothing more.
What she remembered was the feel of him. He felt…familiar. So very familiar. His hands on her, gentle, and yet, powerful. His mouth on hers, caressing, teasing. She felt her heart leap with joy as he held her close.
She felt safe and…loved.
Without thought, Claudia’s body responded to him, to the sensations he invoked within her. She kissed him back, and it seemed as though her lips knew exactly how to meet his, how they fit together. She moaned at the familiarity of their encounter and heard his answer in the low groan, rumbling deep in his throat.
Then she pulled away, staring up into his face. A face that no longer seemed to be that of a stranger. He looked as he had before, and yet, when their eyes met, it was as though she was taken back to a time…when they had met before. A time when they had known each other. “How…?” she gasped, overwhelmed by the emotions and thoughts pulling her in all directions. “This…this was not our first kiss, was it?”
He shook his head, and his arms tightened on her as though he feared she would slip from his grasp. “It was not.”
The breath she had been holding escaped in a rush, and she blinked her eyes, trying to clear her head. Was she dreaming? “How?” she asked once more, not certain what exactly it was that she wanted to know when another memory drew her attention.
A memory only a day old.
Again, Claudia saw the faint light spilling out of the tavern. She heard men stumbling along the street, their voices slurred. She felt her skin crawl with what lay ahead.
And then he had come.
Blinking, she looked back up at Garrett, her eyes focusing on his. “When you came to my aid in London,” she whispered, shock tinging her voice, “you asked if I truly meant to pretend that we had never met before.”
Holding her gaze, Garrett nodded.
A cold shiver went down her back. “We’ve met before,” she whispered, staring up at him for confirmation.
“We have.”
“And you did not mean the ball, did you?”
He shook his head.
She swallowed, and her gaze drifted lower, touching his lips. “We’ve kissed before.”
“We have,” he replied, a hint of wickedness in his eyes as he grinned at her. Still, it seemed that he, too, was overwhelmed by everything that had passed between them and sought to lighten the burden by pretending that it did not exist. “Do ye not remember, Lass?” he asked, and she could see the tension that held him as he waited for her answer.
All of a sudden, Claudia realised that the fact that she had forgotten about him pained him greatly. He cared for her, remembered everything there was to know about her while she had not even been able to recall his name.
Guilt stole into her heart, and she smiled up at him. A peace offering. “Yes and no,” she finally replied. “My mind cannot seem to remember, but when you kissed me…” Shaking her head in disbelief, she stared up at him. “Would you kiss me again?”
He chuckled, and the corners of his mouth rose into a dazzling smile. “How could I refuse such a request?” he whispered as his gaze darted to her lips.
Unlike before, he moved slowly now. His eyes remained on hers as he leaned down, and she could feel his warm breath teasing her lips, speaking of the fulfilment of a promise. His arms tightened on her, pulling her ever closer, as his eyes held hers captive.
Only in the last moment before his mouth touched hers did Claudia close her eyes.
His warmth engulfed her, and as her lips began to tingle at the feel of his, something stirred in a far and distant corner of her mind. Flashes streaked across the blackness that had always blocked her view, refusing to allow her the knowledge of what had occurred.
Responding to his kiss, Claudia strove against him, reaching for the memory that lurked on the horizon of her conscious mind. She knew it was there. She could feel it. And yet, it always retreated out of reach whenever she came close. It was nothing more than a flash. There one second and gone the next.
Claudia gasped when she suddenly felt his hand move from its position in the back of her neck. The tips of his fingers grazed her jaw before travelling down the column of her neck, sending shivers into every region of her body.
Abandoning all thought, she turned to his touch with all her being, knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that she had done so before. She felt his lips on hers, felt them move down to the line of her jaw until they reached her ear. She felt his teeth against her skin before he whispered to her.
It was the word f
rom her dream, and her eyes flew open at hearing it from his lips.
No more than a murmur, she could feel it all the way to her toes. Her mind could not understand its meaning, but her heart knew it to be an endearment.
In a flash, images tumbled into Claudia’s mind, and she gasped.
As she sank into Garrett’s arms, her mind suddenly remembered her frustration when William had abandoned her in Gretna Green. She remembered seeing Garrett’s green eyes across the taproom. She remembered speaking to him, drinking and dancing with him.
Pulling back, Claudia stared up at him as her mind conjured the moment he had first kissed her. Then, too, she had been cursing and yelling at him, barely giving him a chance to say a word, let alone two. She remembered the way his lips had curved into a wicked smile before he had seized her, kissing her speechless.
“It was you,” Claudia gasped, unable to believe that after all this time she finally knew who she had been with in Scotland. “It was you. In Gretna Green, it was you.”
For a moment, his eyes closed, and she could see utter relief falling over his face. Then he looked at her again and nodded. “Aye, Lass, ‘twas me.” Smiling, he brushed a gentle hand over her cheek and down along her jaw to her chin, giving it a little pinch.
Breathless, Claudia tried to grasp the faint images floating in her mind. “We…we kissed. We…” Breaking off, she stared up at him, her mind unwilling to provide more than it had. “Did we…?” Her body tensed as she held her breath.
When she strained away from him, Garrett pulled her back, his eyes holding hers without the smallest sign of hesitation or regret. “Aye, we did, Lass. A lot happened that night, and it drove me nearly mad that ye did not remember.”
Closing her eyes, Claudia pushed his hands off, and this time he did release her. She staggered backwards, her heart and mind overwhelmed. The thought that she had been intimate with this man, a man she had not been able to remember until a moment ago, knocked the air from her lungs.
Glancing up at him now, Claudia could remember bits and pieces, but there was still something that eluded her. They had kissed and danced and laughed, but how had they ended up in the room where she had awoken the next day? And why had he not been there? If he had, then−?
The blood froze in her veins, and her right hand fell down to rest on her flat belly. Aiden! Her heart and mind screamed, picturing the beautiful face of her son. The son she had had to give up because she had been foolish. Because she had shared a stranger’s bed.
But he was no longer a stranger, was he?
Lifting her gaze, Claudia looked at Garrett, shock freezing her tongue when she realised that she finally had her answer.
At least one.
Now, she knew who her child’s father was.
Chapter Sixteen – Unspoken Words
Standing back, Garrett watched his wife. He saw her mind race as her pale blue eyes darted around the room, unseeing, before staring into the distance, her inner eye too preoccupied with what she had just learnt. Her cheeks were pale, and her hands still trembled as she blindly staggered about the room.
“Do ye truly not remember?” Garrett asked, but his voice held no accusation. Seeing how distraught she was, he felt his heart soften. Perhaps she had had more to drink that night than he had thought. Perhaps it had truly erased him from her mind. From the look in her eyes, it was clear that she was still in shock, that she had truly not known. Still, considering everything that had happened, he had to ask.
Swallowing, she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes blinked before they turned to him, focusing on his. Then she shook her head. “I remembered nothing between arriving in Gretna Green with William and then waking up the next morning.” For a brief moment, she closed her eyes. “I’ve been wracking my mind ever since, trying to remember. Sometimes I saw things in my dreams, but nothing tangible.” Tears glistened in her eyes, and Garrett could see the pain she had been through. “I remembered the feel of your hands,” she whispered, her eyes drifting over his body as though to familiarise herself with him again. “The feel of your lips on mine. I remembered the words you whispered to me without knowing what they meant.” She inhaled a deep breath, blinking away her tears. “I remembered all that, and yet, nothing that could have told me who you were. If I had…” Her voice broke off, and yet, her gaze remained on his.
Silence fell over the room as they looked at each other. Her eyes studied his face and then slid down to his shoulders and farther over his chest. A slight blush came to her cheeks before she dropped her gaze, suddenly unable to look at him.
“What is it, Lass?” Garrett asked, taking a careful step toward her.
For a second, she pinched her eyes shut before her chin rose, and she looked at him once more, a hint of shyness in her blue gaze. “It is strange for me to know that…we have been intimate with each other, and yet, I do not remember.”
A smile teased the corners of Garrett’s mouth, and he chuckled when he saw her blush deepen. “I’ve never seen ye blush before,” he whispered, gazing down at her. “Ye’ve always been so certain of who ye were and what ye wanted.”
A smile claimed her lips, and he could see a touch of pride gleaming in her eyes. “You do not know what it means not to remember, to have a part of yourself that is lost to you.”
Garrett drew in a slow breath. “Do ye want to remember?”
Suppressing a grin, she dug her teeth into her lower lip. “I think I do, but…how? I’ve tried for months to remember. However, whenever I woke, my dreams vanished and only the faintest echo of them remained.”
A teasing grin came to his lips as he reached out and pulled her back into his arms. “Ye remembered when I touched ye, Lass, when I kissed ye.” Perhaps if she remembered everything that had happened that night, it would loosen the hold that other man had on her. Perhaps she would remember that she had loved him that night.
Her eyes widened slightly when understanding found her. However, instead of dropping her gaze or blushing even more, a dazzling smile claimed her lips and her eyes shone like two stars in the night sky. “I see,” she whispered, her gaze dipping lower and touching his lips.
Feeling his body begin to tingle with anticipation, Garrett lowered his head towards hers. “Ye have to admit ‘tis a sound plan,” he chuckled, delighting in the hint of wickedness that came to her eyes.
Smiling, she ran her hands up his arms and onto his shoulders. “I find myself unable to disagree, Mr. MacDrum−”
Suddenly, her voice broke off, and her eyes went wide as though someone had struck her. Her body tensed, and for a moment, she stared up at him in shock. Then her body reawakened, and she shoved hard against his chest, her eyes narrowing in anger, and yet, her face paled until she was as white as a sheet.
Feeling his heart thudding in his chest, Garrett tried to understand what had happened. “What’s wrong, Lass?” he asked, reaching for her, but she shrank away, her eyes hardening as she looked at him.
“You…you spoke of your wife,” she stammered, shaking her head as she backed away from him. “You said you were looking for your wife.” Her eyes closed. “Oh, God, you’re married.”
Sighing, Garrett stepped toward her, relieved that finally all would be out in the open. “Listen, I−”
“Don’t touch me!” she hissed, crossing to the other side of the room. Still shaking her head in disbelief, she stared at him with accusing eyes. “I cannot believe this. I…I slept with a married man. I…” Her jaw clenched. “Is this why your wife left? Because you were unfaithful to her?”
Overwhelmed by the absurdity of this conversation, Garrett inhaled a deep breath before he approached her again. “Listen, I−”
“Was she at the inn?” Claudia interrupted, her eyes shooting daggers at him and her lips twisted into a hateful snarl. “Was she there? Did she see us together? Is that why she left?”
“Will ye let me explain?” Garrett growled, grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward him. “I swear I’ll−”
Fed up, Garrett yanked her forward and cut off her accusations with a desperate kiss. He held her to him with an iron grip as fear surged through his being that she would not listen, that she had made up her mind and would not hear a word he could say in his defence. She was as stubborn as a mule, and he knew he had to break through her defences before she closed her heart to him for good.
To his utter surprise, she answered his kiss as she had before. Her body softened, and her lips met his with equal fervour, demanding as much as giving. Unfortunately, it seemed to be no more than her body’s desire for him, something instinctual, for a moment later, she began to struggle in his arms.
Her hands balled into fists, and she shoved against his chest, trying to free herself, determined not to be affected by him.
Garrett marvelled at her strength, for he doubted he would have been able to stop himself if she had been the one to kiss him like this, wanting him in her arms.
“Stop!” she snarled, straining as she tried to hold him at bay. “Stop kissing me!”
Not releasing his hold on her, Garrett glared down into her face. “Then shut up!” he growled, relieved when she finally ceased struggling. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. “Shut up so I can talk, or I swear I shall kiss ye all night.”
“Fine,” she relented, and he could feel some of the tension leaving her body. Still, she held herself away from him. “Say what you will, but it does not matter.” With her lips twisted into a snarl, she glared up at him. “You don’t matter,” she hissed. “All that matters now is that I find Aiden. Say what you wish, but I do not care.”