She giggled again. “That look is so you, Connor. But you can’t intimidate me.”
She tightened her arms around him, causing a tingle that traveled down to his toes and back again, pooling somewhere just below his waist.
“I’m twenty-four. My birthday was last month.” She grinned up at him, “Last month my time, that is, not your time.” Another wave of giggles.
Some people should not drink.
“Tell me about yer brothers.”
“Well, there are three of them. They’re all older than me. Cass is the oldest, then there’s Cody, and then Jesse. Jess is my best friend. See, my dad has this thing about the Old West.” She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. “I’m not even going to try to explain what that is. Dad’s always been fascinated by what he thinks are the misunderstood characters of that period of history. My poor brothers each got named after whichever one he was interested in at the time. When I was born, my mother put her foot down and insisted on naming me herself.” She giggled again. “Good thing, too, or I’d be Belle Starr. To this day my dad still reads everything he can get his hands on about the Old West. He always says they had their own code of ethics that’s worth remembering.” She abruptly quit talking.
“Tell me more about yer family.”
“I don’t want to talk about them anymore. It makes me sad to think about home. They’re so far away.” Her voice trailed off so that he could barely hear the last. “I miss my family,” she whispered.
He glanced down to find her staring intently up at him. “What is it?”
She removed her arms from his waist, shifting her weight until she leaned back against him. Another jolt of sensation shot through his body, and he found himself suddenly needing to concentrate just to breathe normally.
She sighed deeply. “Thinking about my family and all. My dad always says that honesty is the most treasured virtue we have, but also the most fragile. So, now I’m feeling guilty, Connor. I wasn’t completely honest with you when I forced that bargain back there.” She shook her head and continued to stare down at her hands clasped in front of her. “I mean, I really do hate horses and I don’t ever want to get on one by myself again. But that’s not the only reason I wanted your promise to let me ride with you.”
She shifted again, and turning to look up at him, she placed her hand on his chest, causing him a whole new wave of breathing difficulties.
“More than anything else, I think I just wanted an excuse to be here like this, close to you with your arms around me. You agreed to what I asked without a single question, even though I failed you.” She sniffled. “I’m so sorry I let you down, Connor. I really thought I could do it. I was so sure I could learn to ride in time. I honestly did try. I didn’t want to humiliate you in front of all your people. You have to believe me. I’m so sorry.”
He stopped the horse to give her his full attention, looking down at her upturned face. Deep emerald pools, brimming with tears stared back at him.
“I dinna ken what yer talking about, Cate. You’ve no done anything to humiliate me.”
“Not yet, but I will next week.” Tears began to roll slowly down both cheeks now. “Mairi told me how when we do that riding-out thing, all the people will judge you on the bride you’ve chosen. And I won’t even be able to ride on a horse by myself. They’ll think I’m not accomplished or whatever, and you’ll be humiliated for getting stuck with somebody like me who can’t do any of the things your wife should be able to do.”
She patted his chest, right over the spot where his heart tightened, her tears flowing freely now.
“I’m sorry I let you down. I so wanted to be able to surprise you by learning how to ride, to make you proud of me.”
“Yer daft.” He took her upper arms in his hands and gave her a little shake. “I dinna care if you can ride. It’s of no importance to me.” The hopeful light in her eyes caused him to go on when he would have stopped. “I much prefer to hae you right here next to me, where I can feel you close, where I’m sure yer safe. I’m no a man to be embarrassed by riding out with a beautiful lass in my arms.”
He released her then, and being mindful of her bandaged shoulder, slid his hands up to caress her face. Using the pads of his thumbs, he wiped the tears from her cheeks.
The wise thing would be to remove his hands from her now and continue on toward the castle. But he wasn’t feeling like a wise man tonight.
Her eyes widened and then fluttered shut as he lowered his mouth to hers. Her arms went around his neck as her soft lips opened with only the slightest encouragement from him. She tasted of fine whisky and something indescribable that could only be Cate. He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of her.
As he pulled her closer, meshing their bodies tightly together, the distinct rattle of wood and harness sounded in the distance.
Damn. His cousin had always had such bad timing.
CHAPTER 12
Cate stretched in the wooden tub, leaning back to rinse her hair one last time.
Arriving here last night seemed all a blur. She’d been so exhausted she’d slept the entire day away. She might still be sleeping if Rosalyn hadn’t tempted her out of bed with the lure of a hot bath.
She looked out the window to see that the sun had already set. With the fire burning cheerfully next to her, she hadn’t noticed before. Rosalyn would be back soon to look over all her cuts and scrapes.
She stretched again, sighing contentedly. It had been the most perfect evening of her life.
Well, if you left out the falling-off-the-horse part. And the cuts and bruises. And the part where she’d made a total idiot of herself. She laughed out loud at her own foolishness.
It was the kiss that had been perfect.
The first one he’d given her, the one in the magic bubble, paled in comparison. And since that night on the stairs, she had wondered what a real kiss from Connor, a kiss of passion, might be like, but her imagination hadn’t done the man justice. Even thinking of it now sent unfamiliar tingles to her toes and flooded her face with heat.
She’d been kissed before. Still, to be completely honest, she couldn’t exactly think of herself as an experienced woman. Richard was the only other man who’d ever kissed her. By comparison, his kiss had been more of an insistent pawing and groping that had left her wanting to escape more often than not.
If she had doubted in the least her decision to call off her marriage to Richard before, she had no doubts now. He had never made her feel like this. Like she was floating. Like she wanted to dance and sing. Like she never wanted it to end.
But it would end.
She would be going home soon.
The thought struck like a bucket of cold water. In two weeks she would leave here and never see Connor again. She’d be far away, back in her own world. And he knew that as well as she did. He’d been the one who brought it up last night. He had reminded her it was only two more weeks.
Abruptly the water in which she sat seemed uncomfortably cool and the wooden tub pressed painfully against her injured shoulder. She felt like such an idiot. Just because some man had the ability to kiss her until her stomach dropped to her feet didn’t mean she could start making rash assumptions about him or his intentions. After all, Richard had probably made that little receptionist’s stomach drop, too. Although she seriously doubted it.
She must remember that Connor was only a man. And like all men, last night he was just . . . What had Richard called it? Oh yeah: “seeking his relief.” Like Richard, his only real interest in her was in what she could do for him. In his case, he simply needed a wife. Once the wedding was over, he’d be only too happy to see her gone. When she hopped into her green bubble transport, he could get back to his real life. After all, he’d been quite clear from the start: he had no desire for a wife.
The whole Richard experience should have been more than enough to teach her that the happy-ever-after love she used to dream about just didn’t exist. When was she going to learn?
<
br /> Still, she couldn’t help thinking of how he’d held her close to his body, refusing to move her to the cart when the others had found them. How he’d carried her up to her bed when they’d finally reached the castle, and the way he’d looked at her as he’d tenderly traced her cheek with his thumb before he left her in his aunt’s care. Thinking of those things, she couldn’t prevent the little surge her heart took.
“Oh, just stop it,” she said out loud.
“What?”
Rosalyn was standing just inside her door, her arms full of drying sheets and salves she’d brought. Lost in her own thoughts as she had been, Cate hadn’t even heard her enter.
“Oh, not you, Rosalyn. I’m sorry. I’m just talking to myself again.”
Rosalyn arched an eyebrow, but thankfully didn’t pursue the matter.
“Here, wrap up in this and let me hae a look at what you’ve done to yerself.”
Clucking like a mother hen, she informed Cate that the bump on her forehead and the scratches on her face should disappear in a few days. After inspecting and treating the cut and bruise on her shoulder, Rosalyn pronounced her exceptionally lucky and rose to leave, but Cate stopped her.
“I’m pretty sure I landed on this shoulder first, and then my face.” She smiled wryly as she watched the other woman try to hide her own smile. “I know, not very graceful. It was such a stupid accident. I still don’t understand exactly how it happened. But anyway, there’s another spot, on the other side of my back below my shoulder blade, that really hurts. Could you look at it for me?”
Cate dropped her covering lower to allow Rosalyn better access. “I don’t see how I could have bruised that side of my back when I fell.” She stopped as she heard the other woman’s sharp intake of breath.
“What? What is it?” Once again she found herself wishing for a mirror.
“What’s this?” Rosalyn ran her hand softly over Cate’s shoulder blade, above the injury Cate wanted her to see.
“Oh that. That’s not what I mean, Rosalyn. Do you see anything just below there?”
“Aye, lass, I see the injury below.” She continued to trace the pattern on Cate’s shoulder blade. “But what’s this?”
“That’s just my birthmark. It’s always been there. I know it’s weird when you first see it. The first time I caught sight of it, I was climbing out of a bathtub and I glanced back into the mirror. I must have been about four or five. I was sure I was bleeding. I ran down the hall of our house, completely naked, screaming for my dad.” She chuckled at the memory. “My brothers still find ways to tease me about that. Cass, that’s my oldest brother, says that if you squint your eyes and turn your head just right, that birthmark looks like a flower. Considering where it is, I’ve never been able to get that kind of a perspective on it.”
“It’s a verra unusual Faerie mark.” Rosalyn continued to lightly trace the shape with her index finger.
Cate smiled over her shoulder. “You sound just like my granny. When I was little and I’d complain about how ugly it looked, she’d call it my ‘Faerie kiss.’ As I got older, I learned they’re not unusual at all. Lots of people have birthmarks. Mine’s fairly common, in fact. Both my mother and my granny had similar marks.”
“Of course,” Rosalyn murmured. “Passed from mother to daughter.”
“I don’t know that it’s genetic. But I do know it’s really not an uncommon thing at all. Of course, I never wear anything with a back low enough for it to show. I even used to hunt for bathing suits that would cover it. I’m just grateful it’s on my shoulder blade and not my face.”
“Aye, it’s verra dark against yer pale skin. As you say, like blood. I’ve never seen one so dark.” Rosalyn moved her hand lower, causing Cate to wince as she touched the spot that hurt.
“Ouch. That’s it. I can’t quite reach my hand around to it. What do you think it is?”
“It’s no so serious. You’ve a swelling here with a small cut in the center. Quite bruised as weel. But thanks to this, you hae a wealth of colors on yer back now to go with yer Faerie kiss.” She smiled at Cate as she started to the door. “From the looks of that on yer back, if I dinna ken the truth of it, I’d think you and Mairi had been throwing stones at one another, along with all yer other wee bairn games.”
Rosalyn’s laughter floated back to Cate as the woman made her way down the hall.
“Wee bairn” games, was it? Well, what could she expect? She and Mairi had certainly done a few foolish things in the past couple of weeks, but throwing rocks at each other hadn’t been one of them.
There was, however, something about the whole idea of rock throwing that nagged at the back of Cate’s thoughts, eating away at her peace of mind as she got dressed. It was that same feeling she had when she’d forgotten something important, like whether or nor she’d turned off the oven or unplugged her curling iron.
It was still worrying away at her as she dressed and braided her hair, and even later, when after she’d eaten, Mairi peeked around her door. Bouncing across the room to her favorite spot on the rug, the younger woman took a seat and stretched out her legs, bare feet near the fire.
“Rosalyn told us at eve’n meal that you were recovering quickly. Anabella felt sure you were pretending just to get sympathy.” Mairi grinned.
“I’m not sorry to have missed that.” Cate had no doubt that Anabella would have something hateful to say. “It’s the best part of being indisposed and having my meals brought to me.” She grinned in return.
“You look no worse for the ordeal. Weel, other than those nasty marks on yer face, but they’ll heal. I, on the other hand, must have lost a good ten years. I was so frightened when I saw you on the ground. Even Connor’s lecture was no so scary as that.” Eyes wide, she shook her head.
“Connor’s lecture? He was yelling at you? For what?” It was hard to imagine Mairi standing still for a lecture from anyone.
“No so much yelling. He disna actually yell at me. But he was in a mighty fury that I’d take you out riding without him being told. He was still listing all the dangers I’d no been wise enough to consider when Rosalyn came down from seeing to yer broken body.” She chuckled as Cate rolled her eyes. “I was fair relieved he dinna take dinner with us, him in his foul mood.”
“He didn’t come to the hall to eat?” Though he’d avoided her steadfastly for the past two weeks, he’d still taken every meal with them.
“No. When Rosalyn first joined us outside the hall, coming straight from you as she had, she was in a fine merry spirit. When she found him scolding me she told him he needed to practice self-control and then something about remembering how the Fae always answered yer pleas, but in a manner of their own choosing.” Mairi leaned back on her elbows, shaking her head. “He had a fair fit at that, his face going all red, and he stormed out. Rosalyn just laughed and went into the hall.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Honestly, Cate, I’ve no understanding of men, and no patience to gain it. They act the part of fools or wee bairns in overgrown bodies, with their posturing and fighting. They start with throwing stones at one another and end with swords.”
“Yeah, I’m right there with you.” She joined Mairi on the rug, the two of them sitting in companionable silence, both lost in their own thoughts.
Unexpectedly that elusive little worry at the back of her mind popped up, front and center. No wonder, the stone thing bothered her.
“Mairi, did you notice anything unusual when my horse bolted yesterday?”
“You mean other than yer flying through the air and smashing into the ground, looking for the world like a rag puppet?” The girl had a way with description.
Cate rolled her eyes again. “I’m serious, Mairi. Did you hear anything from over where I was? Before the horse bolted?”
“No, I was splashing a bit in the water, and then Blane came over, annoying me, trying to strike a conversation. He’d no be quiet and leave me be.”
Cate jumped up. “I need your help. Will you stay here and ma
ke sure no one comes looking for me?”
Mairi stood up, looking bewildered. “Of course you can hae my help. What are you doing? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t ask me now. If I’m right, I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.” At her friend’s look of disappointment she added, “I’ll tell you all about it when I get back, even if I’m not right. Deal?”
“If you’ll no let me go with you, it’ll hae to do,” Mairi groused as she accompanied her friend to the door.
* * *
Cate crept downstairs and out through the courtyard, trying to keep to the shadows so no one would see her. Briefly she considered going to find Connor first, but discarded the idea. She wasn’t ready to explain to anyone what she suspected. Not until she had some proof to back up her suspicion.
A fine stinging mist fell from the night sky, and the cold of it was a shock to her. She wished she’d worn more than the thin shift and overdress she had on. If only she’d brought a cloak. She had remembered a candle, but realized as she made her way quietly through the dark that she had no idea how she’d light it when she reached her destination, the stables. She could really use a good flashlight about now.
Once inside, all she would need to do was find the horse she’d ridden yesterday. Momentarily she considered going back as she envisioned dealing with the horse again, but gathering her resolve, she continued on.
If she was right, she was about to find her proof. The horse she rode yesterday was going to have the same mark on his rear end that she had on her back. She remembered having heard a noise just before her horse went wild, like something hitting the tree beside her. Like maybe a stone?
She was soaked to the skin by the time she reached the stables and starting to shiver. She’d need to hurry with this and get back to her room. As she entered the dark stable, her eyes were immediately drawn to the soft glow coming from a connected room. She assumed that must be where the stableboy slept, and she prayed he wasn’t there now. Creeping nearer the door, she was relieved to find the little room empty except for a small rumpled cot and a cheerful little fire.
Thirty Nights With a Highland Husband Page 11