He had successfully kept out of her sight at Castle Ruadh, until the morning she screamed and he had fallen from the cliff. Her presence, her fragrance, and the memories of their kisses had turned his life upside down. Why did her presence keep him aroused to the point of distraction? If he forgot to close a door when evil lurked, how would he keep an enemy from attacking her?
“So tell me, Gavin, did you enjoy any part of the games today?” Denise wiggled her eyebrows, then bit off another piece of the odd food.
Swallowing, he wiped his mouth and smiled, as his feet squished inside his sodden boots. “I dinno’ have time to enjoy the festival. Jenny’s run-in with the man, Randy, was a distraction. I dinno’ mind the swim, but my feet are less than comfortable.”
“You poor thing!” Jenny set down her plate and grabbed Gavin’s from his hand. He kept a wedge in his hand, and bit into it, as she led him by the other hand down a narrow hall, and into a bedchamber.
His breath caught, and he jerked his hand away from hers.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ye tempt me, lass. I am here to protect ye, not bed ye.”
She stared at her empty hand, then gazed at his face. Her eyes widened, and her tongue slipped out to wet her lips. She shifted her weight to the opposite foot, and her breasts jiggled slightly beneath her bodice. When she brushed a loose lock of hair behind an ear, he was mesmerized.
“I don’t understand. What did I do?”
His sigh was long enough to clear his head, and allow his cock to soften. “We should no’ keep time together. Alone, I mean. ‘Tis unseemly.”
“After all we’ve been through? How can you say that?”
“Ye are not for me, and yer life is here, in this time. I will assure ye stay alive. When the danger has passed, I will return to my other responsibilities, back in the Highlands.”
“Is that all I am to you?” Jenny crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him. “Just another so-called responsibility?”
He read the pain in her trembling voice. Hurting her was never his plan, but he would not compromise her in front of the others. Forcing his gaze from her beauty, he glanced around the small space. Frilly pink curtains framed one large window, and plump pillows adorned a bed covered by a pink and white-striped blanket. “Is this yer bedchamber?”
“Yes.” She lifted her chin, as if daring him to stride farther into the room. Instead, he backed into the hall, leaned against the opposite wall, and slowly removed his boots, then he slipped off his soaking wet hose. Before setting his damp feet on the floor, he secretly palmed the small stone Dorcas Swann had given him.
“I just wanted to give you these.” She held out a pair of white footgear. “I think they’ll fit. I bought them for Jake before…”
He accepted them, then sniffed. “Leather. Do ye always buy gifts for male…friends?”
“Ha! You’re jealous!” Jenny lifted her chin, swept past him, and returned to the others.
Sighing loudly, an inexplicable rush of happiness centered in his chest. He stepped into the odd white footwear, then followed her.
Walking past the quiet group, he unlatched the door to the outside, and set his wet boots on her porch. He remembered to lock the door again, then returned to the group.
“Nice shoes,” Denise said. Rae smiled. Jenny ignored him.
Sipping his ale, he pondered if Rae believed the threats against Jenny. Rae’s help could prove invaluable, especially since Gavin did not trust himself around Jenny, but the thought of another man bedding down so close to her, made his gut twist.
Words escaped Gavin before he had a chance to understand why he spoke them.
“I will sleep here.”
CHAPTER 14
Gavin was unsure why Jenny gasped, and her cheeks turned rosy. Because he said he planned to sleep inside her house?
Rae laughed, clutched his belly, then laughed harder.
Denise giggled. “That’s my cue to leave. See you tomorrow.” She waved good-bye, and slipped out the door.
“Thank ye for the dinner, and the key.” Rae bowed to Jenny, and headed outside.
“Where is he going?” Gavin strode to the busy little door, and locked it again.
Jenny sniffed. “He’s staying in Jake’s apartment, like I said earlier.”
“And I shall stay here.”
Jenny shook her head. She gathered the empty pizza boxes, and set the bottles in a basin. When she swiveled one of two taps above the basin, water flowed over her cupped hands.
“I told you that you can sleep in Izzy’s empty bed, but if you insist on acting like my shadow, there’s the couch.” She pointed to a low-backed, thin, bed-like seating area.
“ ‘Tis agreeable.” Sleeping on the so-called couch was not the perfect scenario, but a strategic place in order to react, should anyone attempt to enter Jenny’s residence.
“I suppose you could use a shower. I know I do.” When she headed down the hall again, Gavin followed at a distance. He walked far enough behind, that her flowery fragrance, tinged with river water and pine, no longer tempted him to kiss her.
She stopped and pulled fluffy linens from behind a thin door, opened another door, then reached along a wall. With a click, light flooded the room, yet there were no windows. No candles, either, but a globe in the middle of the ceiling illuminated the space. A huge bathing tub, curtained for privacy, looked welcoming.
Big enough for two.
A cold bath would solve a multitude of problems, including his desire to bed her. She turned the two handles at one end, similar to the ones in her cooking room, then pulled up another bit of metal sitting between them. Water sprayed from a spigot high upon the wall.
“An indoor waterfall? ‘Tis magical. Ye must certainly be a witch.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m no witch. This is simply modern plumbing. Enjoy it or curse it, I don’t care, but I need to get clean.”
“I dinno’ mean to offend ye. I have witnessed many wondrous things, this day. In my time, only witches and sorcerers conjure such things. Many deadly scenarios have caused me to reconsider my future.”
Jenny dropped the linens on a chair, and rubbed a hand along his arm. Her eyes told him she was sorry he was here, in this time. Did she understand she was the reason? Her safety, against those who wished to hurt him, was not of her design. No one should suffer simply for knowing him.
“After our discussion by the cliff, back in Wick, I thought you and I were through. Why are you here? And don’t lie. I can read you like a book…a piece of parchment.”
He would not worry her with the truth. “I missed ye.”
“Really?” Her gaze darkened, and she licked her lips. “Let’s not let this water go to waste.”
“Yer meaning?”
As she unlaced her bodice, his groin tightened. Folding his hands in front of him, he could not remove his gaze. When her blouse, belt, and skirt slithered to the floor, followed by her delicate chemise, he groaned. Standing in all her glory, with her nipples pointing toward him, his breath hitched.
Unwilling to remain clothed in her presence, he unhooked his sporran, dropped his plaid, and kicked off his new footwear. With muscles tensed, and his manhood pointing toward her treasure box, he groaned.
“You are in for a treat,” she said, “but only a shower. Nothing more.”
He relaxed, and waited for her to make the next move. He had not rushed her, that night in Izzy’s barn, and he would not do so, now. She stepped into the large tub and let the water cascade over her head and down her chest. He entered and stood opposite the waterfall, and the warmth of the spray surprised him. Jenny pulled the curtain fully closed, enclosing them in intimacy.
A cold bath was what he needed. Jenny was not yet receptive, if he understood her statement, but he should be thankful. His gaze roamed over the pale curves, the water dripping from her hair, the sparkling water droplets brightening her brown eyes.
She leaned past him to grab a brigh
tly colored bottle, and he jerked. Was she planning to kill, or maim him, with a potion? Naked, he was as vulnerable as a warrior could be.
When she poured the contents into the palm or her hand, then lathered her hair, the scent of apples and cinnamon tickled his nose. She closed her eyes, bent her head back, and rinsed away the lather.
Unable to keep his fingers from sweeping over the sensitive skin beneath her breast, he caressed the damp flesh. With her eyes still shut tight against the water, she smiled.
Joining her beneath the spray, he kissed her, what he swore he would never do again. When her arms lowered, grasping him around his neck, he brought their bodies together. His erection, hard and hot, lay against the cool softness of her damp belly. When she squirmed, nudging his rock-hard length, smiling against his lips, he tightened his embrace. Water sprayed everywhere, but he did not care.
Let me drown in her presence.
Let me die with her lips on mine.
Take my breath into her mouth and leave me nothing.
His thoughts surprised him, leaving him to wonder what had changed, and why such a spell had entered his thoughts. If he had said the words aloud, he might have brought about his own death.
Jenny pulled back barely an inch, enough to release his mouth. “Wash your hair, while I soap your back.”
She wanted to clean him? Not one to argue, when a naked woman bid him to accept her touch, he opened his palm. She dribbled the white, fruity liquid in it, and he lathered his hair. She moved behind him, leaving him to face the warm waterfall. When her hands caressed his back and shoulders, he stiffened. Her hands, so small and delicate, rubbed his rump, his thighs, and the backs of his knees.
“Turn around.”
He complied, then bent his head back and rinsed the lather from his hair. He dare not meet her gaze, not when her hands roamed his chest, then headed lower.
“Men of your time have lots of muscles, but you have such a thin waist.” Her finger traced a line from between his nipples, to his belly button, then followed the dark line of hair to his expectant groin. “No belly, either. Guess you don’t eat cake and ice cream like the guys around here, do.”
“Nor pizza.”
She laughed. “You are so right.”
When her caress slipped lower, and she soaped his genitals, he coughed. “Easy, lass. Much time has passed since I…”
“That time in the barn was wasted. Why didn’t you make love to me?” She released him, and stepped back.
He sighed, then shook his head, He stepped closer to her, and the spray hit him in the middle of his back. She was staring up at him, with her teeth imbedded in her lower lip. He had tasted those lips, and the memory made his length as rigid as a steel pike. He did not wish to fight the memories of that night, when he had kept his clothes on.
“Doono’ think I did no’ wish to love ye completely. We nearly died from a fierce battle. Can ye no’ recall our race through the forest, and coming to Bull and Izzy’s aid? By gaining the attention of Tulac Castle’s warriors, we nearly perished. We celebrated by finding solace within each other’s arms.”
“But you stopped with kisses and…touches.”
He smiled. He had kissed his way from her lips to the gentle slope of her neck, to the breasts she offered, by tugging her bodice to her waist. That night, her skin was like silver beneath the moonlight that had pierced the barn’s damaged roof. Her nipples had grown hard as berries in the frigid night air, and he could still taste them as he suckled her. He had wanted to take it farther, but the gentleman in him had stopped.
“I was still betrothed,” he whispered.
Her eyes widened again. “I remember. When I found out, I was furious.”
“I am verra’ sorry, lass,” he whispered.
She pulled him closer, and kissed him. With one hand wrapped around her middle, the other flush against the wall to brace them, he kissed her back, like a man parched, and in want of sustenance.
Her taste upon his tongue was as intoxicating as ale, but as sweet as cider. Her lips, pressed to his, were like down-filled pillows, soft, and welcoming. When her tongue slipped inside his mouth, his own danced with it, and he squeezed his eyes shut. He savored the myriad of sensations, while his engorged erection pressed against her stomach.
She curled her fingers in his hair, as she slowly pulled her face from his. Her tongue slipped away, and he groaned at the loss.
“Are you still betrothed to anyone?”
Gavin could not form a word, so he shook his head, his body rigid with a desire to slam her against the nearest wall, toss her legs around his waist, and enter her hidden sheath.
He dare not move.
Frozen in anticipation of what might happen next, her womanly scent drifted up, and she moaned softly with need. When his limbs willed themselves to move, he stepped from the tub. After he helped her out, she released his hand and passed him a large piece of linen. While he dried his painfully aroused body with the soft cloth, he never took his gaze from her.
She was damp and disheveled, and more beautiful than any woman he had laid his eyes upon during his entire life. How could he think to let her go?
When the damp cloth slipped beneath a breast, he could not help but gaze upon her loveliness. From her wet hair down to her delicate feet, Jenny Morgan was a beauty, and her lips and tongue seemed to demand he take her to bed.
Who am I to say nay?
In his soul, he knew his next step was irrational and wrong. If he spent the night in her bed, with her limbs tangled around his, how could he return to Scotland without her?
CHAPTER 15
Gavin’s eyes darkened, their green orbs as shadowed and muted as the reddish aura that hovered around him. The color meant he was quick tempered, at least at this moment. Had Jenny overstepped some type of boundary? Their night together in Izzy’s barn, a night they never discussed with anyone, nor each other, had been caused by the rush of adrenaline. In the aftermath, she’d felt so happy, she’d practically jumped into his arms.
She was no virgin, but he had refused to do anything besides kiss her senseless. When they fell asleep, he’d wrapped her in his cloak and then in his arms, to keep the cold at bay. With the way he stared at her now, all she felt was cold.
Why now? He didn’t want her. He had appeared at the Highland games, then followed her home, for a reason other than love. He’d referred to her as a responsibility. His secrets irritated her, yet she practically invited him into her bed. Suddenly aware of her nakedness, she wrapped the towel tightly around her.
“Gavin, wait.” She raised her hand, and pressed it against the damp steel of his chest. “I might have spoken out of turn. We are two very different people. I don’t know exactly why you decided to find me, but I am not looking for a bed partner.”
His brows lowered and his eyes darkened. “Nay? Do ye no’ recall how well we fit together that night?”
“Yes I do. We huddled under your cloak, that’s all.”
“We shared heat, and survived to live another day. Do ye no’ wish to explore farther?”
“There is more to life than sex.”
When he grinned, she marched down the hall, and entered her bedroom. After she had locked her door, she dropped the damp towel, and collapsed on her bed. Tears burned behind her eyes, and she gathered the top blanket, wrapping it around her trembling limbs.
Damp, tired, and aroused, she wasn’t looking forward to a restless night, but she wasn’t a man’s plaything. He had yelled at her, cursed at her, and accused her of trying to kill him. Why the sudden change of heart? Why was he here, in her house?
The lock turned, and the door opened.
“What the…” Jenny shot up straight, on the edge of the bed. Gavin stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his waist. With his feet spread, and his palms flat against the doorjamb, he was the epitome of a Scottish warrior.
A sneaky one, at that.
“How did you unlock my door?”
“I lea
rned many things, while preparing to meet the dangers in this world. A similar menace heads this way. ‘Tis my fault, and ye will no’ suffer because of it.”
“You aren’t making sense. Danger? Randy was an anomaly. He thought I had spurned him for no good reason.”
“Did ye?”
“No! When he asked me to have a drink with him, I told him I was meeting a friend, later. He took offense. Falling in the river was an accident. Did I thank you for pulling me to safety?”
Gavin smiled, and nodded. “No need. I was glad I had arrived in time, though ye and Rae nearly made it to shore. I am here to protect ye from other perils.”
“Why? And, don’t you dare lie. I can tell when you do.”
Turning his head slightly, he glared back at her. “Ye can read my aura?”
How did he know?
It struck her, suddenly, that the color surrounding him had changed. It was a gloomy gray, meaning he felt trapped in his life. When his chest rose and fell with one long breath, she tensed.
“Yer life is in danger, due to enemies of mine. They mean to hurt me by causing ye pain. I will no’ allow it.” He stepped into the room and stopped about two feet away.
She thought about his statement, rolling the words around in her head. Jumping to her feet, still clutching the coverlet, she poked a finger in the middle of his chest. “Why would anyone do that? Why would they believe I mean anything to you?”
He gnawed on his lower lip and backed away. The hall was dark, and the apartment was silent. Glaring at him, she waited for an explanation. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he fisted his hands. When his mouth opened, she expected an explanation.
Instead, a loud crash echoed from the direction of her front door. From where she’d fallen on top of her bed, she looked from him to the door. “What the heck?”
My Dark Highlander Page 13