The Master Of Strathburn

by Amy Rose Bennett

  Too exhausted to examine the tangle of her thoughts and emotions, Jessie decided to opt for the welcome oblivion of sleep. She returned to the fire, now slowly dying, and retrieved her blanket and cloak before struggling to the bed at the back of the cave. It was icy back there away from the fire but she was beyond caring. Wrapping herself tightly in her makeshift bed covers, she sank onto the bracken and heather, and willed herself to sleep. She would have to try and reason with Robert in the morning, when he was sober.

  And failing that, she’d just take the wretched man’s horse.

  * * *

  Robert stood outside in the swirling snow, kicking himself for his brutish treatment of Jessie. He shouldn’t have drunk so much whisky. He’d let his guard down and succumbed to his own base desires. His need to make Jessie his own, steal her from his brother, if only for a moment, had overtaken all rational thought. It was only to be expected that the lass must now think he was the worst kind of lustful beast.

  What he hadn’t been expecting was Jessie’s seemingly inexperienced response to his kisses. Of course he’d anticipated angry resistance for his presumption when he’d initially forced himself on her. And she did resist—at first. But when she had yielded to him, her kisses were not those of a well-practiced lover, but rather those of a tentative novice.

  He raked a hand through his snow-covered hair. Yet again he was confounded by the woman. Had he misinterpreted the seemingly passionate kiss he’d witnessed between Jessie and Simon? He closed his eyes and although it hurt, he revisited what he’d seen. There was no way to tell. In hindsight, he’d been an idiot not to stay longer to watch more of their exchange. But hand-fasted or not, he’d wager a good deal that Jessie had little to no experience when it came to lovemaking.

  But then, why should he care at all about her innocence?

  Because Simon has a cruel streak and he will debauch her, you know it.

  Frustration that bordered on anguish twisted inside Robert, the emotion stronger now that he had tasted Jessie’s sweetness himself. He wished Simon to hell. He wished Jessie was his. Most of all, he wished he hadn’t begun to care for her.

  But he did.

  The snowfall continued unabated. The frigid cold had rapidly sobered Robert up and he realised he needed to return to the cave. To Jessie. Heaving a deep sigh, he wrapped his plaid tighter about himself and trudged back up the path. Jessie had disappeared from view. Her confession that she had not known of Simon’s duplicitous role in his arrest after Culloden confused him also. Her shock and then compassion seemed genuine. He wanted to trust her, but dare he?

  She had offered to help him gain admittance to Lochrose, even though she would be risking her own chance to make her way to Edinburgh tomorrow. But was her offer just a ruse to lure him to Lochrose and into the path of Simon? Was she complicit in Simon’s games or innocent?

  Perhaps when Tobias returned, Robert would have the answers he needed to solve the mystery that was Miss Jessie Munroe.

  As he shook the snow off his hair and clothes at the cave’s entrance, he immediately noticed that Jessie had already retired to the makeshift bed. Was the lass already asleep or was she just foxing, so she wouldn’t need to speak to him? His mouth kicked into a grim smile. He wouldn’t blame her in the least if she was literally giving him the cold shoulder.

  The temperature in the cave had dropped significantly so he threw a few more hunks of wood and branches onto the fire. Despite his earlier resolution to sleep on the floor of the cave away from Jessie, he decided it would be sheer folly to do so. It was freezing and they would both end up suffering from exposure if they didn’t take precautions—which meant they needed to share their body heat beneath their meagre collection of blankets and wrappings.

  Squaring his shoulders, Robert steeled himself to approach Jessie. He knelt down beside her then gently touched her arm beneath the covers. ‘Jessie lass. You must wake up.’

  Her eyes flew open immediately and she pushed herself up, wrapping her cloak and the blanket defensively around her shoulders. She looked exhausted and wary, her mouth a tight line, her eyes red-rimmed from crying. Tears he’d undoubtedly caused. Guilt tugged at his heart. She stared at him, waiting.

  Robert swallowed, struggling to find the words to apologise and somehow repair the fragile rapport that he’d well and truly crushed. She’d never agree to his proposal otherwise. ‘Jessie … I’m so sorry for my behaviour before. It was completely inappropriate for me to … to take advantage of you in such a way. I have no excuse, but I hope you will consider accepting my sincere apology.’

  Jessie looked down and brushed her wildly curling hair behind her ear. He noticed then that she was shivering slightly. He held his breath, waiting for her to speak.

  ‘I accept,’ she said quietly. She then raised her face and he could see her beautiful golden brown eyes glowed with a quiet, determined strength. ‘But there’s something I want you to understand. After tomorrow, you must let me go. My only wish is to go to Edinburgh, to stay with my cousin. I swear to you that I willna say a word to Simon or Lady Strathburn for that matter, about yer return. And my earlier offer, to help you see yer father again, was sincere an’ still stands. I realise tha’ you have no real reason to trust me, but I ask tha’ you do. Perhaps we can even make a deal—I will assist you to enter Lochrose undetected in exchange for my freedom to leave. What do you say?’

  Robert extended his hand. ‘Agreed, Jessie Munroe.’

  Jessie clasped his hand and shook. Her hand was so cold that he had the sudden urge to place it under his shirt against his chest to warm it. Instead he enveloped it with his other hand and began to gently chafe and massage her icy fingers.

  She closed her eyes and sighed. ‘Why are you so warm, Robert? It doesna seem fair.’

  Robert smiled, encouraged that Jessie hadn’t ordered him to bed down with his horse. But he needed to do more than hold her hand to keep her warm. How would she react to his next suggestion? He drew a fortifying breath, preparing himself for a stinging rebuke. ‘Jessie lass … it’s as cold as Hades tonight, and I fear that we will both suffer if we do not take extra measures to keep ourselves warm.’

  She opened her eyes and regarded him warily. But she did not pull her hand away. ‘What are you suggesting?’

  Robert held her gaze. ‘What you are wearing is nowhere near adequate for this kind of weather. I can feel how cold you are already and it’s only going to get colder in here.’

  A small frown of suspicion creased her brow. ‘Yes …’

  He took another deep breath. In for a penny, in for a pound, Robert. ‘We should lie together and share our body heat beneath the blanket and our plaids.’

  As he spoke, her eyes had grown wide. She shook her head vehemently and wrenched her hand away. ‘You and I … I don’t think that would be appropriate. At all.’

  ‘Jessie, I swear this is not some ploy to seduce you. If we don’t do this, we may very well freeze to death. You must believe me.’

  She bit her lip and stared hard into his eyes, searching. She must have been satisfied with what she saw as then she moved over to give him room beside her on the heather and bracken bed. ‘All right, Robert Grant. But if I catch yer hands wandering where they should no’, I’ll use yer own dirk on you. Do you understand?’

  Robert held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘Understood. I shall be nothing but the perfect gentleman.’ He eased himself down next to her and then tucked his plaid, and the blanket around them. Jessie lay stiffly beside him, barely touching him. She was still trembling and her teeth had started to chatter.

  This wouldn’t do. Slowly, carefully, he gathered her into his arms, the front of her body pressing against his side. He heard her sudden intake of breath but she didn’t try to pull away.

  ‘It’s better this way,’ he whispered softy into her ear. Her hair smelled faintly of heather and wood-smoke. ‘You’ll tell me if I’m hurting your arm, won’t you?’

  She nodded, her hai
r tickling his cheek. ‘I’m all r-right,’ she whispered. Her breath was warm against the hollow of his neck. He fought the familiar urge to kiss her but he vowed to himself that he would not do anything to break her trust. He prayed she wouldn’t notice that he’d already started to get an erection.

  ‘Goodnight Jessie,’ he murmured and slowly, he felt the tension ebb from her body. She relaxed into his embrace and her shivering eased as she quietly drifted into slumber. The palm of her left hand drifted upwards to rest against his heart and with a faint smile on his lips, he closed his eyes and let sleep claim him.

  Chapter Seven

  When Jessie awoke the next morning, it was with the startling realisation that her limbs were entwined with Robert’s—and that she was warm, even comfortable. In fact, she was too comfortable. Curled into Robert’s furnace-like heat, her head rested against his shoulder whilst one of his thighs lay over her hip. Even more shockingly, one of Robert’s hands gently cupped her breast. She should be affronted and swat his hand away. Untangle herself from his legs and use his dirk on him like she’d threatened to last night. But she knew she didn’t want to—and that thought disturbed her, more than just a little. Robert had been joking yesterday, but perhaps she was a wicked wench.

  She moved slightly and Robert stirred. His hand moved away from her breast to brush her hair away from her cheek. ‘This seems to have become a bit of a habit, us spending the night together. How did you sleep?’ His voice was low and husky, a caress against her ear.

  Jessie found her voice, also husky with sleep and another emotion she didn’t care to name. ‘Better than I expected … an’ you?’

  ‘I slept well,’ he murmured, sliding his hand from her head to her shoulder, then down to the curve of her waist. ‘Better than well.’

  Oh my. Jessie pushed away from him, attempting to create space between them, to break the intimacy. It was a mistake. His blue eyes were soft and dark in the dim light of dawn, his smile languid. No one had a right to look so handsome first thing in the morning. She swallowed, dragging her gaze away from his mouth. His wide beautiful, inviting mouth. She was definitely wicked. And this was dangerous. Very dangerous. She needed to get up. Start the day.

  Get to Edinburgh.

  Robert’s thoughts must have drifted the same way. He sighed then dropped a quick kiss on her forehead. ‘As much as I would enjoy lying here all day like this, I think we really should get up. Besides, Tobias may be back at any time and—’

  ‘Good mornin’, milord. Miss Munroe.’

  Tobias. Jessie shrieked and scrambled awkwardly from the bed, ignoring the pull of her stitches and the soreness of her stiff ankle. Her face blazed as she adjusted her plaid and wrapped her cloak tightly about her. Tobias hovered awkwardly at the entrance of the cave.

  ‘Ah, good morning to you, Tobias.’ Robert followed Jessie out from underneath the bedclothes and stretched lazily, seemingly unperturbed by being caught abed with her. ‘I trust your fact finding trip was worthwhile.’

  ‘Aye, milord.’ Tobias, his face also beet red, looked only at his master. ‘I do indeed have news that will interest you.’

  Robert glanced her way, his expression now serious. ‘If you’ll excuse me, Jessie.’ He inclined his head toward the entrance of the cave. ‘Lad, how about you and I go and check on my horse.’

  Her heart sinking, Jessie watched the men disappear into the early morning fog drifting in the frigid mountain air. Despite the deal she’d struck with Robert last night, he still didn’t trust her. She suspected some of Tobias’s intelligence must be about her; at least there would be independent corroboration of her claim she was the factor’s daughter and that she had been summoned by her cousin—even though that, in and of itself was a lie. But she prayed the information would improve Robert’s opinion of her, even just a little. Which meant he might still uphold his end of the bargain.

  God willing, in a few hours, she would be on the public coach to Edinburgh.

  She had to be.

  * * *

  The fog remained impenetrable as Jessie, Robert and Tobias descended with painstaking slowness from the snow-shrouded upland glen to the lower wooded braes and Loch Kilburn. Jessie rode with Robert, his arm encircling her. She wasn’t sure if it was for support or restraint.

  After the men had returned to the cave, Robert had been subdued and distant. Every now and again Jessie had caught him looking at her speculatively, making her worry anew about what he had learned about her, and whether or not he would let her go. In the rush to get ready and leave, there hadn’t been an opportunity to talk with him about his proposed strategy for gaining safe entrance into the castle, or what her role would be. As they drew closer to Lochrose, she was more than a little frustrated with Robert for not sharing what he had planned. But railing at him wasn’t an option, not when stealth and subterfuge were paramount.

  Thankfully they encountered no one along the way. The world around them was still, silent and grey; trees loomed out of the fog like ghostly spectres. Robert had insisted she leave her scarlet cloak behind as it would be too noticeable against the snow-dusted landscape. Even though Robert shared his plaid with her now, Jessie shivered with cold—and bone deep dread.

  She was acutely aware that every step of Robert’s horse brought her closer to Simon. Anxiety tied knots in her belly and frayed her nerves to the point that she felt nauseous. It probably didn’t help that all she had in her stomach was dried beef again, but even if a feast was waiting for her at Lochrose, she doubted she could have eaten a thing.

  At last she began to identify familiar landmarks as they materialised out of the fog. They were skirting the loch, heading for the direction of Lochrose’s main gate and the Gate-House. She clutched the pommel in front of her and began to gnaw at her bottom lip. The going had been so frustratingly slow, she was now terrified that time was slipping away from her. She estimated that she only had a few hours at most to get to Grantown-on-Spey. She really couldn’t stand not knowing the plan any longer.

  She turned her head toward Robert. ‘Where are we headed?’ she asked quietly, hating that she couldn’t hide the breathy edge to her voice. ‘I canna imagine that you are going to ride straight up the drive.’

  Robert waited a heart-beat before responding softly against her ear. ‘Your house, Jessie.’

  ‘Oh.’ Her brow plunged into a deep frown. He’d truly surprised her. ‘But why? Are you going to share yer plan so I can help? Dinna you remember our bargain?’

  ‘Of course I do. But all will be revealed in good time.’

  Jessie hoped so. She really hoped so. There wasn’t much time left.

  When they got to within fifty yards of the Gate-House, Robert and Tobias reined in and tethered the horses within a dense copse of larch and fir trees at the dwelling’s rear. Robert helped her to dismount and she found herself pressed up against the hard planes of his body, his hands holding her firmly around the waist. Despite her trepidation, she felt her body respond to his nearness—her breath hitched and although she was chilled to the bone, warmth suffused her cheeks. Her physical attraction to Robert must be mortifyingly obvious. And despite the wide gulf of misunderstanding and mistrust that stretched between them, she also sensed that Robert wanted her too.

  She chanced a glance at his face and Robert smiled. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve been this close to home, Jessie,’ he said softly as his eyes searched hers. ‘I’m trusting you not to give me away.’

  Jessie’s heart leapt in the oddest way. She offered a small smile in return, hoping Robert could see she was truly sincere. His good opinion of her mattered, more than she had hitherto realised. ‘I willna let you down. And in case you have forgotten, we can enter the Gate-House from the back. I left the rear door unlocked.’

  Robert glanced at Tobias who stood nearby, seemingly busy with his mount’s harness. A silent communication passed between them. Tobias nodded and then Robert tuned back to Jessie. He took her hand. ‘Lead the way then, mo gha
oil.’

  The house was deserted but it was obvious that someone had been there at some stage since Jessie had left. Someone who’d been very, very angry. The hair at Jessie’s nape stood on end when she saw that one of the kitchen chairs had been upended and her father’s whisky bottle had been smashed on the stone floor. Even more disturbing was the state of her bedchamber upstairs. There looked to have been a rough search through her small number of belongings. Her chest of drawers had been opened and items of her clothing had been tossed about the room.

  Robert, standing beside her in the doorway, quirked an eyebrow. ‘Simon?’

  Jessie nodded, clutching the door jamb, willing herself to swallow the surge of nausea rising to her throat.

  ‘He must be frustrated indeed that you left him, Jessie.’ Robert paused for a moment, frowning as he considered her face. Concern shadowed his eyes. ‘I imagine you would like to change. Will you be all right if I leave you for a few minutes?’

  She found her voice although she couldn’t hide its tremble. ‘Aye, of course. I will be fine. I willna be long. I promise.’

  Robert gave her a reassuring smile, and squeezed her hand. ‘Good lass. Call me if you need anything.’ She nodded then he disappeared down the stairs.

  Although her nerves were completely tattered, and she had precious little time to waste—the clock on her mantel indicated it was almost nine—Jessie did not wish to squander this opportunity to wash and change into fresh clothes before she left. It mattered not that the water she’d left in the pitcher several days ago was icy cold as she splashed it over her face. With as much haste as she could, she then shed her hodgepodge of filthy garments before grabbing fresh undergarments from the clothing strewn about on the floor. She shuddered to think of Simon touching her most private items of clothing. But she had no choice than to use what was at hand.