by K. E. Saxon
All at once, those dark granite eyes penetrated hers. Her breath caught in her throat.
“Now, you must answer a question—”
Did he expect her to reveal information about the Macleans? “Nay, I cannot betray my friends’ trust, I—”
“You mistake me, fair one, for I only desire to learn why you came to the wood in such a secret fashion this morn. I have no need, nor do I wish, your services as a spy.” He leaned back against the wall of the cave, relaxing on his stool as he gazed at her and awaited her reply.
Nervous at this stranger’s intent perusal, Jesslyn bolted from her seat and turned her back, pretending interest in the structure of the cave. “I came to the wood to find a waterfall. A waterfall I saw in a dream, actually.”
After several long moments passed without a response from her companion, Jesslyn turned, a brow raised in question. It lifted even higher and she felt herself blush when she saw his gaze leap from her breasts to her face. ‘Twas in his favor that his own cheeks turned ruddy as he cleared his throat and sat forward, resting his arms on his knees. “You look for a waterfall? I know of one; ‘tis on the other side of the wood. I can take you there, if you wish it.”
Jesslyn’s heart pounded. “There is a waterfall in this wood, then? Aye, I want you to lead me there.” Looking past his shoulder out of the cave’s opening, she saw that the sun was shining brightly now on the forest floor. She sighed, disappointed at the necessary delay. “But not this day. I fear I’ve stayed too long already. My son will be home from his friend’s cottage soon and I must be there to greet him or he will worry.”
After a moment, he rose and took her elbow to lead her back to the place where she’d entered earlier. “I beg you, tell no one of my presence.”
Jesslyn halted, only now realizing the difficulty of the situation. “How can I, in good conscience, keep this from Daniel? I shudder at the image of what he might do, were he to discover such deceit on my part.” Especially after her horrid behavior in the storage tower that had almost ruined his marriage.
“I vow that I will not make you keep this secret for very long. I swear, on the grave of my sweet mother, that I do not intend harm to any here, if that is your worry.”
“Nay, I have no such worry.”
The dark centers of his eyes expanded as his gaze fixed on the dark beauty mark next to her right eye. His fingers trailed down the exposed portion of her forearm in pursuit of her hand, which he then gave a gentle squeeze to. “I entreat you to stay silent, then. Should Daniel learn of your secrecy and be displeased, I will make it right. You have my oath.”
She pulled free of his hand and absently rubbed the gooseflesh his soft caress had raised on her flesh. Once more recalling the dream and her husband’s entreaty that she aid this man, she at last made her decision. With a quick nod, she said, “Aye, I shall keep your secret—but be prepared to hear my scolding. I want this out in the open as soon as is possible.” ‘Twas strange, but she trusted him to keep his word.
He smiled and took hold of her hand again—and for a reason she was not prepared to ponder at that moment, she allowed it—then he turned and walked with her in silence a moment. “I can meet you here on the morrow,” he said finally, “if that is convenient. But ready yourself to stay longer than you have this morn; ‘twill take some time to reach the fall.”
Jesslyn bit her lip and drew her brows together, working it out in her mind. After a short moment, she replied, “Aye. Aye, I can meet you on the morrow at morningtide. I shall take my son to visit Lady Maclean for the day; she and Daniel’s wife will keep him busy.” Jesslyn looked up at her escort. “But I must meet you a bit later, I must break my fast with my son before I take him to the keep.”
She stumbled over a small mound in the earth covered by falling leaves and yelped as she lost her balance and grabbed hold of his waist causing her breasts to press against his arm. Her cheeks flamed as he helped her to straighten.
“Pray pardon me,” was all she could think of to say. She was relieved when he did not make a jest or, worse, take her accidental stumble into him as an invitation to do more, instead only pressing the small of her back to guide her forward as he said, “So, you shall meet me by mid-morn on the morrow. I shall be waiting.” He halted and turned to face her when they came to the opening in the brush where she’d first entered. Bowing, he said, “Good day, fair Jesslyn.”
Jesslyn smiled at him. “Good day to you, giant.” She turned then and flew through the slight opening in the overhang of branches, her skirts catching the breeze as she traveled across the glen to her home.
*
This was an awkward and unwelcome twist in his plans, Bao thought, as he made his way back to his hidden lair. To be smitten so quickly by the mother of the lad he’d befriended against his better judgment was alarming and unacceptable. Befriending a lonely lad was not nearly as dangerous as becoming involved with the voluptuous and lovely mother. ‘Twould not do; he must fight this attraction and not give into it again, as he’d done today. There was no room in his plans, his life, for the widow and her son. He’d show her the waterfall and that would be the end of it. They’d not meet again until he was ready to make himself known to Daniel.
After climbing the tall pine that edged a limestone crag, he leapt from its trunk onto the top of the rock and allowed his feet to slide down the back side before grabbing a portion of the stone that jutted from the higher elevation on his right. The top of the rugged limestone was covered in blue-flowering woodland geranium which kept him from sliding off the outcropping. Finding the four-foot wide fissure between two natural walls of limestone, he walked between them, looking for the entrance to the cave he and his sister had been living in these past moons.
Almost at his destination, Bao turned his mind back to Jesslyn. She’d said she’d seen the waterfall in a dream. He’d seen her in a dream. Moons ago now, not long after he’d arrived here. She’d been swimming in the pool at the base of the fall. Her skin naked and gleaming from the reflection of the dappled light and the water. When he’d come through the copse of trees, she’d climbed the hidden steps next to the fall that led out of the pool and onto the bank, her hair in wet streams against her back and her enchantress’s body bared to his sight. She’d opened her arms and beckoned him to her. They’d made love. It had been the most intense and wonderful dream of his life. He’d conjured her in his thoughts many times ever since, but had not dreamed of her again. Until today, he’d believed her only an illusion, a product of his lonely and unchaste life.
But then he’d seen her, his dream-vision, crossing the glen and entering the wood this morn. He’d been up in a tall pine tree, scouting the surrounding land from that side of the forest. When he’d first seen her, he’d thought for a moment he was not awake, hardly believing the beauteous vision was real. When she’d entered the forest, he’d watched her closely, curious at her obvious disappointment and wondering what she’d come to the forest in search of. When she’d made her way to the bolder where he and Alleck had been leaving their gifts and begun her exploration, the realization of her identity pierced his mind like a bright ray of light. In that instant, impelled by a stronger force than his will to remain hidden, he used the greeting he and his sister, Branwenn, used to signal each other and beckoned Jesslyn to him.
Just inside the opening of the cave, Bao cupped his hands on either side of his mouth and made the whistling sound of wind through his teeth, accompanying the sound with a low moan in his throat—a trick he’d learned years ago as a lad. The sound echoed through the cavern. After a moment, he received his reply and continued on through the first chamber.
This was one of two entrances to this particular cave, and it connected through a long, winding passageway to another cave out on the side of the glen where he’d seen Daniel’s wife and Callum riding that day. This was the cave where Callum hid his leather pouch. The coins Jamison Maclean had given him all those years ago and the piece of embroidered silk cloth were
from the homeland of Bao’s mother.
Moving the brush and debris away that hid a side passageway, he went through the opening, replacing the blind before making his way down the corridor leading to the hidden alcove where he and his sister resided. Seeing the blankets they used to sleep on still littering the floor around the makeshift hearth they’d built in the center of the room, Bao searched the shadows for his sister. “Why have you not folded these blankets and put them away? If anyone had decided to search this cave, there would not have been time to hide these things before our lair was breached. We’d have been discovered not long after, I trow.” Tho’ the hearth would be a question, Bao knew it would be easily disregarded as a hunter’s doing.
A black-headed nymph jumped down from her seat on the limestone slab in the shadows of the chamber. He yelled without thinking, “What the hell have you done to your hair?” His sister’s ebon locks, that only this morn had hung down past her knees, were now shorter than his own. ‘Twas truth, she must have put the wooden bowl they held their food in on her head and used its rim to guide the knife. The ends hung in jagged chunks, framing her elfin face with its small nose; its wide, fleshy, pink mouth; and its slightly pointed chin. Spiky bangs obscured the dark brows, straight as raven’s wings, that vee’d over her purple eyes. The lengths in the back fell against her long, narrow neck, making his own neck itch in reaction. Bao scratched a place just below his ear.
“Well?” he demanded after a moment when she still had not answered him.
Turning her nose in the air, she placed her hands on her hips and sauntered toward him. “The hair was becoming a nuisance. It got in my way when I climbed the pines and I was constantly stepping on it when I made my way across the limestone to our dwelling.” She sighed as she began folding the blankets, speaking in the tone of one much older and wiser. “‘Twas time.”
Bao snorted, shaking his head and rolling his eyes to the ceiling. Give me strength. The lass was barely fifteen summers. “So you sought to annihilate your hair?”
Lifting her hands to her head, she fingered the ragged locks. “‘Tis ugly then?” she said in a pitiful voice.
Hell. Now he’d hurt her feelings. Walking over to her, Bao put his arm around her dainty shoulders as he pretended a closer scrutiny. “Nay. It looks just fine. I only needed to get a better view—‘tis rather dark in here. You are lovely and your hair is lovely as well. I was a bit surprised at the change, that’s all.” Bending down, he placed a kiss on her cheek. “Now, pick up this mess. I must prepare our meal.” As he turned away, he scrubbed his fingers through the slaughtered tresses on top of her head and then crouched down next to the hearth. The chamber was quite large and the small hole in the tall ceiling above allowed the smoke to dissipate without collecting so much that they had a hard time breathing. And he’d scouted the area thoroughly the first day of their arrival, making sure that the smoke was not so dense that it would be noticed by any of the castle guards. It was one of the reasons they’d chosen this particular area of the cave when they’d first arrived.
*
Branwenn combed her fingers through her mussed hair and studied her brother, wondering if he would tell her of his meeting with the flaxen-haired beauty. She’d come upon them as they made their way into the secluded seating area she and Bao had put together. Curious of his scheme, she’d remained hidden from view, deciding to question him about the meeting later. She’d stayed quite a while, watching for intruders and sneaking peeks at the bright vision in blue that had clearly captivated Bao as well. Eventually, she’d grown cramped from her position and had decided to leave.
That’s when she’d made her final decision about her hair, she wryly thought. It had caught in the branches of one of the Juniper trees as she had made her way back to their cave and she’d ended up having to yank it out, breaking off a large portion of the ends. She’d grabbed the wooden bowl and knife and had begun chopping the moment she arrived back, before she could change her mind. A smile tipped the corners of her mouth as she placed the blankets in the dark recess between two stone slabs. ‘Twas ugly, she knew, but her brother was sweet to give her the lie.
Returning back to the hearth, she sat down next to Bao. Growing impatient to hear his story, she decided not to wait for his confession. “Who was the lady you spent so much time with this morn, brother?”
*
Hell. Stalling, Bao stoked the fire in the hearth. “The lady?” What to tell his over-curious sister. He’d have to give her some portion of the truth, but he would not confess his lust for the woman—nor that he’d first met her in a very erotic dream. There were some things that even they, as close as they were, could not share with each other. Well, he mused, she should share such things with him, but there was no reason for him to speak of such things to her. After all, he was a man, he was her older brother and her guardian, and ‘twas his duty to keep her virtuous until she wed.
The little she-devil knuckled him in the upper arm. “Ouch!” Seeing the mulish look on her face, he relented. “She’s Alleck’s mother, Jesslyn. She came looking for the waterfall and I told her I’d show her the way to get there on the morrow.”
“Why did you show yourself to her? I thought we were to remain hidden until you’d had your meeting with the laird of the Macleans.”
Settling the rabbit he’d caught and prepared for cooking earlier that morn into the pot of now boiling water, he placed his hands on his knees and sighed. This would be the difficult part of the tale. Before he built his story, he decided he’d better know how much his sister had seen. “Before I explain, answer me this: Where were you hiding, that you saw all this and I had no notion of your presence?”
Clearly thrilled that she’d outwitted his normally keen ability of detection, she boasted, “I watched you from the bough of one of the tall Junipers that line the clearing around the cave you were in. I came upon the two of you just as you were pulling the vines back from the entrance.” In a self-preening tone she asked, “You truly knew not that I was near?”
A bit perturbed by his own negligence, but seeing that his sister wanted his acknowledgment of her own abilities, he replied, “Nay, lass. I truly had no idea of your presence. You’ve learned well.”
Bao tossed some root vegetables from the supply the lads left him into the pot. Knowing he could put it off no longer, he began to tell his tale. “Alleck’s mother was searching the area around the boulder. I feared that she would find an offering left by Alleck’s friend, and did not want the lads to be punished for their generosity. I knew she’d been worried for their safety, and I made the decision to make myself known to her.” Bao shrugged, but kept his gaze locked on the stew, unable to look his sister in the eye. “I told her that my business is with Daniel MacLaurin and that I plan no harm to anyone. She believed my words and has sworn to keep my secret until the time is right to reveal my purpose.” At least that much was true, he thought.
The two sat in silence awhile, watching the stew bubble. “Her gown was fine-looking,” Branwenn said, a note of envy in her voice.
Bao looked at the drab brown tunic his sister wore over woolen hose of the same color and expelled a deep breath in a slow stream, wishing he could allow her to wear the prettier garments she had begun to desire. “Aye, that it was, lass.” Placing his hand over hers, he said, “When we’re done with this, we’ll get you as many such gowns as you can carry. Will that suffice?” He chucked his knuckle under her drooping chin and grinned when he saw her smile.
“May I meet the lady, Bao? I could go with you to the waterfall on the morrow.”
Bao thought that was not a good idea at all. His sister would soon catch on to the lies he’d told her and she’d no doubt see the attraction he felt for the lad’s mother as well. “Nay. I think it best that I quickly have done with this duty and then endeavor not to see the lady again. ‘Twould tangle things even more were she to learn of your existence.”
Her shoulders drooped. “Aye, you are right.” Brightening,
she said, “What if I followed the two of you—I’d keep out of sight, she would know not that I was near. I could watch your back and make sure no others see you or follow your trail.”
Bao shook his head. “I need you to guard our dwelling and make sure no one finds our cave. I know you are growing bored with the duty, but I swear ‘tis drawing to a close. Give me your patience just a bit longer.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she replied. “Aye, I’ll stay here on the morrow and do my duty.”
Bao lifted out a portion of the rabbit stew into a small wooden bowl and handed it to her. “Eat. You need a bit more meat on your bones.”
Rolling her eyes, his sister took the wooden dish and lifted a spoonful to her lips. “I have plenty of meat on my bones, you’ve just always preferred the fleshier lasses,” she retorted, and then she shoveled the juicy concoction into her mouth and eagerly chewed.
Thinking of one in particular, Bao kept silent. He’d best change his preference if he was to get through the next day without making an error in judgment.
*
Jesslyn hurried across the glen to the place she’d agreed to meet Bao, hoping he had not reconsidered his promise and gone back into hiding. Her thoughts had been filled with him since their meeting the previous day. She was drawn to him in the same way she’d been drawn to her husband upon their first meeting—yet there was something different in this attraction. ‘Twas much more vivid, and that worried her greatly. Because she could not trust her own reaction to the man, she’d decided that this would be the last she would see of him. After all, she was promised to Callum. And Bao, with his strange affinity for forest-dwelling, hardly constituted a suitable mate.