Jared’s cravat was suddenly too tight, and he struggled to loosen it. Sweat trickled down his back, but he wanted to believe it was because of the heat of the summer day. Another part of his mind told him otherwise. He turned to face her and gazed at her face with those big blue eyes peering up at him.
Her hand came up to touch his face and he felt it to the bottom of his feet. What was this strange thing she did to him? He’d never experienced anything like it before. He dropped the book and gently clasped her arms. He searched her eyes and she gazed back at him unflinchingly. He bent his head to bring his lips to hers.
The moment their lips touched she melted against him and every nerve of his was set on fire. He broke off the kiss and stepped back abruptly. He caught her as she almost fell. He lifted her up, took her to the bench in the grotto, sat her down, and dropped to one knee in front of her. “Are you well?”
Her wide eyes gazed at him and she gently touched his face as she shook her head. “Who are you, Captain Jared Allendale? How do you come walking out of my dreams and into my life, my world? Not only will you remove me from all I know here, you make me wonder if I ever really understood myself.”
Jared rose, collected her book, looked at the sketch again, and paged through other images she’d drawn. He let out his breath in a whoosh. She sketched what she probably thought was her brother, but the image was her half-brother, Sir Michael Tidley. There were more drawings of him as well, including one of him fishing at what appeared to be the pond at Rose Hill. How could she possibly…?
“Are you fey?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never experienced this before the past month.”
“You love Christ?”
Her eyes grew wide. “With all my heart and soul. I read my Bible daily and love to go to my rock to pray.”
Jared paced. What was he to make of this unusual woman? Not that it mattered. They were stuck together until they reached London. Lucy’s question echoed in his own mind. He wasn’t quite so sure he knew who he was anymore either when he was with her.
4
Lucy slowly packed her saddle bags. They were limited by what they could take with them. She still wasn’t quite sure what the future held. She recognized it would not be anything like what she had known up ‘til now. The thought excited and terrified her. She was safe with Jared. There was something solid about him even though he’d obviously been deeply hurt in his past. God, will You use me to help him heal and become whole?
Lucy closed up the bag. She braided her out of control curls. She found a cap that she could tuck most of them into. She wore trousers under her skirts for more modesty on their journey.
She stepped out of her room and pulled up short at Jared standing in the doorway. What was it about him that took her breath away every time? How would she make it to London like this? If only he were ugly or she’d not seen that image of him a month ago. But perhaps she wouldn’t be willing to trust him with her life. She suspected that their journey would not be without difficulty.
He nodded and stepped forward to grab her bags. “Have you eaten? If not, grab something so we can be on our way.” He left the house to go place the bags on her horse.
She grabbed two scones and followed him out into the sunshine. She handed one to him.
“Thank you.” He took a bite, reached into his saddlebag, and pulled out a pistol. “Can you shoot?”
Lucy nodded her head and went back into the house. She emerged with her own pistol and a rifle. She attached the rifle to her saddle and slipped the pistol in the pocket of her skirt. She went back inside and returned with a small box of bullets and put that in her saddlebag as well. “Any other questions, Captain?”
He finished off his scone and grinned. “You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”
She winked at him and launched herself on the back of her horse, Fiona. “So, are you planning on riding out today, or will you stand around?”
Nanny and Terrance stood on the front stoop to wave them off. Lucy had said her good byes earlier. She needed to leave and not look back or she would start crying. Her years at Ivy Cottage had been wonderful and no matter what happened from here on out, she would hold those memories as a precious treasure.
Jared mounted, and they took off on the path heading south. Lucy followed and noticed how well he sat a horse. He was a soldier through and through and whatever injuries he suffered in his past, it had not interfered in the delectable picture he painted when on the back of his stallion.
The going was slow with the shade of the forest about them as they traveled toward Loch Duntelchaig where they would set up camp for the evening. They took a short break at noon to let the horses graze while they ate and drank from the waterskins they’d filled back at the cottage. The rest of the day was quiet as they moved carefully through the woods. Neither were inclined to talk although Jared occasionally would ask how she fared.
She liked the fact that he didn’t need entertainment. She was too used to being solitary to be forced to communicate non-stop. Some of the terrain was rocky and they needed to navigate around the tall hills and mountains common in the highlands. By evening they arrived at Loch Duntelclaig and set up camp. They would travel around the Loch on the morrow to continue their journey.
Lucy collected firewood as Jared skinned a rabbit he’d shot. They would eat fresh meat tonight. She returned to start the fire. She prodded it with a larger stick and went to fill their water skins from the loch. She returned to find Jared just putting the meat over the flames in a skillet he’d brought.
“Would you mind if I go clean up while this cooks?” Jared asked.
Lucy shook her head and he rose to head to the loch but went further along the shore and out of sight. She heard a splash and resisted the urge to go peek and perhaps see again his muscular form.
Heat rose in her cheeks and it wasn’t from the warmth of the fire, but from her improper thoughts. When had she become so depraved? Sure, she’d been isolated and in many ways ignorant of men, but regardless. She read from her Bible about the sins of the flesh. And didn’t Jesus say that even if you thought about it…?
But what had she actually thought about? God’s beauty displayed in the male form. Was it wrong that clothed—or not—she found Jared to be a fine specimen of a man, scars and all? She shook her head. Four and twenty and so innocent for all of that. She hoped that her trip to London would not force her to be part of the ‘season’ her mother had spoken of. Balls, routes, concerts, picnics, and any other kinds of soirees terrified her.
And what about her father? Was he still alive? She was assured by the letter that he was not a threat to her anymore. Did that mean he had died? She hoped so. She barely remembered the man except that he had been cruel, and terrified her even as a little girl. She didn’t understand as a child the things he spoke of at that time, but as she grew to adulthood, her mother had been more explicit in the dangers that were out there for a young lady. Dangers far more potent than her curiosity about what her escort looked like without his shirt on.
Or what his lips tasted like when awakening from the terrors of the night.
“How is the rabbit coming?”
Lucy almost dropped the pan into the fire. She hadn’t even heard him approach. She checked the meat. “I think there’s only a little bit of time left before we can eat.”
“Would you like to go wash up while I tend to this?” Jared’s hair was wet and combed back off his face. He was clean and fresh and she smelled of sweat and horse.
“Yes, thank you.” She rose and sought the bend he’d come from. She stripped to her camisole, waded in, and washed herself. Goose pimples sprang up on her legs and arms and she shivered. Once she had washed the day’s filth out, she dressed in clean clothes and brought her wet ones back to dry on a branch near the fire. There were going to be days where this would not be an option so she figured it was best to take care of it now.
~*~
Jared watched Lucy disappear out of sig
ht and groaned. Just the sway of her hips was enough to push him over the edge. She was the perfect traveling companion, making no demands or unnecessary chatter. She kept up and was intelligent when he consulted with her about deviations in their path. He worried about her fair complexion, but she kept a wide brimmed hat on her head. Still her nose and cheeks were slightly pink, probably from the cooling air.
He pulled the meat from the fire and set it down to let it cool. He hoped tonight would be free of the night terrors. Although Lucy was already aware of them, he didn’t want to scare her or have a repeat of that first night she’d come upon him. He wouldn’t compromise his own conviction to abstain before marriage. Would his past debaucheries undermine his ability to stay pure now, when he was asleep?
He wondered if his brother, Marcus, had struggled. If he had, the ‘virtuous viscount’ never let on to Jared. The day after Marcus and Josie’s wedding he had never seen his brother smile brighter or appear more relaxed and content. He wanted that for himself.
He was surprised out of his reverie by Lucy’s return.
She draped her wet clothing over low hanging branches, not too far from his own. Her hair was wet and hung in squiggly strands down her back, almost to her waist. He hadn’t realized it was that long given how tightly it curled when it was dry.
She turned and caught him looking at her like a moonstruck calf. He shook his head, gave her a lopsided grin, and said, “Supper’s ready, my lady.”
A frown marred her lovely features. “I’m not used to that. Miss Lucy or just Lucy, please, Captain.” She came and sat nearby on a blanket she’d spread earlier. She bent her head, clasped her hands, and began to pray out loud, “Some hae meat and anna eat, and some wad eat that want it. But we hae meat and we can eat, sae let the Lord be thankit.”
“Amen.” He’d been shocked at her prayer. They never prayed out loud at meals in his home growing up.
They ate their food in silence and Jared took the pan to the river to wash up. When he returned, he found Lucy bundled up by the fire, laying on her side.
“Do you find it hard to sleep while the sun still shines?” he asked.
“Even though I’ve lived here for so long, it is still difficult. So are the longest darkest days of winter where there is little sun at all and it’s so very cold.”
“I can’t imagine. Winters in England have been something I’ve anticipated. Not so much for the cold and snow, but for the comfort of being with family and friends during the holidays.” He could imagine tasting the wassail bowl now.
“Will you be staying in England or returning to the war after this mission?”
“I will be resigning my commission. Wellington is aware of this. And Lucy? You are more than a mission to me.” Her face grew pink as he settled down across the fire from her with his gun by his side. “Good night, Lucy.”
“Guid nicht, Jared.”
~*~
He was roughly jerked awake and spat at. They had blindfolded him as they often did and shoved him around and laughed as he fell. The whip cracked, and the men cackled in response as he flinched. Don’t react. Don’t give them the satisfaction. The less response he gave the sooner they would leave him to writhe in his pain and agony alone. His body didn’t always correspond as he didn’t know what form the next attack would take. A kick to his groin forced a groan from him. He heard at least one rib snap with the next kick to his back, he whimpered in pain. The whip cracked, and he screamed as it met with the already ripped and raw flesh on his back.
Then it happened. The soft cooing of a woman’s voice. “Yer safe mah loue. Wake up ‘n’ come back tae me. Yer nae bein’ hurt anymair.”
His body relaxed at her touch and words. When her lips touched his, his heart rate sped up once again. He struggled to awaken because this was not a dream. He returned the kiss and as he pulled his head back her wide-eyed gaze looked down on him. No censure or condemnation resided there, only compassion.
“A’ better?” She asked as she sat back on her heels.
Jared watched the embers of the fire behind him as they flickered across her face and frizzy hair. Her head tilted as he gazed up at her. It seemed his nightmares only happened in the two-hour time period where the sky was actually dark in the great glen they were traversing.
“Yes. I’m much better.”
She smiled, jumped to her feet, and was soon on the other side of the fire, tucked in and with her back to him. He watched until her breathing slowed. He sat up and stoked the fire. It might be summer, but in the highlands, it still got chilly at night. He lay on his side and kept his eyes glued to the bewitching sprite asleep on the other side of the flames. She really needed to stop awakening him with kisses. They were almost more torture than his nightmares.
~*~
Lucy made the coffee to go with their breakfast of the left-over rabbit from the night before, which she also warmed. Jared began to stir. He stretched and rubbed his eyes and she smiled at the lovely picture he presented. He looked so lost and needy in the throes of his night terror, but he was a man filled with tightly wound strength. She sensed it when he broke off their kiss last night.
She thought he might flip her like he had a few nights past, but he awakened to reality much sooner this time. That was probably a good thing because it felt too right to be kissed by him. She didn’t know if she would have the will to push him away.
“Coffee?”
“Yes.” He accepted the cup as he sat up, his shirt partly open, exposing golden hairs on his chest.
She averted her eyes and heat crept up her neck.
He set his cup down. “I’m sorry, Luce. I’ll be right back.” In a flash, he disappeared into the woods.
When he returned, his shirt was tucked in, a cravat hastily tied, and he once again wore his waistcoat and coat. He looked more like the proper English gentleman except for his whiskers and mussed hair. He picked up his coffee, took a sip, looked across the rim, and gave her a cheeky grin.
The rogue! He knew he had discomfited her by his dishabille. The next few weeks would be torture.
“Lucy?”
“Hmmm?”
“Would you please refrain from kissing me?”
Her mouth dropped open. “Oh, but, Ah wis ainlie trying tae ease yer suffering.”
“I realize that, and I appreciate your gentle way of bringing me out of my nightmares. I enjoy your kisses. It’s just, that, well, if we are to make it these next few weeks with your innocence intact, I think we need to put a ban on kissing.”
Disappointment warred with delight. “Urr ye saying ye lik’ mah kisses awfy much?”
She heard him bite back a chuckle. “Yes, Lucy, I am definitely saying that.”
“Well, then, Ah wull huv a go tae refrain in th’ future.” She couldn’t help but flash him a little smile and the twinkle in his eyes let her know that they were fine.
She served him his portion of their breakfast. Together they cleaned up the campsite and were soon back on their horses skirting to the north of Loch Dontelcleig.
The travel that day was uneventful, and Lucy proved her own prowess as a hunter by catching a ptarmigan. The small bird wasn’t quite enough for a full meal, but she had some rolls that Nanny had given them and some cheese. In all it satisfied.
They sat by the fire and talked about their plan.
“This area is filled with mountains. I think we’d be best served to follow the rivers as much as we can.” She braided her hair again as they settled in for the night in spite of the brightness of the summer sky.
“I agree. It may take us several days to Aviemore. As long as we have water and food to eat, we should be fine. When we arrive, I’ll get us a night in an inn where you can have a proper bath and meal and not sleep on a forest floor.”
Lucy tilted her head, the fire once again between them. “A’m weel. This is a fin adventure.”
“Fine? Until it storms, we suffer injury or one of us falls ill. If we were hiding from some threat, this wi
lderness is great protection, but we are not. We need to get you to London. Perhaps we should have traveled down to Fort William and caught a packet there.”
“Thare ur dangers tae be hud at sea as weel ‘n’ i’m nae sure if ah wid git seasick or nae.”
He shrugged. “You wouldn’t know until you were at sea, but it is not a fun discovery.”
“Ye hae experienced it?”
“No, but I’ve seen many who have.”
Lucy poked at the fire with a stick. “It’s juist as weel we travel thro’ th’ bens as best we kin.”
“You can speak proper English, is it difficult for you to do so? I find it difficult to interpret your Gaelic.”
“It has been a few years since I’ve even heard, much less spoken, English.”
“You have a lovely Scottish accent that will make you an original. We will need to talk more so that by the time we reach London you will be more comfortable in speaking it.”
“I can try.”
Lucy was rewarded with a broad smile from the man across from her.
“Shall we get some rest?” Jared reclined and looked straight up at the stars. “It amazes me that my brother and friends look up at these same stars. The same space that is equal to us all in spite of the distance.”
Lucy smiled as she stretched herself out under her blanket. The stars did twinkle even though the sun had not fully set and would not for several hours. “Will I get to meet your brother?”
“I hope so. Marcus is the best brother a lad could hope for. He’s more of a friend.”
“You miss him.”
“Ay, lassie, that I do.” Jared tried to mimic the Scottish brogue. The fire reflected in his eyes.
“At least you will get to see him again. My mother was all I had. She’s been gone neigh on two years.”
The Captain's Conquest Page 3