by Lynda Lukow
“Have ye never seen a man’s bare bottom, healer?”
Kasey shook her head.
“Move aside, milady.”
She did as he bade. “After removing the garment, please put a blanket over his lower half.”
She searched her dorlach. If her vision proved correct, she would need many herbs and plants. If she lacked just one, the result could be deadly.
“Ye may look now, Lady Cameron.”
As she turned around, Gavin flipped the plaid up, revealing Hunter’s lower body.
“Och!” She spun away.
Gavin raised a brow. “I canna believe it. A Cameron of yer advanced summers be an innocent?”
Kasey thought her face must surely be as red as the Mackintosh plaid. “Ye be…” She bit her tongue.
“Aye, milady?”
She waved her hand and knelt next to Hunter. She slid her hands under the blanket and carefully, so as to touch naught else, glided her hands along his legs. Hard thighs and muscular calves hid the bones, but he had no obvious swelling. His skin was dry and surprisingly soft. She checked her hands after pulling them from beneath the blanket. Not a tinge of red.
“Will ye leave now that ye staunched the bleeding?” Gavin asked.
So many things could go awry. Hunter could remain in a deep sleep. He could pull open the stitches and bleed anew. Worst of all, he could develop the fever foretold in her vision.
“Evonne, ye must return. Should anyone seek me, tell them I have taken ill and wish not to be disturbed.” Kasey despised lying, but she had no choice.
“But, milady, ye have risked too much already.” Evonne reached for Kasey’s hand. “I ken ye be dedicated to yer gift, but must ye ruin the rest of yer life?”
“Please do as I ask.”
Ill-boding returned with a vengeance. She looked into Gavin’s brown eyes. “Hunter’s eyes? Be they light brown with gold flecks?”
He nodded.
Chapter Three
The day passed quickly though Kasey did naught but watch Hunter’s chest rise and fall. He showed neither signs of fever nor hint of waking.
“Milady?” Gavin held out a bowl of rabbit stew.
“Where did ye get this?”
“I made it, milady.”
“I be glad ye can cook. We would starve if we depended on my skills.” Though she had little appetite, she ate what she could in hopes her trust would gain Gavin’s.
“He sleeps peacefully, milady.”
“If ye keep watch, I shall clean up.” She rose and stretched as Gavin sat by Hunter’s other side.
Had exhaustion not held her in its grasp, Gavin’s trembling hands might have amused her. “I shall be quick aboot it.”
“Mayhap ye should rest. We know not what night will bring.”
“I thank ye, but I shall keep vigil whilst ye lie down.” She completed her tasks and returned Hunter’s side. A short while later, as Gavin’s snores filled the lodge, Kasey touched Hunter’s cool brow. Mayhap foresight had misled her. No harm would come if she lay her head down for a few moments.
****
God’s teeth, his head hurt. Scores of thorns pricked his back. The pain in his side surged with every breath. He wiggled his toes. At least they did not hurt. His left hand moved freely, but aught heavy and soft weighed down his right.
Gossamer wings fluttered across his arm as he eased free. He pried open his eyes. Hair, not wings, covered the side of the pallet. He stroked the wavy chestnut threads streaked with auburn and gold.
When Kasey raised her head, he slid his hand to her cheek. He had waited so long to touch her.
She blinked a few times, then smiled.
“I have…” He cleared his throat. “I have died and gone to Heaven to have such a beautiful angel seated at my side.”
She laid her hand on his brow. “Ye feel cool. That bump must have addled yer mind.”
“Nay, milady.” He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across her knuckles.
She pulled free. “Can ye sit up?”
“Mayhap with yer help.”
With a hand on his shoulder, she steadied him as he rolled up to his hip. Pain shot through his side. His vision darkened. Stars danced. Determined not to swoon, he held his breath and swung his feet to the floor.
“Mayhap you should lie down agin.”
“Nay.” He had waited too long to meet her. He would not let her think him weak.
She held out a goblet. “Gavin told me yer name be Hunter.”
Grateful that it relieved his parched throat, he gulped the broth. “I be called Hunter by those close to me.”
“Be ye in much pain?”
A hundred swords sliced him, but he focused on her knees touching his. “I have felt worse.”
“Then ye must have been thrown from yer keep’s tower or trampled by a herd of horses. Vervain would hasten yer mending.”
“Nay. I must keep my wits aboot me whilst I seek my attacker.”
“If ye rip out the threads, I shall be forced to let ye bleed to death.” She rose and crossed the room. “Once ye grow stronger, ye may do with the coward as ye please.”
“A Cameron attacked me. Do ye still call him coward?”
She shrugged, then bent to pick up her dorlach.
Hunter warmed to the view.
She ladled some water into a goblet. As she opened a pouch, Gavin appeared from the shadows and grabbed her wrist.
“Ye fool! I wish not to waste it on the floor when yer brother’s life may well depend on the wee bit I have.”
“Dinna ye claim it dangerous to give a potion to a man with a pummeled head? Have ye sewn him back together to have the thrill of killing him with drink?”
“Look into his eyes, Gavin. Can ye not see his pain? Now that he has awakened, the danger be past.” Her shoulders drooped. “I only wish to give him peace.”
“Eternal peace?”
“Can ye think of me as a healer, not a Cameron?”
Hunter cleared his throat, then nodded at his brother.
“Be sure ye dinna give him too much.”
After she handed Hunter the goblet, she smiled and brushed the hair from his brow. Her innocent touch seared his soul.
She studied him as he drank. When her gaze centered overlong on his nose, he vowed to someday even the score and break Gavin’s.
“Do ye like what ye see, Kasey?” Into the cup he mumbled, “I do.”
He reined his urge to laugh when she leapt from the chair.
“I be glad yer attacker dinna hurt yer face for there be little enough appeal in it.”
He chuckled, then winced. The drink made him drowsy, but he could not let this chance flee. “Yer eyes sparkle when ye be vexed.”
“Ye, sir, be a goat.”
“Mayhap, but ye might find shepherding this beast to yer liking.”
She growled, and then stormed out.
He smiled. She was more beautiful, had more spirit than he imagined. If only his body be whole.
“I beg ye, Hunter, for the clan’s sake, reconsider.”
“I be Hunter now?”
“Aye, whenever the lady be near.”
“Yer reason for this trickery, Gavin?”
“Yer protection, brother. ‘Touch not the cat, bot a glove.’”
Clan Chattan’s motto. “What say ye?”
Gavin glared. “Children of the cat allow no one close enough to do harm.”
“Ye consider Lady Kasey a threat?” Connor eased down to the pallet. “She be naught but a wee lass.”
“Her glove be the clan Cameron.”
“Nay, Gavin. My love will be her protection.” He closed his eyes. “Someday, ye, too, shall be the glove.”
“But no Cameron will capture my heart.”
Connor chuckled. How often had Gavin, claiming his duty to protect, pleaded to join his forays to the falls? More likely Gavin’s interest in Lady Kasey’s maid offered the true reason.
****
K
asey hoped the drizzle would cool her boiling blood to a slow simmer. She paced, trying to collect her thoughts. Why did this man bother her so? His nose bent in the middle, much like a falcon’s beak. She wondered who had managed to scale his fortress-like body to break it. His wavy, auburn hair was cut much too short, yet the style became him.
Stubborn and arrogant. She could see it in the set of his jaw. Determined, too, if Randall’s claim had merit. To think he had followed her to the falls on countless occasions. She did not know whether to be flattered or frightened.
She slumped onto a stump. He had few creases by his eyes or mouth, so he could not be much older than she. The way his feet hung over the end of the pallet, she supposed she would barely come up to his shoulders.
And, oh, his eyes. While the golden color appealed to her, his gaze made her stomach tumble like that of a child rolling joyfully down a hill.
Touching him brought a strange heat to an area where she had only known cramping each moon. Though not entirely unpleasant, she did not welcome the tingling. She would not welcome it. If, by some miracle, she captured his interest, he remained a Mackintosh. She must keep as much distance as possible between them, lest her heart be shattered.
Chilled to the bone, Kasey went back into the cabin, laid a log in the hearth, and poked at the embers. She removed her hard leather-soled hose and draped them over a stool to dry. She wrapped her cloak about her shoulders as she crossed the room and took her place by Hunter’s side.
“Fear not the flames.”
She looked at her charge. Though he no longer snored, he had not opened his eyes and breathed deeply, evenly. Gavin could not have spoken, for his snoring had not ceased. She squinted into the darkness. Next to the hearth floated a misty figure. Kasey blinked several times, but the form remained.
“Fire may ravage…”
Kasey cringed when a tongue of fire seared her back.
“…but fresh growth soon replaces its destruction.”
“Mother?”
“Have faith, Kasey.”
After the shape faded away, Kasey crept to the hearth. Her mother’s scent, like a rose garden in full bloom, lingered in the air. She remembered the Cameron lad who had sunk into madness, but she had not lost her wits. She was only exhausted. Yet sleep took its sweet time coming.
She had barely closed her eyes before violent shaking awakened her. She raised her head from Hunter’s pallet and touched his cheek. She sprang up and threw every cover she could find over his body. The mountain of plaids failed to quiet his chattering teeth.
Only one other course remained.
Kasey muttered a plea for forgiveness, then crawled under the blankets and lay along Hunter’s length. If her body heat did not warm him, she would tell Gavin to lie on the other side.
Hunter moaned, then rolled from his chest onto his uninjured side. Kasey offered no resistance as he pulled her head onto his upper arm and her body along his length. He draped his other arm across her waist and quieted.
His scent, a mixture of leather and pine, dandled her thoughts. The few hairs on his chest tickled her nose. His full lips, resting against her brow, heated more than the skin they touched. She tensed. This attraction could not take root. Though she sensed he would never harm her, he presented a very real danger to her heart.
She sighed. She lay in the arms of the most stirring man she had ever met. Why dinna she just enjoy it while it lasted?
****
Though she had not expected uninterrupted sleep, Hunter had stirred only once. After he had rolled onto his belly, Kasey sat up. Before her feet touched the floor, his strong, but gentle, hand caught her waist and tugged her to his side.
As a choir of birds welcomed the rising sun, she slipped from beneath the covers and shivered. Perspiration other than her own drenched her kirtle. She muttered a slew of unladylike curses as she prepared more vervain.
“Lady Cameron?”
She grabbed every pail and pot she could hold and thrust them at Gavin. “Fill these. And be quick aboot it!”
Unsure of what to do next, Kasey grasped the amulet at her neck. The warmth exuded by the ruby settled her mind. A fever that raged after vervain needed a more potent cure.
Dragon’s Breath! Named after the legendary fire-spewing beasts because of its burn, the potion never failed.
She dumped water and herbs into a pot, which she hung from a hook in the hearth to simmer until nightfall.
Come the morrow, she would apply the cooled potion, though she loathed the task. Those who dinna succumb to the cure’s scald shrieked pleas for a sleeping draught while she scraped away the thickened potion and festerings. She refused their requests because those who remained awake healed faster.
She did not wish to inflict more pain on Hunter, but the fever left her no choice. She said a quick prayer that he would survive until the morrow.
“What in blazes be that stench?”
Kasey glared at Gavin. “That be but a small price to pay for its benefits. Please set down the pails. I need yer help.”
Once again Gavin held up his brother while Kasey rebandaged Hunter’s chest wounds. Then she removed the bandage from Hunter’s back. The red, inflamed gash wept foul-smelling fluid. She cleaned the wound and laid a clean cloth over it.
The morning passed slowly. Gavin and Kasey took turns bathing Hunter’s brow with cooled rags. Each time he roused, they forced him to drink. When the fever addled his mind, Hunter thrashed about violently. Kasey attempted to restrain him once, but even in his weakened state, his strength posed too great a challenge. She left that chore to Gavin.
The second time chills racked Hunter’s body, Kasey asked Gavin to lie next to him. Hunter rewarded him with a punch to the nose. After Kasey tended his injury, Gavin grabbed the bow and some arrows. “I shall see about our evening fare.”
Kasey thanked him, then crawled onto the pallet. Hunter caressed her cheek. “I have waited so long. Too long.”
Who did his glazed eyes see? “Rest, Hunter.”
“Ye will stay with me.” He nuzzled her neck.
Chills coursed through her. “Until the fever eases.”
“Forever.”
Forever. She could hope for no more than a day.
He suckled on her earlobe, then nibbled a trail down her neck. Warmth kindled to a full blaze when he kissed a path up her neck, drew back, and looked into her eyes.
The love in the depths of his gilded orbs sent her heart tapping like a woodpecker’s beak. She turned away. She had too much sense to believe he spoke to her.
Gentle fingers nudged her chin. “Look at me.”
Moisture stung her eyes. Her laird’s incessant barbs echoed in the niches of her mind. She was not worthy of this man, nor any other. A tear escaped.
He wiped away the drop with the pad of his thumb. “Fret not. We shall find a way.”
His breath feathered her lips. She moistened them with the tip of her tongue.
“Allow me.”
He ran his tongue over her lips, then gently suckled them. Her breasts tightened, her nipples hardened. She should pull away, but chose not to.
His tongue swept past her lips. Gooseflesh covered her arms, yet her body warmed. His hand slid down to her buttocks and drew her closer. A swelling she had not earlier noticed pressed between her thighs. Moisture pooled in her nether regions.
Though Hunter dreamt of another, her heart soared. Despite her doubts, she could not stop him. What harm could come from believing the attention belonged to her and her alone? Just for a few moments. She caressed his cheek and returned his kisses.
Hunter’s touch on her breast broke the spell. She was not a doxie to be toyed with, then tossed aside.
She leapt from the pallet and threw every cover within reach onto Hunter. Gavin, a grouse in hand, opened the door.
“Take care of him.” Embarrassed and confused, Kasey pushed past him.
“Where ye be going? Will ye return?”
Without answerin
g, she ran to the falls. If only she need not return. She sat on a boulder, licked her lips, and savored his taste. She hoped she would never forget his touch for she would never experience another. She spent a few moments gathering strength from the water before she returned.
Gavin kept his gaze on the grouse he plucked. “Did he bed ye?”
Heat rose to Kasey’s cheeks. “Why would ye assume such?”
“Mussed hair, flushed cheeks, swollen lips. Ye looked like a lass well bedded.”
She remained silent.
“Ye be not the first to fall prey to Hunter’s charm.” He turned away and mumbled, “And I pray ye be not the last.”
Though his words stung like a hundred bees, she refused let him see her heartache. “Hunter did not bed me. I ken his kisses resulted from the fever.”
She touched Hunter’s brow and shook her head. “I wish we had a tub to cast his whole body into cool water.”
“I could carry him to the river.”
Kasey admired Gavin’s devotion. He was neither as tall, nor as broad as his brother. Bearing Hunter’s full weight would strain him. “Hand me those blankets.”
“Why, milady? The day be as warm as any we shall see this summer.”
“When you remove him from the water, the air will chill him.” She filled her arms with woolens while Gavin donned his sword. “I doubt ye will need that.”
“Someone attacked one Mackintosh,” Gavin bent down and dragged Hunter onto his shoulder, “I dinna wish to be next.”
They trudged through the forest. Kasey’s face grew hotter with each step. Though every hard plane of Hunter’s body had pressed against hers, she had no desire to see it. “Will ye need help undressing him?”
Gavin declined.
“If ye need me, I shall wait beyond these bushes.”
As she listened for Gavin’s call, dark shadows crossed her mind’s eye. She saw herself edging through a long, black cave toward the smallest flicker of light. Though she could not see Hunter, she sensed his spirit.
Determined to make sense of this vision, she allowed herself freedom to experience all it revealed. Just as her mother’s tear-stained face cleared the fog, strong hands lifted and slung her onto hard shoulders.