She pressed her cheek against his taut skin and smiled faintly as she heard the pace of his heartbeat increase. At least in her dreams she could stir his interest. In her dreams, she was always sultry and tempting, the sort of seductress that made men pant. To hear Liam’s breathing grow louder and unsteadier was sweet music to her ears. She ignored the whisper that flitted through her mind, saying that Liam was a man who panted after anything in a petticoat. It might be true, but in her dream, all she cared about was that he panted after her.
Since this was a dream, she gave into the temptation to kiss, and then lick, that warm skin. A softly hissed curse tickled her ears. Keira smiled against his skin and murmured his name. It made her almost light-headed with delight to know she could stir the blood of such a handsome man.
Long fingers threaded through her hair. She sighed with pleasure. When those lightly calloused hands gently cradled her face and exerted a little tug, she freely obeyed the silent request and tilted her head back. Warm, soft lips pressed against hers, and Keira was astonished by how clearly she could hear, feel, and taste her dream lover. When he nudged at her lips with his tongue, she readily parted them. The feel of his tongue stroking the inside of her mouth roused a heat within her so strong and sweet, full consciousness began to intrude upon her dream. She clutched his trim hips to pull him closer, desperate to remain unaware, to ignore the harsh voice in her head that said she was not dreaming. If this was not a dream, she would have to put a stop to it, and she did not want to.
“Lass,” Liam said, not surprised by the hoarse rasp of need roughening his voice, “if ye dinnae get your hands off me now, ’twill soon be too late to retreat from this.”
The sound of that deep voice tore away Keira’s lingering confusion, and she opened her eyes. She stared into Liam’s eyes, noting what a warm blue color they were for a moment before the heat of a fierce blush burned her face. She pulled away from him so abruptly she paid no heed to how close to the edge of the bed she was. A soft screech escaped her as she struggled vainly to regain her balance and then hit the floor hard. Liam peered over the edge of the bed, his eyes alight with laughter, and she closed her eyes.
“It wouldnae be wise to laugh, Sir Liam,” she said, embarrassment and anger at herself making her tone of voice impressively hard and cold.
Liam sprawled onto his back, closed his eyes, and did his best to suppress both his urge to laugh and the desire racing through his body. When he had first felt her soft caress upon his skin and had noticed that her eyes were closed, he had feared she thought she was abed with her late husband. She had not been a widow for very long, and while still asleep, such confusion was possible. Then she had murmured his name. The desire he had been fighting to control had abruptly snapped every bond he had put on it.
He had known then, and still knew, that it was far from gallant to take advantage of Keira when she was still more asleep than awake, but he felt no guilt. From the moment he had set eyes on her, he had wanted to taste that sensuous mouth. It had proven to be as sweet as he had thought it would be. Then his sense of honor had reared its troublesome head. Once it had cleared some of the lust from his brain, he had also realized that he did not want to trick her into his arms. He wanted her to come to him willingly and fully aware of what was happening.
The sound of Keira hurriedly dressing reached his ears, and he chanced a peek at her from beneath his lashes. He did not think he had ever seen a woman blush quite that brilliantly. She also looked very cross and a little distressed, but he hardened his heart to her upset. That kiss had verified all his tentative hopes and exceeded all of his expectations. She would not be allowed to turn back now. He might have to steal a few more kisses before she accepted the strength of the passion that flared between them, but he was up to the task. Since his intentions were honorable, he felt no guilt over his plan to seduce her. Brief though the embrace had been, it had given him a taste of a passion hotter and richer than any he had ever felt before, and he intended to claim it for his own.
Liam’s silence only added to Keira’s embarrassment. In the brief time in his arms, caught between a dream and reality, she had exposed her desire for him. There would be no denying it now. He simply would not believe her. Desperate to get away from him, to regain her wits and self-control, she started out of the room.
“I will return shortly with something to break our fast,” she said and made her escape before he could reply.
Slowly, Liam sat up. He took a few deep breaths to banish the remnants of his lust, although he suspected his body would ache with unsatisfied need for a long while. His little bird had flown for now, but she would not go far. While he dressed and waited for her to bring them some food, he would carefully plan the first step of his campaign to woo and win her.
Keira held the tray laden with food and drink and stared at the door of the bedchamber. She had stayed away for almost an hour, earning a few curious looks from Mary. A brisk walk in the chill morning mists had cleared her head but little else. She could still feel the warmth of his skin on her palms, still taste his kiss, and it made her ache.
Lust, she decided, was a treacherous thing. She had been able to keep it a secret, use it only to sweeten her dreams, but that kiss had unleashed it. It wanted her to ignore every rule and all good sense. It did not care if her heart was at risk. It was a mindless hunger. Keira greatly feared it could easily make her become the greatest of fools.
Wishing it were his shin she was abusing, Keira kicked at the door. Liam opened it, but stared at her legs. He then looked up and down the hall.
“What are ye doing?” she asked.
“Looking for the verra wee person who knocked at the door,” he replied.
Biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing, Keira gave him what she hoped was a very stern frown. With a faint but impish grin on his face and a glint of laughter in his eyes, the man was almost endearingly attractive. It was probably one of but many ways he seduced so many women, she reminded herself. Her anger renewed, she nudged him out of her way and marched into the room. Even if she was free to do as she pleased, she would still fight his allure, for she had no wish to be just one in a multitude of conquests.
Liam allowed her to hold fast to her silence for now. He had tasted her desire and seen that he could still make her laugh. One look at her face had told him that she was doing her best not to reveal her amusement over his little jest at the door. He had also seen how she had stiffened her spine and banished it.
As they ate and then gathered up their belongings, Liam made only a few attempts to stir her simmering anger into a rage. He could see it would not take much to accomplish that, and he did not wish to have the confrontation he sought here, in a tiny room in an alehouse, within earshot of a woman he had once bedded. Especially not within earshot of a woman like Mary, for he had no doubt she would repeat whatever she heard to anyone who would listen. As they continued on to Scarglas, he would have hours of privacy to goad Keira until she was too angry to keep silent.
How had she missed seeing how irritating this man could be? Keira asked herself as she and Liam made camp for the night. She felt nearly nauseous from all of the anger and hurt churning inside of her. The worst of it all was that if she repeated his words to anyone else, they would not understand what was making her feel so crazed. The words only had power because of their shared time together and the tumultuous state of her emotions. It was as if he were poking at an open wound. There were times when she felt certain Liam knew exactly what he was doing, and that only made her angrier.
He gave her only the smallest assistance in preparing their meal. Keira knew his leg hurt him for he was slightly wan and there was a pinched look on his face. That had not stopped him from helping her before, however. It was as if all his gallantry had vanished, had been left behind in the cottage. The more she thought about him, his legions of women, and how he would not leave her in peace so that she could turn her anger and hurt into a nice, icy cold d
istance, the angrier she got. It was almost impossible to swallow her food.
“A good meal, lass,” Liam said and gently tossed his empty wooden bowl at her feet. “’Twill be good to reach Scarglas, however. There is a lass there named Mag who can make the finest rabbit stew ye have e’er tasted.”
“Do ye ken any lasses whose names dinnae begin with ‘m’?” she asked, surprised she could speak at all with her jaws so tense and her teeth clenched.
“Weel, aye. A few.” He watched Keira closely as he said, “Anne, Brenda, Clara, Deirdre, Ellen, Fiona, Gay, Helen, Ilsa, Jolene, Katie—”
“The whole alphabet? Ye have rutted your way through the whole cursed alphabet?”
Here it comes, he thought, and prepared himself to remain calm and reasonable in the face of the insults he suspected he would soon have to endure. “Weel, nay. I dinnae think I ken a lass whose name begins with an ‘x’ or a ‘z’.”
“Ye are a lecherous swine, sir,” she hissed. “Oh, I should have kenned it e’en before that fool woman arrived. Any mon as bonnie as ye are was certain to be one who spent more time with his breeches down than up and laced tight.”
“I wouldnae say that,” began Liam.
Now that she had begun to speak, Keira was unable to stop herself. “Nay, ye wouldnae, would ye? Just like all men, ye think it great fun and sport, aye, and your right to rut yourself blind. Ye have no more control than a stoat!”
Keira leapt to her feet and started to pace, but it did not stop the words from pouring out of her mouth. She was a little appalled at some of the things she was saying, but she could not seem to shut herself up. Every thought she had had since Lady Maude had come banging on the cottage door was coming out of her mouth. They had obviously festered in her mind and heart long enough.
“Men can be such hypocrites,” she said after a lengthy diatribe that maligned men’s morals and intelligence. “They demand chastity, purity, and abject faithfulness in their women whilst they try to slip beneath the petticoats of every maid, wife, and widow they can find. Men would rut with a hole in the ground!”
Shock that she had actually said such a crude thing broke through the red haze of fury that had taken control of her mind and tongue. There was a choked sound behind her, and Keira blushed. When she felt Liam’s hands rest upon her shoulders, she only briefly tensed against his effort to turn her around. The moment she was facing him, she rested her forehead against his chest. Not only had she said a lot of things she should not have, but she also did not feel all that much better for having said them. Worse, she greatly feared she had revealed far too much about what she felt for this man.
Liam grinned at the top of her head. The lass had a true skill for ranting. Although she had directed most of her sharp, scathing remarks at men in general, he knew they were meant for him. Some of them had definitely left a bruise. Although he was willing to accept the charge that he had been less than temperate, he had to wonder how she could think he, or any other man, could be as licentious as she imagined.
“A hole in the ground?” he murmured and laughed softly when she flinched. “I have ne’er done that.”
“Oh, hush,” she said, embarrassed right down to her toes. “I cannae believe I said that.”
“Ye said a lot of things.”
Since she could not clearly recall everything she had said, and did not truly want to, Keira just nodded. “I let myself believe ye were better than most,” she muttered.
That hurt, but Liam decided it was for the best if her illusions were muddied a little. It would be impossible to live up to an ideal. He wanted her to know him and want him despite his faults. If she was going to be disillusioned, better now than later, after he had claimed her.
“Lass, men start looking about for a willing woman at a young age, ere their beards e’en grow noticeable.”
“That doesnae make it right.” Keira winced, afraid she sounded annoyingly pious and self-righteous.
“Nay, it doesnae, but there are women aplenty who are willing to scratch that itch.”
“And ye are an extraordinarily itchy mon, is that it?”
“Mayhap, though I doubt any mon could be as, er, itchy as ye were implying, not if he wished to live a long life.”
Perhaps she had exaggerated a little, Keira thought, but if he expected her to admit to that, he would root where he stood.
“I dinnae seduce maids out of their chastity, and I dinnae touch women who are betrothed or wed to another mon.” He was not surprised when she lifted her head to scowl at him.
“Lady Maude said—” she began.
“Lady Maude lied.”
He sounded so certain of that, his every word holding the ring of truth, but Keira still felt uneasy. “But she is so beautiful,” she muttered.
“And that means that she must be telling the truth?”
“Ah, weel, nay, but it makes one question her hunting down a mon who says he doesnae want her. I would think she wouldnae have to chase any mon. Men must chase her.”
“Oh, they do, and mayhap, that is some of the trouble. I didnae.” Since she had not moved out of his light embrace, Liam began to stroke her slim back gently. “Aye, I have had my share of women.” He ignored her grumbled and more. “Howbeit, I dinnae trespass. Some of that is Sigimor’s teaching, and some is due to my years of training to be a monk. Betrothed lasses and wives have said vows afore God. I will have no part in the breaking of them.”
Liam sighed and pressed his lips to her forehead. She was listening, but her expression told him quite clearly that she was not sure she ought to believe a word he was saying.
“I confess to being, mayhap, a wee bit free with my favors,” he said as he began to brush soft, light kisses over her face. “I like, um, rutting. ’Tis that simple.”
“Ye have no obligation to explain yourself to me.”
“Aye, I do,” he said, although he had no intention of telling her all of the reasons he would do so. “Ye saved me and nursed me. Ye must be wondering why ye e’en bothered.” He smiled against her soft, sweet-smelling hair when she muttered a denial. “Aye, I think ye now wonder if despite the weeks we spent together, ye truly e’en ken the mon I am.”
“I shouldnae have e’en tried to think I kenned ye at all.” Keira closed her eyes as he touched a kiss to the hollow by her ear. “Ye shouldnae be doing that”
“Hush now, and let me speak my piece. As I said, I like rutting. ’Tis one reason I left the monastery. And, aye, I was often intemperate. Sigimor warned me that I might pay for that at some time, and I have, for I have disappointed ye.” Again she murmured a denial, but a quick brush of his lips over hers silenced her. “I have. All I can say in my defense is that I gave no woman a promise or a vow, and so I broke none; I never seduced a lass, and I have ne’er stolen a lass’s innocence or touched a woman lawfully claimed by another mon.
“Though I will concede that there are too many Marys in my past, not once did I encourage Lady Maude. I have no idea why she chases me so, for as ye have said, she is a beautiful woman and can have near any mon she wants. I was most clear when I turned away from her, but she chooses to ignore what I said. She is why I left the king’s court. I ne’er thought she would hunt me down.”
Keira was finding it a little difficult to concentrate on Liam’s words. The feel of his warm lips against her skin was not only making her blood run hot but was also wrapping a thick haze around her mind. This was more than a man trying to calm a woman who had just had a glorious, screeching fit, she thought. With more reluctance than she liked to admit to, Keira eased herself free of his arms.
“If I was a suspicious person, I might think ye were trying to seduce me into believing you,” she said.
“Ah, ye do think poorly of me, dinnae ye? Nay, lass, I was but trying to make ye stand still long enough to listen to me. I am nay sure ye have.”
“Oh, I have.”
“Yet ye think I was trying to seduce ye?”
“Weel, what was all that kis
sing and stroking for, if not seduction?”
A good point, Liam mused, watching as she cleaned out their bowls. Since thoughts of seducing her were never far from his mind, Liam could not adamantly deny her accusation. This time, however, he had simply been enjoying the taste of her skin, the absence of anger, and the feel of her lithe body in his arms.
“I wasnae doing that to seduce ye.” He shrugged and smiled when she frowned up at him. “That was just because your fine skin was so close to my lips I had to steal a wee taste of it. Ye taste verra nice, lass.” He grinned when she blushed.
“Ye see? Ye just cannae help yourself, can ye?”
“Actually, I controlled myself verra weel during the years I studied with the monks,” he said quietly, and then he went to spread out their bedding.
Keira had the feeling she had angered him, perhaps even insulted him, with her suspicions. His soft flattery had moved her, and she knew she ought to scoff at it. Such words probably meant little to him, were no more than pretty compliments he sprinkled about like dewdrops. Yet, it would be so easy to allow him to soften her heart with such words and to steal away all caution with his kisses.
She slowly shook those thoughts out of her head. It would be lovely to forget everything and roll about in the heather with him, learning all the secrets of passion. There was no doubt in her mind that Liam Cameron had learned a lot of those secrets. Unfortunately, she could not allow him to learn hers. Too many people depended upon her to help them. The people of Ardgleann had waited long enough for rescue. If she weakened and Liam discovered the truth, those people suffering beneath Rauf s boot might find that their torment had no end.
Highland Champion Page 7