“Does Sir Lucas ken that ye have bedded down with another mon?”
“Sir Lucas was the mon.”
“Oh. I see. So, are ye to be married then?”
Katerina sighed and started washing her hair. “I dinnae ken. He ne’er mentioned it last year e’en though he told me some verra pretty things. Pretty things that sounded verra much like the words a mon would say to the woman he means to make his wife. He certainly hasnae mentioned it since he came back, all angry and accusing.”
“Would ye like to marry the mon?”
“Ere he stood there and accused me of trying to kill him I would have said aye in a heartbeat. Now? Weel, how wise is it to marry a mon who can make love to ye, be your first lover, and then believe ye would try to have him murdered in a particularly brutal way? He has no faith in me, doesnae trust me.” She shrugged. “Howbeit, he desires me and I desire him. I thought it over and decided I will take what I can get and do my best to protect my poor battered heart”
“Are ye hoping that desire will become more?”
“I would be lying to ye and to myself if I said nay. Of course I would like it to be more. I would like him to trust in me and have faith in me and love me. Howbeit, if that doesnae happen I willnae let myself grieve o’er it.” She grimaced. “Weel, nay much.”
Annie smiled. “Ye want it all but ye will take what he is willing to give. ’Tis something many women do. Sometimes it all works out verra weel and sometimes it doesnae work at all.”
“Which is why I mean to do my best to protect my heart.”
“I am nay sure that is something that can be done.”
“Mayhap, but I will at least nay be expecting any more than what he gives, I willnae have any false hopes, and that is protection of a sort.” Katerina stood up and began to dry herself off, wrapping her wet hair in one large cloth and using the other to gently pat the water from her skin. “Weel, are ye going to share in this bounty we worked so hard to produce or nay?”
Annie hesitated only a moment before shedding her clothes and getting into the still hot water. “Oh, this is verra nice. I will smell so lovely, too.”
Katerina laughed. “’Tis the scent as much as the heat of the water that makes it so verra lovely. ’Tis just a shame that it is so much work to fill a tub with all that lovely warmed water.”
“That is why lairds and ladies have servants.”
“Quite true.”
“Are ye nervous?”
“About taking Sir Lucas as my lover? Aye and nay. I have been with him before although it was my first time with a mon and it wasnae all such a delight. Yet, I have dreamed of it for months, all the time that I thought he was dead. And e’en though he hurt me so badly, the desire is still there. I do fear that I have recalled it all wrong and that I will be sorely disappointed.”
“Oh, nay, I dinnae think ye will be. A mon as fine of looks as he is has had to have a lot of, er, training. He kens what to do to please a woman. I have nay doubt of that.”
Katerina paused in rubbing her hair dry and frowned. “I really dinnae wish to think on that.”
Annie laughed and began to wash her hair. “Nay, I suspicion not. There is one thing though. I think he will be a fierce lover. There is something in him that seems to be a little wild, a little untamed.” Annie blushed. “’Tis a foolish thing to say about a mon who will be a laird one day.”
“Nay,” Katerina said quietly, “it isnae. ’Tis exactly right. There is something a little wild in Lucas. He looks a fine gentlemen and he speaks weel, reads, kens the ways of the world and how to be a laird but he also wears those warrior braids and if Ranald hadnae surprised him that time by the loch, Lucas could have slain the lot of them—all six men.”
“Nay! Truly?”
“Aye. I saw him in a fight a few times. Nay a serious one, just men trying to prove their worth with a stranger. He can move so fast and he seems to be able to see everything at once, catching all of his attackers e’en when they try to get behind him. And he does feel a, weel, an exhilaration when he is in battle. Nay quite a savage of the verra old days, but verra close I am thinking.”
“Oh, my, and now the poor mon has a limp.”
“He does, but he was giving Ranald and his men a good fight when we rode in to rescue him. Nay as smooth and swift as before his leg was broken but far better than any other mon I have e’er seen. Aye, now that I recall how the mon fights, I am most eager to see how such strength and grace will aid him in the bedchamber.” She laughed and winked when Annie blushed despite her own laughter.
Annie stepped out of the bath and began to dry herself off. Having considered taking a bath after Katerina, she had brought some clean dry clothes to put on and hastily did so. She then moved to help Katerina brush and braid her still damp hair, Katerina then doing the same for Annie. As soon as they had cleaned up the small room, they hurried off to the hall to prepare the evening meal.
Lucas tried very hard not to stare at Katerina as they all gathered in the hall for the last meal of the day. As she moved past him to set the bread on the table he caught the scent of lavender on her skin and felt himself harden with anticipation and hunger. He did not think he had ever wanted a woman the way he wanted her, not even in his younger days when he was just learning about the pleasures of the flesh and all of his needs and desires were at full, untamed strength. It took all of his self-control not to leap up and drag her off to her bedchamber. The little smirk he caught on William’s face from time to time aided him. He was not about to add to the man’s amusement.
By the time Lucas felt he could steal away with Katerina, he was surprised he was not breathing fire. He had had plans to walk with her for a while, talk and steal a few kisses, but he was hard-pressed not to push her up against the wall only feet from the hall and take her there. Lucas found himself praying that she felt at least partly as desperate as he did as she led him to her bedchamber.
Katerina moved to the little table where she kept the wine. As she poured them each a full tankard, she realized that her hands were shaking, slightly. The whole time she had been in the great hall, eating her meal, and conversing with the others, her mind had been filled with thoughts of what was to happen once the meal was done. She was so tense with anticipation she was not sure she could swallow the wine she had just poured for herself. When Lucas moved to stand behind her, she felt so hot and needy she was surprised she was not all a-sweat.
“Do ye really want that wine?” he asked as he kissed the side of her neck and felt a shiver go through her body.
“Are ye saying ye dinnae want a drink?” she asked, not surprised at the husky note in her voice.
“The only thing I want right now is ye, Kat. I want ye naked and in my arms. In the bed, on the floor, or against the wall. Or mayhap all three.”
“Oh. I hadnae thought ye would be quite so—” She searched her rapidly befogging mind for the right word.
“Eager?” he whispered as he began to unlace her gown. “Aye, I am eager. I am nay sure about ye, but I have a whole year’s worth of hunger that needs to be fed.”
It took a moment for Katerina to realize what he had just said and she cursed and pulled away from him, not caring that her gown was nearly falling off her. “What do ye mean by I am nay sure about ye?”
Lucas held up his hands. “Nay, nay. Ye misunderstood.”
“I dinnae think so. Ye were implying that I have had lovers since ye. ’Twas verra clear.”
“I wasnae meaning to insult ye.” He dragged a shaking hand through his hair, trying desperately to think clearly and not stare at her high, full breasts that were almost completely revealed by her sagging gown. “Sweet Jesu, Kat, ye thought I was dead and ye are a verra passionate woman. Ye are also being hunted and people want ye dead. I just thought ye may have sought some comfort or a little pleasure when ye have so little of it in this life Agnes has forced ye into.” He hated to think of her with another man but he prepared himself to accept it.
Kat
erina studied his face. He looked as if he was about to be served poison. For some reason that made her want to smile. She was not foolish enough to think a possessive nature in a man was a sign of anything aside from a possessive nature, but it was still flattering in a small way. Then she recalled the rest of what he had said and her eyes widened.
“Ye havenae been with anyone for a whole year?”
“Nay.” Lucas thanked God he could say that now, for it was the full truth and she had to be able to read it in his face and hear it in his voice. “I willnae say I didnae think on it or e’en go to the alehouse with the intention of having a woman, some faceless woman who wouldnae care or make me feel aught but a need and then satisfy it. But, nay, I couldnae e’en do that And then there is the matter of my leg,” he faltered as he felt himself blush and he inwardly cursed.
“Your leg?”
“It can be verra stiff at times and so there is an awkwardness just when ye wish there wouldnae be.”
“Oh.” She slowly moved back toward him. “But nay all the time.”
“Nay all the time.”
He gently pulled her back into his arms, suspecting it was going to be the last truly gentle thing he would do for a while. The need pounding in his veins was wild and almost uncontrolled. She had not really said whether she had had another lover during the time she thought he was dead, but her outrage was answer enough. Katerina Haldane was all his and, although she did not know it yet, he had every intention of keeping her.
Lucas kissed her and she felt the strength of his need, sensed how hard he was trying to be slow and gentle. As the kiss grew a little fiercer so did her desire. Soon she did not know who was doing what but their clothes were nearly torn off their bodies by eager hands and their mouths moved over every inch of skin as if starved for the taste.
Katerina clung to him as he moved toward the wall and pinned her there. She was unconcerned about the hard stone against her back, cared only about the hard body of the man holding her in his arms. A soft cry of surprise and then pleasure escaped her as she felt him push into her, her body at first protesting his entry and then greedily grasping hold of him, welcoming him. It was fast and furious and Katerina reveled in it. She felt her body tighten with that exhilarating feeling she remembered from so long ago and heard herself urging him on. Then she felt herself fall into the stars, pleasure rippling through her whole body until she felt consumed by her own passion. A heartbeat later she felt Lucas bury himself deep inside her and groan her name as his whole body shuddered and his seed warmed her insides.
With the return of sanity came embarrassment, but Katerina had barely begun to feel uncertain and anxious to retreat when Lucas kissed her. He held her tight in his arms as he stumbled over to her bed and fell down onto it, careful not to crush her beneath his much larger body. Her eyes widened when she felt him harden inside her.
“Lucas?”
The way she said his name, her voice husky with the lingering effects of their shared passion, made Lucas groan. He began to stroke her body, enjoying every curve and hollow as he kissed her breasts. It was going to be a long, exhausting night, he thought, and it was the last clear thought he had for a while.
Katerina finally found the strength to lift her head from Lucas’s broad chest. She felt a slight chill on her body and searched for the blanket. Picking it up from the floor she spread it over them before returning to his arms. Her body felt a little sore, but she did not mind. It was a good sore, one that brought on heated memories of what had passed between her and Lucas in the past few hours. The man was insatiable and made her feel the same.
She looked over his sprawled body and began to notice the scars. The wounds from his most recent capture by Ranald were still a little raw, but she suspected only a few of them would become scars. The beating he had suffered a year ago had left a lot more. She gently tugged the blanket to the side revealing the leg Ranald had broken and she almost gasped. The scars that lingered there were ragged and ugly and she could almost see how the bone had cut through the skin. He was very lucky he had not lost the leg and she had no doubt that it was the healers in his family who had saved it for him. Suddenly the blanket was gently and firmly taken from her hand and tossed back over the leg.
“Ye dinnae want to be looking at that,” Lucas said, a little embarrassed by his scars and the way he had been behaving since entering her bedchamber. “’Tisnae pretty.”
“I ne’er thought it would be. My scars arenae so pretty either.”
“They arenae so big and ragged. My leg looks like a dog grabbed it and chewed on it.”
She wanted to ask him a lot of questions but held her tongue. They would be questions about the attack on the banks of the loch and she felt that was a subject it might be best to avoid. The very last thing she wanted to do was ruin the bliss they had found together with a talk that would certainly be tainted by his suspicions and anger. She had seen no sign of those things almost from the time she had been wounded but she could not be sure he had rid himself of them.
“I dinnae believe mine are all that much neater. William did his best but he isnae a healer. He stopped the bleeding, kept it all from going putrid, and tended me until the fever burnt itself out. I would ne’er complain that the ordeal has left me with a few scars.”
He gently pushed her onto her back and, ignoring her soft protests, began to search out and kiss every scar. It was obvious that she had been thrown upon the rocks several times, each time tearing open her tender skin. Lucas wished he could have been there to help her, maybe even save her from some of the worst of the scarring, but he had been fighting for his own life and by the time he had recovered he had marked her as a deceiver and a murderess. He felt the heat of embarrassment touch his cheeks and was glad his face was hidden against her flat stomach. At some time he was going to have to talk to her about it, try to explain himself, and gain her trust and forgiveness. It would be wonderful if the wild lovemaking they shared was enough to mend the wound he had dealt her, but he knew it was not.
Katerina threaded her hands through his hair as he kissed her stomach and then licked the scar that ran down her thigh. She was just wondering if it was some sort of silent apology when he kissed the tight blond curls sheltering her womanhood. A squeak of shock escaped her and she tightened her grip on his hair. By the time she gathered enough of her wits to protest such an intimacy his stroking tongue had stolen all of her reticence away and she gave herself over to the strange new delight. By the time he joined their bodies, she was so hungry for him she did not care what he saw or did so long as the pleasure he gave her continued.
Lucas knew he was being a little rough but he could not stop himself and Katerina seemed to revel in it. He felt the start of her release deep within her body and thrust deep so that he could savor it as it grabbed hold of him and took him along with her. He collapsed on top of her, barely recalling the need to move his body a little to the side so that he did not crush her with his weight.
“Ye are going to make me an old mon a-fore my time,” he murmured as he nuzzled her hair.
It took nearly all the strength she had left in her, but Katerina lifted her arm and stroked his hair. “Weel, ye may have some rest from your duties for a wee while as I am going to sleep now.”
“Oh, are ye? Too weak and feeble, are ye?”
“That I am. Or, so I feel right now.”
He turned onto his back and pulled her into his arms. It made him grin to think he had loved her into a stupor, but he was careful to hide his expression. Lucas suspected it would look a little too much like masculine gloating. As he idly stroked her back he felt her body go limp against his and her breathing grow soft and even.
Putting an arm beneath his head, and caressing her hair with his free hand, Lucas stared up at the smooth stone ceiling of the cave that served as her bedchamber. He knew he would never forget this place or this night. Even with the shadows that lingered over their reunion, his idiocy and false accusations, Ranald and
Agnes and their murderous plans, and the fact that Katerina was exiled from her own home, it had been perfect. His body felt wonderfully heavy and sated yet he knew he could easily be stirred to passion again, and after so long and a growing fear that the beating had left him impotent, he wanted to just lie there and savor the feeling.
Closing his eyes and deciding to take a rest himself, he held Katerina a little closer and with what he admitted to himself was a touch of desperation. She was his. They belonged together, should be planning a life together and picking out names for all the children they would have. In a way he had stolen that from both of them. It would be hard work to get her to trust in him again, but he knew it was worth it. He knew he would never doubt her again. He was just going to have to work very hard to make her believe it.
Chapter Twelve
Warmth spread throughout Katerina’s body. She murmured with pleasure as desire stirred to life within her. This was one of the best dreams she had ever had. She could even feel the slight roughness of Lucas’s lightly calloused hands and the moist heat of his mouth. If she could have dreams like this all the time she would never get out of bed. She shifted her body as need became an ache inside her and her leg brushed against a hair-roughened thigh.
“Open your eyes, Kat, ere ye think ye are being attacked and hurt me.”
That deep, laughter-filled voice was achingly familiar and Katerina relaxed. Keeping her eyes closed, she smiled and rubbed her toes against Lucas’s leg. She liked the feel of that crisp hair against her skin. It was nice to wake up all wrapped in heat, she decided. There were a lot of problems facing her, many of them concerning the man now kissing her breasts, but Katerina did not want to face them yet.
Lucas nearly laughed. Katerina was sprawled beneath him with a little smile curving her full lips. She was humming softly to herself as she stroked his leg with her toes. It was very pleasant, but he had woken up hard and heavy with a need for her and he wanted her wide-awake and heartily participating as he fed that need.
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