“A witch he may be, but I don’t think he’s a seer like Dame Isobel. How was he to know why you were unhappy? Most lads and lassies are unhappy when sent away from their families.”
Rose pulled her arisaid closer around her. “I tried to run away.”
He smiled slightly. “Aye, you also came to fetch the wizard of Strathwick alone, disguised as a lad. Such acts are in your nature, methinks, and indicate naught more than an indomitable will.”
Her hands fisted into the wool. “What are you saying? That I have no reason to be angry?”
“Nay, nay—you have every reason to be. But at the man responsible.”
Her jaw clenched, hands tightening in the soft wool. “He’s dead.”
“Ah.” He said it on a breath as he leaned his shoulder against the wall, a world of understanding in the single sound. He stared down at the steps between them, his mouth flat and hard.
“What does that mean?”
“The object of your ire is dead. So you’ve found another.”
Something twisted hard in Rose’s chest, and when she spoke, her voice was brittle. “You don’t understand.”
“I do, Rose.” He looked up at her from beneath thickblack lashes. “I think you should tell your father instead of letting it fester.”
She shook her head. “No, no, no. He’s dying. I cannot let him die thinking I hate him.”
“So you seek to heal him at any cost.” Again his voice was rife with sudden comprehension that she found distressing. He couldn’t understand. He thought he did, but no one truly understood.
“Aye! But you don’t understand. I should have told him—it’s my fault! If I’d told him long ago, it wouldn’t have gone on. If I hadn’t been so stupid and scared. I have to tell him or—or—”
“Or what?” He watched her intently.
She put her hands to the sides of her head, fingers curling into her hair. “I know not.”
“It won’t happen again. Itcan’thappen again. You’re a woman now, a strong, clever one.” He climbed a step so they were nearly eye to eye. He took her hands and pulled them away from her face. “If the man who did this to you were still alive, I would kill him—after breaking every bone in his body—then maybe healing him so I could do it again.ThenI’d kill him.”
Rose put her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. His arms came around her waist, holding her close. She loved him. It rose inside her, sweet and piercing. She hugged him tighter. She’d thought that maybe she’d fallen in love with him the first time she’d met him, when he’d pretended to be a groom, but she was certain of it now. She wanted to tell him how she felt but couldn’t place that burden on him. He’d made his position clear. If she carried their relationship any further,she’d suffer the consequences in silence. She thought that perhaps she was willing, just to be with him.
Heart pounding madly, she pulled back, looking into his eyes, letting him see that she wanted him. She slid her fingers into the soft hair at his nape, memorizing the silken slide of his hair, the lambent sapphire of his eyes, the austere line of his mouth, the mouth that could be so soft and warm….
She knew the moment he understood what she was about. His breathing grew uneven, his gaze falling to her mouth as his throat worked. His fingers flexed into her waist. She leaned forward, holding his face, the scrape of whiskers against her palms, and she kissed him. His mouth opened beneath hers, warm and sweet and full of promise.
Approaching footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Rose pulled away from him. His fingers clung to her arisaid for a moment, his expression thunderous with frustration, then he let her go. His mouth curved into a sardonic smile and he gestured for her to precede him.
Rose hurried up the stairs again, her heart still racing, her body flushed with anticipation, the sensation of his fingers on her waist still burning. When she reached the landing, she turned to find a frowning Jamie appear behind them.
His suspicious gaze darted from Rose to William as the three of them stood on the landing. “I didn’t hear you on the stairs until just a second ago.”
William arched a brow. “Well, obviously we were there.”
“Aye, but the countess said you’d left a few moments before I arrived at your chambers—notsecondsbefore.Besides…I would have seen you leaving. What were you doing on the stairs?”
Rose’s heart beat furiously against her ribs, now with fear of discovery. She had no intention of marrying Jamie, but neither would she be marrying William. Jamie hated him enough without adding cuckold to the list of crimes. And if she did indulge in an indiscretion with the Wizard of the North, she had every intention of keeping it discreet.
“I’m coming to see my uncle and nephew. What do you think I was doing?”
He again looked from William to Rose, his expression skeptical, then he moved forward, taking Rose’s elbow and pulling her to the door, his body a barrier between her and William. As he pounded on the door, Rose said, “I’m feeling much better now, thank you for asking.”
The look he sent her was part irritation, part embarrassment. “Forgive…I’m pleased your ailment has passed.” The door opened as he glanced at William over his shoulder. “So it was not the wizard’s curse that struck you down?”
Rose’s laugh was tinged with contempt. “How absurd! Who said such a thing?”
