“Because that answer was vague.You made some noise but told me absolutely nothing.”
“Each day is a new challenge,” he said.“My duties are rarely the same.”
“Then you should consider yourself a lucky man.At least you’ll never be bored.”She returned her attention to the view out the window.“When do you think Mairwen will grace us with her presence?”
“That I canna say because the old witch does as she damn well pleases.”He tapped on the pane, pointing toward the west.“See that rise?The one wearing the haar like a shawl around its shoulders?”
“You mean the one almost hidden by fog?”
“Aye, that be the one.Seven Cairns lies within that mist that always rolls in off the sea.We call it the haar.Henry’s gone there to fetch her.”
She squinted at the spot and drew closer to the rain spattered glass.“How far is that from here?It looks like a long way.”
“A few hours’ ride because of the treacherous nature of the land between here and there.”He’d told her that before, but after all she’d been through, he didn’t blame her for not remembering.“But the length of that journey only limits Henry.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Mairwen does not ride.Or at least I have never seen her ride.And yet she travels from here to there in the blink of an eye.She is not constrained by time or distance.”
Jessa turned and studied him, so very close that it would only take a little effort to sample the sweetness of her mouth.Her warmth teased him, daring him to move in closer and breathe her in to fully intoxicate himself with her scent of roses and a woman who didn’t realize how desirable she was.The tip of her tongue raced across her barely parted lips, tempting him to show her.
He almost groaned but caught it in time.With more control than he realized he possessed, he eased back a step, increasing the distance between them.“We could find Mairwen at our door at any minute—or never.I fear we are at her mercy.”
“Well, that is complete horse shit.”Jessa bowed her head and growled, making him struggle not to smile.“You know, I hardly ever swear, but this century brings out the worst in me.”
“Ye are merely a lady expressing herself according to what the situation demands.”Grant prided himself on his diplomacy.
She snorted.“Yeah.Right.”She fidgeted away from the window and paced around the room again.Her agitation filled the air, while her spirit silently wailed its need for relief from these circumstances.
“Would ye like to go up to the tower?From there, ye can see a good bit of MacAlester land.”Shielding her by keeping her in his private solar was not going well.While he wished to protect her, this was no timid lass satisfied to hide away until the world decided to be kind to her.Nay, she was a caged beast, gnashing its teeth to be freed.“I can take ye around the keep so ye can roam wherever ye like.”His smuggler’s sense of survival nudged him, reminding him that might not be wise.“Within reason,” he added.
She eyed the door to the hallway, then looked back at him while nervously chewing the corner of her bottom lip.He waited for her to decide.Only she knew what served her best.Mayhap she preferred Molly take her around and show her the things the lady of the keep might wish to see.A rumble of irritation escaped him.Gads alive, nowhewas calling her the mistress of the house.What the devil was wrong with him?
“Don’t growl at me.I’m thinking, all right?Wouldn’t you be a little nervous if you landed in my century, and I offered to walk you around like the prize pooch at the dog show?”
“The noise I made was not directed at ye.”He almost did it again.“I believe I have been patient, considering the circumstances.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”Indignance flashed in her eyes, honing her glare.
“What?”
“Considering the circumstances,” she repeated.“I did not come here of my own free will.I was dumped in your bed.Remember?”
He lifted his hands in surrender, something he had never done before and wasn’t all that keen on doing now.“I meant no disrespect or impatience with ye, aye?And I nay asked Mairwen to snatch ye up out of yer time and send ye here to be my wife.The feckin’ witch took it upon herself to do so after I told her plainly I never wished to marry again.”
Jessa's scowl darkened even more, and the parting of her sumptuous lips slowly opened wider as her jaw dropped.“Again?You’ve been married before?”She took a step toward him, her hands slowly closing into fists.“Or are you married now, and if so, where is she?”
Feckin’ hell.He resettled his stance and clasped his hands to the small of his back as if preparing to be executed, and execution didn’t seem like all that bad of a choice at the moment.“I am widowed.”
She didn’t believe him.He could see it in her eyes.
“My late wife grew to like laudanum more than anything else.She consumed it until it finally consumed her.”
“Is that why you asked if I was looking for laudanum when I wanted something for a headache?”Her eyes narrowed with watchfulness.
“Aye.If I thought ye bound to the opium, I would have put ye out immediately.”
“At midnight.In the rain.Out here in the middle of nowhere.”
