“Thank you. But others feel differently.” Siena stared at him for a moment before she spoke again. “If I hadn’t had Agatha, I’m not sure what I would have done. She managed to get Father John to teach me to read and write and that helped keep my mind busy. When I got older my father sent me to live with Fidach.”
“What happened to yer father?”
“He’s still alive so I guess I do have a relative, but I’ve not seen him in several years.”
“Yet, he sent ye to yer brother?”
“He did. I think seeing me reminded him of my mother,” she paused as if she were lost in the past. “Strange. I never remember being held by my father.” She shrugged, then continued. “Fidach was happy having me, torturing me became his favorite pastime.”
What a horrible childhood Siena had, Roderick thought. He clenched his fist. “What would he do?”
“Lock me in a dark room and leave me there. Once it took Agatha two days to find me –” she trailed off with a faraway look in her eyes. “By the time she did, I was hoarse from screaming.”
Roderick was so angry that he wanted to kill Fidach all over again. Yet he didn’t want to scare Siena, so he kept a tight hold on his emotions. This young woman had known little love in her lifetime and his heart swelled with a feeling he thought long dead. He touched her arm. Siena turned to him with tear-filled eyes.
Roderick pulled Siena over to him and enfolded her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, lass. Ye will not have to go through something like that ever again. Ye dinna have to say any more.”
“Maybe it will do me good to get it all out,” she said, her head still on his chest. “On the last day at Berwick, Fidach had been in a rage about you. He’d already hit me twice that day, but when he grabbed me for the third time, I came up with a knife. I sunk it deep into his heart,” she paused, then added softly, “I should feel sorry for taking a life, but I don’t.”
Roderick pushed her long hair over her shoulder and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. “Sometimes men are evil and there is no good in them. I believe yer brother was such a mon and deserved to die.”
Siena raised up and looked at him, then said, “Thank you.” Roderick might be a fierce warrior, but he was being so tender with her that her heart was melting. What would it be like to be kissed by such a man? She felt a warmth creep through her veins, and she longed for something more.
Roderick cradled her in the crook of his arm and lowered his mouth to hers. His lips were wonderful, warm, teasing. His fingers slid to the back of her neck as his lips moved against hers. She could taste whisky on Roderick’s lips, and when he coaxed her lips apart, she gasped as his tongue dove into her mouth. Siena had never felt this way before and she had surely never experienced a man’s kiss. She found she liked the way he kissed her. A liquid fire burned in her blood like the hottest fire, clouding her brain. Her desire for him overrode everything else.
Siena’s arms slid around his neck and she began to explore his mouth as he had hers. She heard his moan which sounded more like a growl, so she leaned back, thinking she’d done something wrong. “I--I’m so sorry.” Perhaps, she wasn’t good at this thing called kissing.
Pulling her back to him, he held her tight, and kissed the side of her neck. “Ye did nothing wrong, lass. ’Tis I who should apologize.” Roderick waited for his breathing to return to normal. He didn’t know what it was about this slip of a woman, but she had touched him deep down. “Know this … no one will ever hurt ye again. Ye have my promise.” And with a supreme effort, Roderick ignored the urge to make love to her, he finally said, “We better get some sleep.” He pulled her beside him and said no more.
Siena felt someone truly cared for her … maybe not love … but actually cared what happened to her. She knew there was something special about this man from the very beginning. Roderick had awakened something within her, and it left her reeling, but also contented.
A strange feeling.
For the first time in her life Siena felt safe because she trusted Roderick completely.
Chapter 9
“Laird Scott, the road has been cleared for ye!”
Duncan’s booming voice jarred Siena awake from the peaceful dream she’d been having. She had to blink several times before she could focus. That is when she realized she was half laying on top of Roderick. Perhaps, she’d never been exposed to men much in her life, but she knew this was no lady-like position, so she scrambled to put some distance between them. What must Duncan think of her? Surely, he couldn’t see them from the mouth of the cave. Better yet, what must Roderick think of a woman sleeping with him whom he wasn’t married to? She didn’t like the answer to her question.
Roderick sat up and spoke, “I thank ye for yer concern, Duncan, but I’m sure we could huv made our way home this mornin’.”
“We must take care of our laird. Can I speak with ye for a moment?” Duncan asked. He’d only taken a step into the cave, but he thought better about it and turned to wait outside for Roderick.
“Sorry for the interruption, lass.”
Siena nodded not knowing what to say, but she was sure her eyes must have been huge with embarrassment.
Roderick shoved himself to his feet and stretched before making his way to the mouth of the cave. “What is it?” he snapped. “It had better be good. ‘Twas the first good night’s sleep I’ve had in a while.”
Duncan noticed the mon did have on his clothes. “So that’s what ye were doin’?”
“I dinna care for yer insolence, Duncan.”
“Weel I dinna think ye realize that ye have put the lass’s reputation in question.”
They stood right outside the mouth of the cave, so Siena wouldn’t be able to hear them. “What the hell are ye talking about, Duncan?”
