Robena nodded and got dressed quickly. No matter her haste, she could not help but watch him, trying to understand his mood, his needs.
Men were creatures of habit, and she’d learned early on to be mindful of those habits in her customers. Men also appreciated her attention to the details, so they did not have to repeat themselves. They liked it when she acted on their preferences without them having to ask. Though there were those who liked the ordering part of things, most enjoyed the feeling that they were special enough to remember. And they paid well for that from her.
Iain paid her well for that. But this was not his habit to do. Usually, on shorter visits, he spent most of their time together on that pallet, barely pausing to eat or sleep. On his longer visits, over the dark days and nights of midwinter, he slept here, and spent most of his days with Robbie and the others.
Something was different now. Not in a bad way, but in a way that set her senses off. Watching him, he seemed to be thinking on some matter that made him quieter than usual. He lifted her cloak from the peg by the door and held it for her. When she tied it on, he lifted the latch and waited for her to go first.
The night air swirled around them, cold but not damp. Winter was nigh, and they but waited for the first storm of the season to strike. She lifted her head and inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh coldness of it. A nigh-to-full moon lit the ground and made it easier to see their way. Though she could walk the village paths in sheer darkness, he did not know his way around as well.
“Do you have a place in mind to go?” she asked.
“Nay,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “Just around.”
She took his hand and he pulled her closer, tucking her into his side, though she was used to walking without touching him. Admittedly, in the chill of the night, his nearness warmed her. He shortened his longer paces to fit hers and they made their way along the path through the village.
Since they encountered no one at this time of night, Robena wondered if that was the reason why he touched her so outside her cottage. Everyone in the village knew of his visits, so it would surprise no one, but he also did not make it his custom to do this. She glanced at their joined hands and wondered what to make of it. He pulled her to a stop then and turned her to face him. Pushing the hood of her cloak back, he grabbed her shoulders and lifted her face to his.
And kissed her over and over until she was breathless.
When he lifted his head and gazed down at her, there was something there in his eyes she’d not seen before. An emotion that had no place between a man and his whore. Something that would muck up everything between them, if she was correct about what she saw there.
Terrified at the very thought, she did the only thing she knew to do—she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.
3
He’d frightened her, and he knew it. As he watched the fear enter her eyes, Iain realized his mistake at once. But things had changed for him—for them—and he’d no way of explaining it to her yet.
She’d expected he was there for the sex, and she knew how to do that. She was well familiar with the ways in which to please him. ’Twas the change from their usual patterns of things that concerned—nay, terrified—her now.
He slipped his hands around her hips and held her there. Kissing her was no hardship, and, if it allowed her to regain her footing in this situation between them, so be it. Holding her this close, she could feel the erection that had not diminished at all since she’d witnessed its rising. Her tongue was skillful at tasting his mouth. He tilted his head and let her have her way. Steam rose from their mouths and drifted into the cold of the night as they breathed around the sparring of their tongues.
Finally, he lifted his mouth from hers and let her slide down until her feet touched the ground, enjoying every second of the way her body’s soft curves caressed him.
There would be time enough to enjoy the pleasures she offered him later. Now he truly did need to walk off the hours of being on a horse. His bones were not as young as they and he used to be, in spite of the vigor this young woman inspired in him.
Iain straightened her cloak and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her in close against the worst of the cold before walking once more. They spoke not as they walked down the main road of the village and then off towards the loch on one of the paths. Every step eased the stiffness in his legs. He remembered enough of the layout of the village to guide them back to her cottage.
“Ye have been quiet, lass,” he said as they approached her gate. “Nothing to say?” He lifted the latch once more, and lifted his arm from her shoulders, allowing her to walk up the path.
“I was not certain what ye wanted of me, Iain,” she said. Ah, as he’d suspected—she feared the unexpected in the men with whom she . . . dealt.
She lifted the door’s latch and pushed it open. The warmth inside made him realize how cold the weather was becoming, and how close the winter storms were. He watched as she crossed to the hearth before loosening her cloak.
“Just yer companionship on my walk.” He took the cloak and hung it back next to the door. “I am feeling old and worn.”
The way she lifted one brow in reply was something Iain would always remember and treasure. For in that one slight raised brow, she both accepted and denied the possibility that he aged.
“Ye could not prove that by me,” she said, turning to stoke the fire in the hearth. He strode to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her neck.
“Ye have a way of making me feel as young as ye are.” ’Twas the truth of it. With her, though there was nothing to prove, hedid feel much the way he used to in the early days of his marriage to Elisabeth. Randy. Full of life.
Always ready. A surge beneath his belt made him laugh.
“Ah,thatyoung, then?” she asked, pressing against him.
He enjoyed the wordplay with her, almost as much as the bedplay. Iain had a sense that much of it came easily to her, and yet he could feel a genuine sentiment behind those two acts. Or did he mistake her interest in him?
Was he only a customer to her after all?
