He’d never had a chance to reconcile with Lachlan, a man who’d raised him and taught him and challenged him into manhood. And he’d died believing that Brodie had betrayed him and their work to ensure a peaceful future for their clan.
‘My father said he did not seem to suffer. That he began to have trouble keeping food down and two days later, he...he...’
Brodie nodded for he’d heard the way of it. ‘Aye.’
He sank into sadness, thinking about all the people he’d lost due to his cousin’s plans. Brodie had avoided this, avoided allowing his feelings to seep through but now he could not. If only. If only. His own plan could not bring back the lost, but it would prevent further destruction of his own clan and that of the Camerons. So distracted was he by the memories he never heard her approach. Her hand on his cheek startled him into awareness.
Arabella knelt next to him, touching his face.
‘You are bleeding,’ she said quietly, almost a whisper. He had washed the deep scratches but had not worried over their condition. Reaching up to staunch the bleeding with his hand, he found them pushed away by the lass. ‘I will see to them.’
Her ministrations, gentle and sure, wrecked any sense of self-control he thought was his. With her this close, he felt her breath against his skin as she traced the path of each slash and pressed on it with a cloth. And he would have been fine, he would have been able to resist her nearness if she had not slid her fingers in his hair to move it away from his face.
Brodie turned his head, bringing his face level and close, very close to hers. Her sharp gasp and shallow breathing told him she was affected, too. A quick glance at her eyes revealed no fear there. They darkened to a deep blue and her mouth opened ever so slightly. And then he lost his battle.
Her fingers stilled in his hair as he leaned over and touched his mouth to hers. Brodie pressed against her, teasing and touching her lips with his and with his tongue. He slanted his face, moving closer to capture her. At first she stared into his eyes, but when hers drifted shut, he slipped his hand into her hair and pulled her to him.
Her body leaned against his, her breasts against his chest, and he felt the rise and fall of every breath she took. Her mouth and body softened and he slid his tongue along the seam of her lips until she opened to him. Dipping deep inside, he tasted her.
Sweet. A hint ofuisge beatha. Arabella. And so much more.
He smiled against her mouth when she allowed him in. Sweeping again, he found her tongue and suckled on it, gently then stronger. She intoxicated him. Attracted him. Lured him to her. Brodie eased his arm around her shoulders and guided her down until she rested over his lap. Waiting for some sign of hesitation or rejection, instead she touched the tip of her tongue to his.
He waited then, allowing the curiosity that was as much a part of her as her beauty to push her on. And he was not disappointed for she began to stroke his mouth with her tongue, then, taste him and suck on his. It stirred his desire and his body hardened.
What he really wanted to do was to lay her down there, strip her naked and taste every inch of her. Now, after hearing her soft gasps, he wanted to hear more of the sounds she would make in passion. What noises would she make when he kissed her breasts or touched that place between her legs or when he entered her? He drew back to see her face and exulted in the passion-glazed expression her blue eyes held.
Then, something just outside the cave’s entrance crackled loudly, startling them both back to their senses. Arabella pulled back, pushing herself out of his intimate embrace until they did not touch at all. Kneeling there, with her mouth swollen from his attentions and with his flesh swollen from kissing her, he only knew he wanted more...of her...with her.
Footsteps outside the cave drew his attention, so he moved away from her and her disconcerting nearness and stood. He had duties to see to. He had people he was responsible for. He had things to do. Worse, he knew she would never be his. Time ran against him, as did his resources, and the commitment of the people here.
Brodie wanted to explain everything to her, but he knew Caelan’s methods. If he failed, he did not want her to answer for his sins. The less she knew, the better. Though if he failed, there was every possibility that she and her family would suffer, too.
‘Take your rest there this night,’ he said, pointing to his pallet.
She raised her chin as though she would argue. Their gazes met and she looked away, with a slight nod of her head in acquiescence. Almost out of the cave, her soft question called him back.
‘Why did you call me that?’ He did not pretend to misunderstand. He shrugged.
‘I heard you called that once.’
‘When? By whom?’ she asked. She stood now, twisting her hands together. ‘No one is permitted to use that. My father would not like it.’
The fragility was back. Her spirit seeped out of her body as he watched, some memory forcing her into surrender. With what he’d heard and what she just revealed, Brodie knew there must have been some punishment wrought in the past by her father. Just as with the black.
He hesitated in giving her the answer. Would it hurt her more to hear the truth? Would it send her careening out of control once more? Something told him she would value the truth, even though he could not give her all of it. Nay, for now he would not risk it.
‘I am sorry, Arabella. I do not remember,’ he said, turning away.
‘It was Malcolm, was it not?’ she asked. He could hear her walking up behind him. The touch of her hand on his arm was no surprise then. ‘What else did he say?’ A mournful, pleading tone in her words nearly took him to his knees.
‘Aye, it was your brother. I just do not remember when he said it.’ He did not look at her then, knowing he could not hide the lie from her gaze.
She released him without another word and he stalked out of the cave, leaving her there. Rob waited for him, waving him on, but he dared a glance back at her.
Arabella stood without moving for several moments before lifting her hand to touch her mouth. She slid her fingers over her kiss-swollen lips and then turned away. Rob called his name and he nodded. After posting two guards at the only entrance to his dwelling, he went off to see what had chased the usual mirth from his friend’s face.
It could not be good.
