“Sleep,” she reminded him as she grabbed his hand and dragged him up the stairs. She ached in places she’d never ached before, and she swore Iain had touched every inch of her skin. She should be exhausted, but she found her body waking up yet again.
They slept. Much later, but they slept.
And then they were awakened by someone pounding on her front door.
Chapter 23
Iain hopped from one leg to the other out of her bedchamber as he quickly pulled on his breeches.
“Iain, wait. It could be someone who needs help.” Cait had rolled quickly out of bed and was searching frantically for her discarded gown. Her heart was pounding, even though she’d had plenty of late-night visitors at her door. She felt irrationally angry that someone had interrupted her night. She wanted to prolong her time with Iain, and she didn’t want word to get out just yet that they were together.
Also, whoever was pounding on that door wasn’t bringing good news, and her feeling of foreboding returned.
“Another English soldier was killed,” Iain said grimly as he came back into her bedchamber before she had even thrown her wrinkled gown over her head.
“Oh, no.” Her heart sank. “On Campbell land?”
He shook his head. “But close. On the border of Campbell and Graham land.”
Alasdair Graham would not be pleased. Then she thought of Halloway, and a tremor of fear raced up her spine. “Do ye know who was killed?”
Iain shot her a frustrated look as she grabbed his shirt and shrugged it on; it seemed disrespectful to talk of the dead while she was naked. “Are ye worried about yer English soldier? Hallobert?”
“Halloway. And yes, I am. We’re friends.”
“I don’t know who was killed.” He bent to put on his boots.
“Where are ye going?”
“Adair said Palmer is looking for me.”
She would not cling. She’d said she wanted a relationship in which neither felt obligated. He was chief of one of the biggest clans in the Highlands and, as such, had obligations that would frequently take him away from her. She knew all of this, and yet she wanted to grab on to him and insist that he stay. Let her grandfather Graham deal with Palmer and the damn English, who always ruined everything.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back,” he said as he searched for his other boot and found it halfway under the bed. She took off the shirt she’d just put on and handed it to him, then pulled the blanket off the bed and wrapped herself in it.
He hugged her tightly. “I don’t want to leave. You know that, don’t you?”
“I understand. Ye have things to do.”
He kissed her and she melted against him, wishing they had just one more hour together. Was that too much to ask? Must the world intrude so soon?
“I’ll not stand for this much longer. I want to be with you all the time, Cait. Snatching bits and pieces of time is not going to work like I thought it would. But we’ll talk about that later.” He turned to go.
“Wait,” she said, grabbing for his arm. “I…” She had no idea what she should say or even wanted to say. She didn’t want him to leave, but she also didn’t want the feelings that were racing through her. She wanted this to be like Cormac, a fun thing from which both could walk away and resume their lives until the next time they came together.
“Be careful,” she finally said.
He hesitated, then kissed her again, softly this time, cupping her cheek. She leaned in to him, loving the soft feel of his lips on hers.
“I have to leave.”
“Go.” She stepped back and watched him walk out of the bedchamber. A moment later, her front door slammed shut and she heard two horses gallop away.
—
Wallace MacGregor paid her a visit later that afternoon.
She hadn’t seen her grandfather MacGregor since the night he’d told her and John to leave his home and never return.
