‘There is nothing to fear now.’
‘There is everything to fear.’
‘Don’t think about that. Just think about all the pleasurable ways I can warm you up, lass,’ he said, sinking his lips to hers in a glorious kiss.
The look in Jasper’s eye sent a flame of lust between Rowenna’s legs, but it was doused by the thought that someone was trying to kill him. ‘No, Jasper,’ she cried. ‘We must talk about what happened in those woods.’
‘Leave it, Rowenna.’ He turned around, hung his head and sank his fingers into his hair. Rowenna hugged him as hard as she could with a swollen wrist and pressed her head to his back.
‘We cannot ignore the attempt on your life,’ she said quietly.
‘Lass, do I have to say the words?’
She hugged him tighter. ‘No, because I understand.’
Jasper’s humiliation was in the hunch of his back, the way he would not quite meet her eye since they had made their way back to Kransmuir, and his utter refusal to talk about his hanging. But they could not be silent on the subject forever.
‘Jasper, was it Carstairs who planned the attack on us?’
He sighed. ‘He was in on it, but that worm doesn’t have the cunning or courage to go up against me.’
Rowenna turned Jasper’s face to hers and smiled. ‘Is your reputation so fearsome, Jasper Glendenning?’
‘It was, but I have been humbled.’
She frowned. ‘No. You are still alive to fight another day. That is all that matters. And that farmer did your bidding quickly enough. Thank God for your fearsome reputation, or else I would have frozen to death that day.’
He stroked the hair off Rowenna’s face. ‘Aye. We put the fear of God into him, turning up like we did. And we survived because you are strong, Rowenna. Stronger than me, it seems.’
She had to divert him from his humiliation. ‘What will Carstairs do now that he has failed?’
‘Crawl on his belly to his master and beg forgiveness for letting me get away.’
‘And who is his master?’
Jasper stood up. His hands were in fists. ‘Caolan Bannerman,’ he said.
‘Surely not? You are in an alliance with him. He sent a warning with Strachan.’
‘Rowenna, just before they stretched my neck, those men said, ‘Caolan Bannerman sends his greetings.’ See how I am humiliated twice over. First, the hanging, then to know it is the cursed Bannerman clan behind it. They have long been the root of all the trouble in my life.’
‘Because Seaton took the woman you loved?’
‘Because of many things, lass, which you do not understand.’ His face was a mask of bitterness.
Did he still burn over Brenna’s loss? The familiar jealousy curdled in Rowenna’s heart, but she pressed on. ‘Caolan Bannerman would need to have been in this plot with Strachan. But they have both suffered at the hands of the Warden. And if they were in league with each other, why did Strachan bother warning you about an attack?’
‘Because Caolan is a clever one. Sending a warning was a gamble. He knows me. He would have guessed I would go in pursuit of my ambushers. And the men who stretched my neck told me that Caolan had ordered my death and that my suffering was to be prolonged.’
‘But what would Caolan Bannerman and Peyton Strachan gain by killing you?’
‘Liddesdale. They both covet that land. Strachan has the greater claim because it used to belong to his clan, and Caolan wants it because he is an arrogant bastard and intends to hold sway over all the West March. His ambition knows no bounds, nor does his brother’s.’
‘His ambition will be checked by the Warden. And why would Seaton want you dead?’
‘He thinks that I am a threat to his wife.’
‘Because you covet her still?’
