“Alright, then, I am coming in,” Catrina said. Jane heard the key moving in the lock.
Alistair chuckled. That pulled Jane out of her dazed state. In a panic, she pushed Alistair down, below the water’s surface. Catrina came in just then, bearing a towel and a robe. “Oh, I am sorry, Jane,” she said, “perhaps ye couldnae hear me. I underestimated the thickness of the door. Let me help ye get out.”
“Oh, no, thank you,” Jane said hurriedly. “I can do that myself. I could not have you do that. Please just leave the towel and the robe. I’ll get out and meet you outside.”
Catrina grinned. “Is that the way of the English? Jane, there is nothing tae be ashamed of. We are women alike. But if it will make ye more comfortable, then of course.” She gently placed the towel and robe on the bench attached to the wall for that purpose, and then turned to leave.
And leave she would have if Alistair had not reached for Jane’s inner thigh at that moment. As soon as Catrina had come in, he had begun tracing up Jane’s leg with his hand. Jane had ignored it, but she could not ignore his finger on her inner thigh. No amount of self-control would work. She shrieked.
Catrina turned in alarm. “Are you alright?” she asked. Jane noticed bubbles in the water, and her heart began to race. It became faster when she saw that Catrina had noticed it, too. “Jane?”
“I… I have a… a bad case of constipation,” Jane blurted.
“Oh.” Catrina replied in relief, “that is easy tae fix. I have an excellent tea fer that. I’ll head tae the kitchen and put it on tae boil. Ye will be fine in nae time!” Catrina walked out of the door. This time, there was no turning of the key in the lock.
Jane breathed a deep sigh of relief. Just then, Alistair’s head came up in a fit of laughing and coughing. “Be silent or Catrina will come again!” Jane hissed at him. He ignored her. When he was done, he rested against the bathtub, apparently pleased with himself.
“You are the most insufferable man I have ever met,” Jane said, her hand on her head in exasperation. She had forgotten to guard her breasts, and now, even though she did not know it, the tops of them were visible above the water.
“Perhaps this is why ye are so constipated,” he said. “All the hate that you are keeping inside you.”
That was more than Jane could take. Her face burned bright red, and her eyes smoldered. Alistair seemed to notice, for his smile died. He reached for her and cradled her face with his palm. “I will be a gentleman tae ye from now on,” he said, his blue eyes earnest. He then let go of her. Jane was discomfited by his sudden change.
Jane shook her head. “I am tired of your mood swings,” she said. “One moment you are dark and brooding. The next you are considerate and kind. Kind-seeming,” she amended. “It is confusing, and frankly, it is unfair.”
“Ye are right,” he said, and Jane stared at him blankly. She had not expected him to own up to his fault. “The truth is, Jane Marsh, ye awaken something in me which I cannot name, and which I have yet tae learn tae tame. I am just as confused as ye are.”
His eyes were as innocent as a child’s, and somehow, deep within her, Jane knew that he was telling the truth. The space between them seemed to constrict, and Jane felt the urge to plant her lips on his and throw her hands around his shoulders. An image of the both of them tumbling to the bottom of the tub and kissing underwater flashed in her mind. It was almost potent enough to make her give in to her impulse.
But he moved before her. He tucked a tendril of hair behind her left ear and then put a hand over his eyes. “I will nae look,” he said. “Ye have me word.” Jane stared at him for a moment, and then gingerly, she rose to her feet and got out of the tub. The hand stayed over his eyes while she toweled herself dry and put on the robe. She threw one last look at him before she walked out of the door and closed it behind her.
* * *
Alistair heard the door close and took his hand off his eyes. She was gone. The only thing left of her was the towel which she had used. She had spread it neatly on the bench. He remembered the feel of her close to him, the sight of the top of her breasts above the water, the feel of her legs when he stroked them.
His member was engorged with desire. It had been that way since he had joined her in the water. It had taken all his willpower not to plunder her mouth whenever she had lighted those green orbs on him. Not to reach below the water and find her wet, secret places.
She was the enemy.
This singular thought brought him back to reality. She was engaged to be married to the commander of the troop at Loch Lomond, his brother’s captor. He had to see her as a tool of exchange and nothing else. If he let his manhood lead the way, chances were that he would put the fate of his clan, of his family, on the line. They looked to him for direction and preservation. It would not do for him to make decisions, spurred on by lust, that would put them in danger.
And nothing was worth that.
Nothing.
That thought should have put an end to every iota of lust in his system, but strangely, it did not. He still saw those smoldering eyes staring back at him, still saw those hillocks of soft white flesh that were wont to drive him mad.
He groaned and reached between his legs.
CHAPTERNINE
Catrina knocked at the door about thirty minutes later. Jane opened it, careful to hide behind it as Catrina came through. Catrina cocked her head, but soon saw why: Jane was not fully dressed. A dull blue dress was hanging at her waist, and only a chemise was covering her breasts. “I am sorry fer nae being ready,” Jane said. “I have been trying tae get intae me dress and… in England… that is, in me house, there was always somebody tae…”
Catrina grinned. “It is nae a thing of shame tae admit that one has privilege. This castle has several servants too. Ye would have had one or two attend ye too, if the circumstances of yer stay were different.”
Jane frowned.
“Ah, I have said too much,” Catrina said, but with amusement rather than regret.
