Did she truly wish to bathe in the loch this morning? “The water will be cold, Lady.”
“I imagine so,” she replied softly, as if to bewitch him. It was working. “But the thrill is worth the chill, aye, Chief?”
His smile lit the halls and drew Bethia’s attention. Her scowl, despite it being a mild one, widened into stunned disbelief when he turned to shine on her. Nothing, neither guilt nor shame would veer him off his path to do as Miss Drummond wished.
On the way out of the castle, he met Hugh and told him to tell the cook to prepare a feast and have it brought to the loch. He also enlisted the aid of Lachlan. He reasoned it would be a wee bit more challenging to protect Ismay if he had to watch over Bethia and Joan as well.
“I brought an extra plaid to keep ye dry and warm,” he told Ismay, coming up behind her on the path.
She turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Ye are verra thoughtful, Constantine.”
Hearing his name, Bethia pulled a kerchief out of a fold in her skirts and wiped her nose.
“I mean Chief-Lochiel,” Ismay stammered.
Constantine’s smile faded and he turned to glare at Bethia. “How much longer before the darkness engulfs me and I am lost? Would ye prefer that?”
The older chambermaid gave her nose one last swipe with her kerchief and then ran off. Constantine did not go after her. She was Alison’s friend, and to the MacMillans went her loyalties. Nothing would change that.
He didn’t care. He wanted to be right where he was with Ismay; making her smile—which in turn, did the same for him—and he hadn’t smiled in so damn long.
He would have time on the field, waiting to fight, to consider what everything with her meant, and if he should ask Ismay to stay with him for good. Today was hers.
When they rounded the bend and she saw the small pool and its glistening waterfall, she squealed with delight and hurriedtoward it.
He watched as Joan rushed to her and began untying the laces of Ismay’s stays. He commanded Lachlan to look away if he wanted to keep his eyes.
He did the same and turned toward the trees, then he smiled, pleased at the sound of Ismay’s laughter filling the small cove, and all the nooks and spaces of his heart.
Chapter Fifteen
Ismay shivered steppinginto the frigid water. He’d kept his promise to bring her here this morning. She knew he would, that was why she came prepared, wearing extra petticoats and a shorter leine beneath her longer one, so that when she removed the outer layers before stepping into the water, they would remain dry. Most of all, thanks to the layer underneath she would not be completely indecent in the sight of the Lochiel.
She felt her face burn for the tenth time already since finding him outside her door. All her blushing was born of one thing. His kiss in the solar. Would the memory of it always make her insides, most specifically the place below her navel, burn? She wished she had her fan. Though the air was crisp, her body felt uncomfortably warm.
What if he kissed her again? Would it seal her fate? It was why she chose to come here to the loch this morning. She knew he would not bring her alone.
She wished Joan would accompany her into the water but her friend refused to follow her into the icy depths. She squealed when the water touched her, as if in pain and causing the two men waiting by the trees to come running.
Ismay laughed and swam to the waterfall. The same thrill did not bubble Joan’s blood, but her friend did not leave the water’s edge while Ismay bathed and swam. Even Lachlan was forgotten whileIsmay’s new dear friend watched over her as closely as the Lochiel did.
Twice, Ismay lightly splashed her and they laughed, the sound echoed by the men watching.
“Come closer,” Ismay invited with a sinister grin.
Her belly flipped when the chief laughed softly, knowing what she was devising.
“I dinna know what ye did with the old Lochiel,” Joan said, lowering her voice so only Ismay would hear, “but whatever it is, dinna bring him back. This Lochiel is more pleasant.”
Ismay splashed her, not so lightly this time, and then laughed and swam away when Joan vowed to catch her and make her sorry.
Escaping, Ismay let happiness spread its warmth on her. Here she was, in a glorious loch where, if she closed her eyes, the sound of its waterfall reminded her of the waterfall near her father’s house. She had a loyal friend in Joan, just as she had in Murrun back home. And she had more. She had what had been missing in all the best scenarios of her life; a man she could allow into her heart, her life, and her bed.
She found him watching her from the close tree line. She waved. Lachlan and Joan waved back. It made Ismay cover her mouth to giggle. She had been accepted at Tor Castle. Every day it felt more familiar, more like home.
The only one who did not seem to want her there was Bethia, though she made it a point to always be the first one to attend Ismay. According to Constantine, Bethia came to Tor with his wife. It was understandable that Bethia was loyal to her lady. Ismay tried not to take it too personally.
Her eyes caught Constantine moving. He was making his way toward a row of twelve men carrying trays of food to the grass and setting down at their chief’s direction.
