“Is there anythin’ else ye need?” he enquired.
She shook her head. “Nay, thank ye.”
“I’ll send the maids to help ye undress.”
“I sent them away for that very reason. I can dress and undress meself.”
She tilted up her chin defiantly at that remark, as if daring him to say otherwise. Again, a smile tugged at Creighton’s lips. He kept it back. It would do no good to make her feeltoocomfortable here. They weren’t friends. She was barely even a guest, more like a tolerated hostage, with a good deal more freedom than an actual one.
She must nae forget her place. And nor must I.
“As ye wish,” he responded simply, and tugged Laurie away. As he turned back to pull the door shut behind him, he paused, frozen.
Nora had gone into the washroom, staring down at the steaming bathtub of water. He wondered briefly if she was looking forward to it, to sinking into that hot, delicious water. Blinking, he saw the scene behind his lids.
He saw her endless expanse of skin exposed to the steam, slowly sinking beneath the water. He watched her skin redden delicately under the heat. He saw her eyes close in bliss, lips curling up, head tilting back to rest against the side of the tub. He saw it all, and the familiar tug of interest knotted itself in his stomach.
And then he blinked, and the scene vanished. Nora raised her arms above her head, twisting them to reach the button at the top of her dress. He noticed the buttons now that her cloak was gone, running all the way down to the small of her back. Skillfully, with practiced ease, she unfastened one button after another, revealing more of her white skin.
For heaven’s sake, man,he thought furiously, hauling himself back through the door and closing it with a slam.
“Did ye nae hear me, Crey?” chimed a small voice at his side. Blinking, he glanced down at Laurie, still smiling up at him.
“Sorry, love, I missed it,” he managed. There was a rasp in his voice that hadn’t been there before.
Steady. Remember her place. Rememberyerplace.
“Isaid,” Laurie repeated with a sigh. “Daenae ye think that Nora issoooobonnie?”
CHAPTER 5
Nora had expecteda knock on her door the following morning. It came barely an hour after sunup. She inched open the door, and there stood two wary-looking MacColl soldiers.
“Lady Nora,” said the older-looking one, who appeared to be somewhere in his late twenties. “Me name is Theodore. Theodore Matheson. Ye can call me Theo, if ye like. I’ve been tasked to bring ye to breakfast today.”
There was a sullen edge in his voice, a subtle hint that he mightnotbe eager to escort a woman to the feasting hall. Nora guessed that his family had not always lived in Scotland, judging by a faint olive tint to his skin, jet-black hair, and a pair of heavy green-gray eyes. He crossed his muscular arms over his chest and sighed.
“Are ye ready to go, then?”
She cleared her throat, nodding tightly. “Aye, I’m ready.”
Today’s dress was a rough blue woolen one, less grubby than the green one but with some visible darning around the hem. She hoped that nobody would notice. Laurie probably would.
“Ye must be hungry and tired after yer long trip,” the second soldier said. When she looked at him, his eyes shifted away from hers, as if afraid to meet her gaze.
“I am tired,” she confessed. “I slept poorly, and it’s strange to be in an unfamiliar bed. But I cannae complain of hunger. Laird MacColl sent me food last night, and plenty of it,” she said herself, flushing.
“This is Andrew,” Theo explained, waving at the younger man. “Guardin’ ye is an important job, and the Laird chose us personally. That means that ye can trust us.”
Nora bit back a retort. Just because Creighton trusted these men did not mean thatsheshould.
As if he read her thoughts, Theo gave a tight smile, taking a step toward us.
“But it does nae necessarily mean thatwewill trustye. There’s been talk that ye asked about guards and the changin’ of the sentries.”
Nora cursed herself for her carelessness. “It was just a question.”
“Is it?” Theo murmured, narrowing his eyes. “I suppose we’ll see. Follow us; breakfast has already begun.”
