“And yer da.”
Caitrin let the silence stretch out a few heartbeats before nodding. “Ye have been good for him, so I agree with ye on that, as well.”
“I’m glad. Well, let’s leave these dusty old relics to their solitude, shall we? The evening meal will be upon us before we’re ready.”
“I’m nearly ready, now,” Caitrin admitted. “But I thank ye for yer kindness today. To me and to my da.”
“Ye are welcome, lass. I hope everything works out as ye wish for it to, whether ye remain here or find a happier life elsewhere.”
****
Later that evening, Caitrin stopped by the sick room to check on her father. He appeared to be sleeping soundly, so she backed out into the hallway. Before she could close the door, she sensed someone behind her and froze, her heart in her throat. Alasdair?Oh, please, nay!
“How is he?” Jamie’s deep voice rumbled as low as the guttering torches at either end of the hall.
Caitrin’s knees nearly buckled as she let go of the doorframe and turned around, a hand over her pounding heart. He stood a few feet down the hall, as if he’d paused there when he saw her come out of the room. “Ye startled me.” He had, but the sound of his voice still lapped at her like the wavelets from a stone tossed into a pond, causing pleasant little ripples of warmth from her ears to her toes.
“Did I? Or did ye think I was someone else?”
She nodded, reassured he understood her so well. “For a moment.”
He moved closer. “Ye are safe with me.”
“Aye,” she answered, not that she wished to be safe with him. The near-darkness felt cozy. Jamie’s nearness made it intimate, as if they were the only two in the keep. Caitrin glanced back into the room, but her father had not moved. “He’s asleep.” She hoped he slept too deeply to be aware of their presence just outside the door. “He had quite a day, including a walk with Lady Madeleine. If he does as well tomorrow, the Healer will release him back to his chamber, I think.”
“That’s good to hear,” Jamie answered then took her hand. “And how do ye fare?”
“Me?” The heat of his touch spread from her hands up her arms to warm her body. For a moment, she let herself imagine his arms around her then shook her head.Nay.
But Jamie must have read her mind or interpreted her gesture as meaning she was unwell. He pulled her into his embrace, his strong arms wrapping her in his scent. Caitrin melted against him.
“Ach, tired, then. That’s understandable. Kyle will be here soon. Then ye can get yer rest.”
“Nay, no’ tired. When ye hold me like this, all is well. But I wish…”
“What do ye wish?” Jamie’s softly spoken question whispered against her ear, and made tears prick at her eyes with longing for him.
“That ye could hold me like this forever. Anytime I needed ye. Or wanted ye.” She sighed as he stroked her back with one broad hand.
“I would do it, gladly, if ’twere possible. Ye ken that.”
“All the way to my bones.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, savoring. “Ach, Jamie, why did we have to meet again like this?”
“Better this,” he answered, dropping a kiss on the top of her head as one might do to a small child, “than no’ at all. I’ve missed ye.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “And I, ye. All those years…”
Jamie bent his head.
She knew he meant to kiss her. She meant to allow him to. She reached up to cup his cheek as his mouth descended over hers, gently, softly, in keeping with the quiet intimacy of the darkened hallway. She sighed her longing into his mouth. His embrace tightened, pulling her closer, as he deepened his gentle assault on her senses.
She wished, with everything in her, she was free to love this man. His touch pleased her. She craved his kisses. The sound of his voice made her melt. His presence made her happy in a way no one else ever had. But, at the same time, because she was not free to be his, it made her more miserable than she had imagined herself capable of being. She clutched his hair as his tongue plundered her mouth and then traced the shell of her ear. Much as MacGregor had done, but not the same at all. As she’d imagined, Jamie’s advances felt…right. She would do anything to keep him with her one more moment, then another, and another, as if by wishing it, she could string together enough moments to become a lifetime.
Then stroking his fingers down the side of her face, he released her. Caitrin reached for him, but he stepped back.
“I must go. I want ye too much to remain with ye right now.”
“Jamie…”
