Jamie was no better settled on what he should do. And he certainly wasn’t looking forward to facing Sheena, being able to tell her only that he hadn’t done anything yet. She would only demand to know what he planned, and he still couldn’t tell her.
But just then he was facing Jessie Martin and not liking it one bit. “You make yourself free in my castle again,” he said tersely.
She made a little moue as she moved closer. “You wouldna ask me to leave, not when my cousin is still here, would you?”
“You hide behind your cousin,” Jamie replied curtly. “Just be sure you leave when he does.”
“And who’ll keep you company, now that your wife’s rejected you?”
Jamie gripped her arm and shoved her away. “A wife canna reject her husband,” he said tightly. “And you intrude in what is none of your concern.”
“I dinna think she agrees,” Jessie retorted, rubbing her arm. “A wife can reject her husband if she so chooses.”
Jamie grunted. “She’ll be coming around, once she’s used to being married.”
“Will she now?” Jessie taunted angrily. “How will she do that, Jamie, when she’s no’ even here.”
A number of emotions crossed Jamie’s face before he turned and made for the hall. But Jessie stopped him, her voice bitter, before he got very far.
“You’ll waste your time looking for her. I’m no’ the only one who saw your precious Sheena leave. She’s made her rejection of you a public matter, proclaiming to one and all she wants naught to do with you.” Jamie turned and ran back toward the stable then, and Jessie shouted after him, “You canna still want her, Jamie! Have you no shame? No pride?”
But Jamie continued on, ignoring the outburst, and Jessie stomped off in the other direction. She would have to tell Black Gawain she had failed. Jamie was going after his foolish wife after all.
What an impossibly stubborn man. Couldn’t he see the little Lowlander was no good for him? Couldn’t he see what Jessie had to offer? He was blind—and that was his misfortune.
Jessie never should have stayed at Castle Kinnion, she chided herself, enduring Black Gawain’s crude lovemaking just so she could be there. A waste of her time and talent. And Black Gawain didn’t even care for Jessie. It was Sheena he had wanted from the start, until he learned she was a Fergusson. Sheena—always Sheena! Jessie worked herself into a blind rage, and as she stomped through the castle in search of Black Gawain, those she passed gave her a very wide berth.
Chapter 38
Sheena was ready to mount her horse again and return to the castle. But as she was leaving the croft, Jamie galloped furiously toward her, coming to a skidding halt in the yard. Hearing the noise, the crofter and his wife came back out of their hut. They could only stand there, mute in the face of Jamie’s black rage.
Sheena was equally mute and frightened. She had confessed to Jannet that she meant to leave the Highlands, and Jannet had effectively talked her out of it. But Jamie couldn’t know that, of course. And he was in no mood to be told.
“Stopped to tarry on your way home, did you?” Jamie said, his voice harsh and accusing. “’Tis well you did, so I found you ’afore you left MacKinnion land.”
“Well for whom?” Sheena dared to ask.
Jamie’s frown deepened, his eyes turning almostgreen, smoldering dangerously. “You didna heed my warning, and now you dare to be impudent, as well?”
“Jamie, I—”
“You mock me, you defy me, and you think nothing will come of it?” he raged, his anger robbing him of control.
“Jamie!”
“Nay!”
He moved his horse closer and caught her arm, pulling her. He wanted to shake her violently, but he only held her, his fingers biting. Seeing her wince didn’t lessen his anger or make him feel better.
“You misused the feeling I have for you, Sheena. I am lenient with you, so you’re thinking you can do as you please,” he shouted, “You’re my wife! There’s no excuse that will appease me this time!”
Sheena yanked her arm away. Her chin went up stubbornly. “Then I’ll no’ give one!” she shouted back.
She would have liked to explain, was the truth. She would have told him she’d changed her mind. She had tried to tell him, but his tirade had made it impossible. Now she refused to try. She had her pride.
“I’ll no’ be taken back!” she said adamantly. “I’ll no’ live with such an arrogant, churlish knave!”
Jamie glowered at her for an eternity, his fists clenching. An ominous gleam entered his eyes, and some of the steam went out of her then. He was fighting for control and she knew it.
