Chapter Thirteen
The warriors’ encampment was dozens and dozens of stone cottages in neat rows that didn’t seem to be guarded.
The problem was that all of the cottages looked alike and Isadora had no idea where to find Cam.
As she entered the encampment, she could see women and children about, and cooking fires giving off a great deal of smoke.
Passing by cottages, it was clear that some men had brought their families with them as wives kissed husbands and children played at their feet.
It would have been a rather pleasant atmosphere except for one thing—it was obvious these men were here to train.
Men were battered and bruised. Some were bloodied and missing teeth. But she received a sense of contentment from them, all of them here for a unified purpose. It was the same purpose for Cam, too.
To learn to fight.
Halfway into the camp, she asked a woman if she knew where Cam Netherton was.
The woman didn’t know, but she asked her husband, who pointed toward the end of the encampment.
Now with a location, Isadora went to the very last cottage on the second row and knocked softly on the door.
There was no immediate reply but when she went to knock again, the door suddenly jerked open and Cam appeared. His eyes widened in surprise.
“Isadora?” he said. “What are ye doing here, lass?”
She smiled timidly. “Am I welcome?”
He was pulling her into the tiny cottage before she finished speaking. “Of course,” he said. “I dinna mean tae be rude. I wasna expecting ye.”
“Who were you expecting?”
He grinned. “Food,” he said. “They have men who come about and bring food tae those who dunna have a wife tae cook for them.”
He was indicating for her to sit on a cot with a wooden frame and a rope mattress. “I saw the families in camp,” she said as she sat. “There seem tae be many.”
Cam nodded. “The Cal allows families tae stay together, although I’ve heard rumor that lairds looking for warriors are less inclined tae take a man with baggage.”
“A family, ye mean?”
“Aye.”
She nodded in understanding but the conversation died as they two of them simply looked at each other, each still struggling with the disbelief that they were actually together again. Isadora grew serious.
“Cam, I thought ye were dead,” she said softly. “When I never saw ye again after Netherton burned, I thought ye were dead. And tae find ye here… I’m still stunned.”
He sat down on the ground in front of her, taking her hands in his. The feel of flesh upon flesh nearly did them both in, an electric touch that branded them both.
“I dinna know where tae find ye,” he said honestly. “I went tae the vale because that was where we first met. I thought… it was foolish, I suppose, but I thought ye might come by and find me there. I dinna have time tae search the hills for ye.”
Isadora gazed into his eyes, wondering if it was even her right to ask him what had happened.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to. That might lead to more conversations on the fact that she was part of Clan Keith, the very clan accused of burning Netherton.
Did Cam know that? She wasn’t sure, but she was terrified to bring it up.
She was afraid their growing feelings for each other couldn’t overcome the death of his grandfather if he thought it was at the hands of the Keith.
She wasn’t yet willing to take that chance, not now when she’d just found him.
“I understand,” she said. “The hills are vast. I… I’m only sorry I dinna receive yer message.”
Cam nodded, lifting her hands to his lips for a gentle kiss. “But ye’re here now,” he said. “I still canna believe it, either. There’s so much I want tae say but I dunna know where tae start.”
There was much Isadora wanted to say, too, but was afraid to. Perhaps it was best not to try.
“I’m proud of ye for learning tae fight,” she said, veering away from the subject of his departure. “I told ye before ye have a presence about ye. I could see it from the first.”
He cracked a modest grin. “It is not an easy thing, learning tae fight. I dinna grow up learning how, so it has been difficult at times.”
She squeezed his hands. “That’s what I came tae tell ye,” she said. “My brothers are here with me and they tell me there are tae be fights tonight. Mayhap ye’ll be fighting, too.”
Cam eyed her dubiously. “I hope not. Not a man in my group is ready for it.”
Isadora couldn’t disagree with that, considering what she’d seen that afternoon.
“But if ye have tae, then ye need tae remember a few things,” she said.
“Dunna look tae those watching the fight; it’ll make ye nervous.
Concentrate on yer opponent and look for his weakness. Remember how yer trainer knew yers?”
He made a face. “I can never forget. Had ye not helped me when he did, I’d probably still be lying in the dirt.”
She laughed softly; this was the sweet smithy she knew, the one with the sense of humor. “I think ye would have figured it out eventually,” she said. “But he used yer weakness against ye. That’s what ye have tae do with yer opponent. See where he is weak and use that tae yer advantage.”
It was sensible advice and Cam kissed her hands again. “I will,” he said. “But is that why ye really came? Tae offer me advice and not speak on the past several months? Much has happened, Isadora. There is a reason why I’ve come here.”
They were back on the subject she was trying to avoid. “I know,” she said. “Truthfully, I’m so glad that ye’re alive that the reasons ye came to the Ludus Caledonia dunna matter much.”
“Ye truly thought I was dead?”
She nodded. “Netherton is ashes.”
Isadora hadn’t meant to say that and she winced, wondering how the conversation was going to go from this point on. Would the memories of a burned-out village dampen the moment? She watched him closely as the light in his eyes seemed to dim with the reflection.
“It is,” he said. “Everything is… ashes. Everything but ye.”
She could see the grief in his face. “Is that why ye came here? Tae start a new life?”
He looked at her. “I canna start a new life without ye,” he said. “I was going tae return for ye. Surely ye knew that.”
She smiled. “I thought ye were dead. Unless yer name is Lazarus, I’m not sure how ye could come back for me.”
He frowned. “Ye’ve been true tae me, havena ye? And I dunna care if ye thought I was a ghost.”
The moment went from somber to humorous quickly. “I’m tae be true tae a ghost?”
“I’ve been true tae ye the whole time. Even if I was dead, I’d still be true tae ye.” He sobered, reaching up to cup her face gently. “In this life or in the next, I’ll always be true tae ye, sweetheart. Dunna ye know that?”
Isadora did. With all her heart, she did. As she nodded her head emphatically, he pulled her off the bed and into his arms.
Cam slanted his lips over hers, kissing her deeply.
They’d kissed before, in the vale, but this time it was different.
There was a hunger that hadn’t been there before, something consuming and hot.
There was a gladness there in being reunited.
Isadora didn’t resist him as he overwhelmed her with his body and mouth; in fact, she welcomed it.
It was a moment she never thought she’d know again and she was more than willing to submit.
Somehow, she ended up on the hard-packed earth floor as Cam covered her with his body, his mouth on hers.
He was suckling her gently but firmly, his lips moving to her cheeks and her little earlobes.
Isadora’s arms were around his head as she held him against her, something she never again thought she’d experience.
As Cam held her snugly with one hand, his free hand began to roam.
There was no timidity in his touch. He was exploring her, feeling what he could of her through her heavy tunic.
His hand was only coming into contact with curves and fabric, but that was evidently not what he wanted.
While his lips were affixed to her, his roaming hand snaked under her tunic, pulling it up, his big hand coming into contact with her heated flesh for the first time.
Isadora didn’t stop him.
She let him touch her, welcoming his confident touch as it moved up her torso and he cupped a tender breast. It was new, and perhaps a bit startling, but wholly arousing as she arched her back and pressed her breast more firmly into his hand.
There was something so natural about his hand against her breast, his fingers gently pinching her nipple.
It made her shudder, something that aroused Cam so much that he growled and suckled her collarbone enough to give her a mark.
Isadora gasped with the thrill of it.
“Never again, Isadora,” he breathed against her flesh. “Never again will ye be away from me.”
Isadora was nearly incoherent with desire. “Nay… never.”
He lifted up her tunic in response, enough so that it was bunched around her shoulders and her torso was exposed.
His heated mouth found a tender nipple, suckling strongly as she gasped.
He nursed at both breasts before dragging his tongue down her body, tasting her as he’d never tasted a woman in his life.
He would have done more had not voices from outside caught his attention.
His head came up, listening.
“There’s no time,” he said, sighing heavily as the voices moved away. “Men will be here soon and ’tis best if they dunna catch ye hear, for yer own sake.”
Breathless beneath him, Isadora helped him pull her tunic down. “My brothers think I’ve gone tae find the privy,” she said. “I should return before they come looking for me.”
He smiled humorlessly as he stood up, pulling her to her feet. “The same pair who followed us intae the vale that time?”
“The same.”
He snorted softly. “They’d not take kindly tae finding ye with me.”
She shook her head, but her gaze never left his face. “Cam,” she said. “Tonight… if ye do fight… remember what I’ve told ye. I want ye tae win.”
He cupped her face, gently kissing her lips. “As do I,” he said. “I’ll do my best, I swear it.”